Outstanding Practitioner Awards (Administrator, Advisor, New Advisor)
The Outstanding Practitioner Awards recognize professionals in direct advising or administrative roles who demonstrate a command of the core competencies of advising and model UIC's mission in their daily work.
7 Outstanding Practitioner Awards Annually:
Details
One: $500 cash award plus a professional association membership up to $250 awarded annually to a recipient that meets the below requirements
Eligibility:
- Individuals who may provide direct advising services but whose primary responsibility is as an administrator or director (associate or assistant) of an advising or coaching program.
- At least 50% of their duties dedicated to advising administration
- Previous Outstanding Administrator Award winners may be selected for the award no more than once every 3 years
- Previous Outstanding New Advisor Award and Outstanding Advisor Award winners may be considered
Criteria:
- Nomination
- Nominee’s Resume/CV
- 3 letters of support: one of the three must be the nominee’s supervisor
- The initial nomination
- Reference one
- Reference two
Review Criteria
| 1) Demonstrates commitment to UIC’s Core Mission in their administrative duties. (A commitment to supporting an increasingly diverse student population; manages the challenges and opportunities of Chicago). | 6) Evidence of successful initiatives, implementations, or enhancements brought forth under the direction of the administrator |
| 2) Colleague recognition of nominee's advising administration skills and/or performance | 7) Engages in, promotes, and supports advising grounded in sound theory, research, and educational practice |
| 3) Institutional or departmental recognition (or other awards) of nominee for outstanding advising or advising administration | 8) Participates in and supports advisor development programs |
| 4) Collaborates with other academic or student support units on campus | 9) Evidence of improved student success rate, by an advisor, coach, or by department, within the purview of the administrator |
| 5) Provides leadership and/or direction to ensure staff engagement | 10) Participates in a larger campus or higher education initiatives related to the efficacy of academic advising |
Details
Five: $500 cash awards, plus a professional association membership up to $250 awarded annually to five recipients that meet the below requirements
Eligibility:
- Individuals whose primary role at the institution is the direct delivery of advising services to students
- Nominees must spend at least 50% of their time on direct delivery of advising to students
- Applicants must be in at least their 3rd year as a professional advisor or coach (regardless of institution) and at least one full semester of direct advising service at UIC
- Any individual currently serving as a professional academic advisor or success coach (non-faculty)
- Previous Outstanding Advisor Award winners may be selected for the award no more than once every 3 years
- Previous Outstanding New Advisor Award winners are eligible, but not in consecutive years (at least one year in between)
Criteria:
- Nomination
- Nominee’s Resume/CV
- 3 letters of support: one of the three must be the nominee’s supervisor
- The initial nomination
- Reference one
- Reference two
Selection Criteria
| 1) Contributes to student success (one student, or a small group, or a cohort, or a body of people) | 6) Promotes student progress toward goals through degree planning, goal setting, and/or career exploration |
| 2) Participates in and supports proactive advising to build strong relationships with advisees | 7) Demonstrates mastery of institutional/departmental regulations, policies, and procedures |
| 3) Is available for meaningful interactions with advisees, faculty, or staff | 8) Engages in, promotes and supports developmental advising |
| 4) Refers appropriately and ensures students have knowledge of campus resources | 9) Serves as peer mentor, trainer, or models exemplary practices for other advisors |
| 5) Collaborates with other advisors, success units, resources, and support programs | 10) Recognition of nominee's contribution to outstanding advising (AOF, any Inst. award, publication, etc) |
Details
One: $500 cash award plus a professional association membership up to $250 awarded annually to a recipient that meets the below requirements
Eligibility:
- Individuals whose primary role at the institution is the direct delivery of advising services to students
- Nominees must spend at least 50% of their time on direct delivery of advising to students
- Any individual currently serving as a professional academic advisor or success coach (non-faculty)
- Fewer than 2 full years of experience in direct delivery of advising to students (at any college or university) prior to the application deadline
- Previous Outstanding New Advisor Award winners are not eligible – recipients may only be selected once
Criteria
- Nomination
- Nominee’s Resume/CV
- 3 letters of support: one of the three must be the nominee’s supervisor
- The initial nomination
- Reference one
- Reference two
Selection Criteria
| 1) Contributes to student success (one student, or a small group, or a cohort, or a body of people) | 6) Promotes student progress toward goals through degree planning, goal setting, and/or career exploration |
| 2) Participates in and supports proactive advising to build strong relationships with advisees | 7) Demonstrates mastery of institutional/departmental regulations, policies, and procedures |
| 3) Is available for meaningful interactions with advisees, faculty, or staff | 8) Engages in, promotes and supports developmental advising |
| 4) Refers appropriately and ensures students have knowledge of campus resources 1 - strongly disagree | 9) Serves as peer mentor, trainer, or models exemplary practices for other advisors |
| 5) Collaborates with other advisors, success units, resources, and support programs | 10) Recognition of nominee's contribution to outstanding advising (AOF, any Inst. award, publication, etc) |
Nomination Process:
Nominations can be made by students, colleagues, supervisors, faculty/staff, or collaborating departments and units.
Please use the following link to submit a nomination. In doing such you will launch a workflow: 1) the nominator fills out the first portion and attaches a letter and any supporting documentation; 2) the nominee is alerted, they accept or deny the nomination, upload their resume and any supporting documentation they want to include, and provide the NetIDs of two references; 3) emails are sent to the references, each reference fills out their portion, uploads their letter and any supporting documents they want to include; 4) notification is sent to the committee the submission is complete.
- January 16, 2026: Nominations open
- March 29, 2026: Last day to initiate a new nomination
- April 5, 2026: Last opportunity for a nominee to accept nomination
- Nominees can accept any time after the nomination is initiated up until this date
- April 19, 2026: All Reference materials and supplemental materials are due – process closed
*For technical help with the nomination forms, please email oad@uic.edu