Award Nominiation
The 2024 Janice Watkins Award For Distinguished Civil Service
Here is your chance to nominate your exemplary civil service employee! Nominations for the annual Janice Watkins Award for Civil Service Support Staff are being accepted April 2, 2024 - May 31, 2024. All applications and nomination forms must be received in hand or emailed or sent via webtools form by Friday, May 31, 2024, at 11:59 pm. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
The Janice Watkins Award for Distinguished Civil Service is an accolade given to exceptional support staff employees for distinguished civil service. This award is a memorial to Janice Watkins, an individual who exemplified such service. Janice Watkins worked as a supervisor in the Insurance Office on UIC's east campus.
Janice served as President of the Staff Advisory Council (SAC), as well as having served on several UIC committees. Janice was employed by the university for over ten years. She also dedicated time to external activities, as she had a heart for the people in her community. Her earliest community service began while she attended DuSable High School. Janice was a charter member of the DuSable Museum and a volunteer at Englewood Hospital. Janice was virtually known by the entire UIC community.
On the evening of December 19, 1974, while Janice was leaving work, she was hit by an automobile and was tragically killed. At the request of the Civil Service Staff Advisory Council, UIC instituted an award for distinguished civil service as a memorial to Janice Watkins and her dedication to her co-workers, fellow employees and the entire community.
Objectives of the Award Heading link
- To honor the achievements attained by one of the university’s most valuable group of employees, our support staff.
- To invoke recognition of the dedication demonstrated by support staff to people of the campus and community.
- To give exceptional support staff the gratitude of the university and the recognition of their peers, in the form of the Janice Watkins Award.
2024 Janice Watkins Award winner will receive a $2,000.00 award, certificate, and gold pin.
Applicability Heading link
- The nominee must be a full-time Civil Service employee at UIC for a minimum or the equivalent of two full time years at the time of the nomination. University Administration employees based in Chicago are eligible. Service time may include employment at the UIC School of Law and the UIC regional Rockford campus.
- Previous winners of the Janice Watkins Award are not eligible to be nominated for the same award again.
- Any employee with disciplinary action on their University employment record within the last five years at the time of the nomination will not be eligible for the Janice Watkins Award.
Check Criteria before submitting the Nomination!
Nomination Procedure Heading link
Please fill out the nomination form via webtools and include three letters of recommendation to submit your nominee. A completed application requires one nomination form and a minimum of three typed and signed letters of letters of support/recommendation. Nomination submissions can be made by any person (UIC faculty, staff, or student) familiar with the nominee. For each supporting letter, please indicate in the letter your relationship to the nominee. These may include, but are not limited to the employee’s department head, coworker(s), supervisor, former supervisor, pastor or the leader of affiliated organization(s), etc. All letters of support and recommendations must be typed and signed. More than one individual per department may be nominated. Please attach your letter of recommendation to the online form, via email attachment or send the documents to marrio1@uic.edu, or mail to Attention: Mariola Arriola, SCE Room 151D, M/C 117, 750 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60607 or fax to 312-413-0370. Completed form and recommendation letters must be received in hand or emailed to marrio1@uic.edu by Friday May 31, 2024, at 11:59pm. Please do not send your applications by campus mail on the date of the deadline since the campus mail will not be received in time. If you choose to use campus mail, please send through campus mail by May 24, 2024 for proper receipt of application packet by May 31, 2024. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
When you submit your nomination online via webtools, you will receive a copy of your submission as a confirmation that the application was received. For those that are having issues using webtools, please email marrio1@uic.edu using the fillable pdf paper Janice Watkins 2024 nomination form. Please ensure that the form is signed before sending and attach at least 3 letters of support to complete the nomination packet.
Janice Watkins Award Screening Committee Heading link
These nomination forms and letters of recommendation are given to a screening committee consisting of Civil Service employees to review for eligibility. When these are received, the committee selects a maximum of five candidates who are qualified to receive this award. They present the results to the Staff Advisory Council and Human Resources for review. The Council forwards to the Chancellor for final approval. The Chancellor presents the Janice Watkins Award for Distinguished Civil Service each year at a ceremony held at UIC in November. Please contact marrio1@uic.edu if you wish to be a 2024 Screening Committee Member.