The University of North Georgia (UNG) will recognize the professional accomplishments and contributions to the university's success of its faculty and staff during three award ceremonies Oct. 30 on the Gainesville and Oconee campuses, and Oct. 31 on the Dahlonega Campus.

UNG President Bonita Jacobs and university administrators will present the awards to acknowledge outstanding achievement in teaching and learning, engagement and emerging leadership. The awards recognize exceptional accomplishments and contributions to the university.

The awards include:

• The Presidential Excellence Awards, recognizing staff members selected from six different job classifications for their service to UNG. Awardees are selected based on customer service, character, dedication, job performance, and leadership.
• The Annual North Star Award, selected from North Star recipients throughout the year, recognizes meaningful accomplishments of UNG staff members who embody the university's standard for excellence, efficiency and outstanding customer service to internal or external constituents.
• The Eleanor Crawford Award, named for the first staff member employed when Gainesville Junior College was founded in 1964. The award recognizes staff members for their extraordinary loyalty, dedication, and service to UNG.
• The Emerging Leader Award, recognizing faculty who have assumed leadership roles within the past five years and who exemplify UNG's commitment to shared governance and effective leadership.
• The Teaching Excellence Award, honoring non-tenured and tenured faculty who have consistently demonstrated outstanding teaching. The recipient's qualifications may include effective teaching strategies to enhance student learning, such as active learning, student portfolios, and classroom assessment techniques, as well as a commitment to enriching academic activities outside the classroom.
• The Distinguished Teaching Award, recognizing excellence in teaching by a faculty member who demonstrates a well-articulated teaching philosophy that has developed through methodical examination and improvement of teaching and learning. The awardee has had a sustained and documented impact on student learning both in and out of the classroom. The recipient will be the UNG nominee for the University System of Georgia Regent's Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Among the other awards are staff member of the month and year, best practices in service-learning, excellence in online teaching, and excellence in undergraduate teaching. During the ceremonies, faculty members who have earned tenure and promotions will be acknowledged.

Click here for a complete list of faculty and staff awards.

"Our annual faculty and staff awards are a wonderful opportunity to pause and learn about all the great things going on at UNG, and to recognize the extraordinary people responsible for them," said Elizabeth King, human resources training and development specialist. "Our people work tirelessly all year long, not for recognition or an award, but because they care about UNG and our students, employees and community. It is an honor to receive one of these awards, but it’s also an honor to get to thank these individuals for their contributions."

The Gainesville Campus ceremony, which will include recognizing faculty and staff from the Cumming Campus, will take place from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, in the Martha T. Nesbitt Building, Cleveland Ballroom. The Oconee Campus ceremony will take place from 3:30 to4:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, in the Student Resources Center, room 522. The Dahlonega Campus ceremony, which will include recognizing faculty and staff from the Blue Ridge Campus, will take place from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31, in the Dining Hall Banquet Room.