Employee Recognition Awards

Download the 2026 Awards Program

• Faculty Awards Policies, Procedures, Criteria, and Descriptions
• Faculty Awards
• Staff Awards
• Previous Employee Recognition Awards Ceremony Program

Faculty Awards

• Chappell Graduate Award
• Creative Endeavors Award
• Educator of the Year Award
• Excellence in Online Teaching Award
• Faculty Research and Scholarship Award
• Faculty Service Award
• International Educator of the Year Award
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award
• Teaching Excellence Award
• Teaching Innovation Award

Chappell Graduate Award

The purpose of the award is to recognize those full-time members of the Columbus State University Graduate Faculty who, in the tradition established by Dr. William "Bill" Chappell, have demonstrated excellence in teaching Columbus State University's graduate students and have contributed outstanding professional service to the Graduate School, the University and the community.

Creative Endeavors Award

The purpose of this award is to recognize outstanding efforts by faculty members of Columbus State University in creative expression in their field. The award is meant to celebrate the value of these activities, particularly for their role in contributing to the student's and faculty's intellectual and creative growth. Though the award will be given without regard to the nominee's teaching or service talents, it implicitly recognizes the role of creative endeavors in the enhancement of a faculty member's teaching and service capabilities. The award also provides the university a way of identifying and rewarding faculty contributions to the creation, extension, or growth of knowledge or skills, or aesthetic products.

Educator of the Year Award

The Educator of the Year Award is announced during the Scholastic Honors Convocation. This award is special because it is presented by CSU's Student Government Association and is awarded based on student body nominations.

Excellence in Online Teaching Award

The CSU Excellence in Online Teaching Award recognizes a faculty member's strong commitment to quality online teaching and learning. The criteria for selection include demonstration of teaching, service and scholarly activities designed to advance the quality of online teaching and learning; the use of effective and innovative online teaching practices that result in student engagement, student satisfaction, and effectiveness in achieving desired learning outcomes; and an extraordinary commitment to fostering the academic success of online students through the development of rapport with individual learners in and beyond the virtual classroom. The winner of this award serves as CSU's nominee for the USG Regents' Teaching Excellence Award for Online Teaching, and receives a certificate and a stipend sponsored by the Faculty Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning.

Faculty Research and Scholarship Award

The purpose of this award is to recognize outstanding efforts by faculty members in research and scholarship. The award is meant to celebrate the value of these activities, particularly for their role in contributing to the faculty's intellectual growth. It implicitly recognizes the role of research and scholarship in the enhancement of a faculty member's teaching and service capabilities.

Faculty Service Award

The purpose of this award is to recognize those members of our faculty who have contributed outstanding professional service to the University and/or community. Service is defined as the contribution of the faculty member's expertise in his or her discipline to worthwhile efforts of the university, community, educational, environmental, business and economic life of the community. This award is presented annually at the Faculty and Staff Recognition and Excellence Awards Ceremony.

International Educator of the Year Award

Columbus State University recognizes and rewards faculty and staff members who have made significant contributions to the university's internationalization and to the international learning outcomes of our students. Nominees must be current and active CSU faculty or staff members who have been employed at CSU during the whole of the previous calendar year. This award is presented annually at the Faculty and Staff Recognition and Excellence Awards Ceremony.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award

The CSU Scholarship of Teaching & Learning Award recognizes a faculty member's engagement in the systematic examination of issues about student learning and instructional conditions which promote the learning, building on previous scholarship. The criteria for selection include documented use of strategies for investigating and evaluating the impact of teaching practice on student learning, anchored in the research literature; engagement in scholarship that is public, peer reviewed and critiqued; the production of scholarly work which contributes new questions and knowledge about teaching and learning; the development of a well articulated teaching philosophy that drives research questions; and documented dissemination of their scholarship results. The winner of this award serves as CSU's nominee for the USG Regents' Scholarship of Teaching & Learning Award, and receives a certificate and a stipend sponsored by the Faculty Center.

Teaching Excellence Award

The CSU Teaching Excellence award recognizes a faculty member's strong commitment to teaching and learning. The criteria for selection include demonstrated use of classroom activities designed to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and/or global and multicultural understanding; use of effective teaching strategies to enhance student learning, such as innovative uses of technology, active learning, learning communities, student portfolios, and assessment; and a strong commitment to fostering academic success through interaction with students outside of the classroom (e.g., advising, mentoring, recruiting, etc.). The winner of this award serves as CSU's nominee for the USG Regents' Teaching Excellence Award, and receives a medallion and a stipend sponsored by the Faculty Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning.

Teaching Innovation Award

Columbus State University strives to be a leader in innovative methods for improving student learning and in efforts to improve retention and graduation. This award recognizes and rewards the efforts of faculty members who develop and practice innovative methodologies in pedagogy. This award showcases the creative innovations of the faculty members that facilitate enhanced learning. This award specifically focuses on the uniqueness of the "program actions" that increase student interest and drive achievement. This award recognizes the effort and documentation of outcomes by the faculty member attempting to create a new learning strategy or methodology and celebrates the faculty's willingness to expand boundaries of traditional and established teaching strategies.

Staff Awards

• Culture in Action Staff Awards
• Living Our Values Award
• President's Staff Excellence Award
• Staff Collaboration Award
• Staff Commitment to Service Award
• Staff Engagement Award
• Staff Innovation Award
• Staff Sustainability Award

Culture in Action Staff Awards

we have aligned our six staff awards with our efforts to strengthen and enrich our workplace culture so that all employees feel valued, supported, inspired and fulfilled. Our new Culture in Action awards emphasize our values of practicing servant leadership, building community, empowering others, seeking efficiency, innovating, practicing accountability and connecting with others.

Living Our Values Award

The Living our Values Award recognizes the unsung heroes and heroines working among us. It was first presented in 2017, and honors a person, unit, office or group that exemplifies all six of CSU's core values of Excellence, Engagement, Creativity, Servant Leadership, Inclusion, and Sustainability.

President's Staff Excellence Award

The President's Staff Excellence Award is awarded to a staff employee who demonstrates consistently superior performance in their position and within the University in a way that contributes to advancing and promoting one or more of the University's six core values, Excellence, Creativity, Engagement, Servant Leadership, Sustainability, and Inclusion.

Staff Collaboration Award

The Staff Collaboration Award goes to the staff member, or group of staff members, who has worked so well with others within CSU or in our community that their actions promote and reflect the University's six core values of Excellence, Creativity, Engagement, Servant Leadership, Sustainability, and Inclusion.

Staff Commitment to Service Award

The Staff Commitment to Service Award recognizes an employee who has provided consistently superior service within the University and has gone above and beyond in their actions that contributes to advancing and promoting University's core value of Servant Leadership - "Effective, ethical leadership through empowerment and service".

Staff Engagement Award

The Staff Engagement Award recognizes a staff employee who becomes or is already engaged within the University in a way which contributes to advancing and promoting the University's core value of Engagement - "Active civil participation by students, faculty, and staff in the university experience".

Staff Innovation Award

The Staff Innovation Award goes to the staff member, or group of staff members, who has been creative and/or innovative in serving the CSU community in a way that promotes and reflects our core values of Excellence, Creativity, Engagement, Servant Leadership, Sustainability, and Inclusion.

Staff Sustainability Award

The Staff Sustainability Award is given to a staff employee, or group who contributes in a significant way to advancing and promoting the University's core value of sustainability - "Commitment to behaviors that recognize and respect our environmental context".

Previous Employee Recognition Awards Ceremony Program

• 2025 Awards Program (PDF)
• 2024 Awards Program (PDF)