Purpose
Each year, the College of Education and Human Ecology recognizes excellence through multiple awards. Faculty and staff, nominated by their peers, are awarded for their outstanding contributions toward achieving the college’s vision, mission, and goals.
Nominations
Faculty and staff are invited to nominate their colleagues for one or more of the EHE distinguished awards. Nomination letters should describe the nominee’s performance and include details about their outstanding contribution to the college, their field/area, and ways in which the nominee exemplifies the description and criteria for the award.
Please address the following in your nomination submission:
- Nominee’s contact information: name, title, email, and phone number
- Nominator’s contact information: name, title, email, and phone number
- Name of award
- Narrative describing the nominee’s contributions using the following questions as guidelines:
- In what context and for how long have you known the nominee?
- Why have you chosen to nominate this person?
- How does the nominee demonstrate specific aspects of the award? Provide examples citing specific contributions (e.g., program development, leadership, service) to support your nomination.
- Can you certify, to the best of your ability, that the information in this submission is accurate?
Nominations should be submitted to Nicole Luthy at luthy.22@osu.edu by Friday, May 16, 2025. Please attach your letter of nomination as a Word document or PDF.
Award Criteria and Eligibility
Each category has its own parameters for the nominator to justify and explain how the nominee fulfills the award criteria. All nominees must be part-time (at least 50% FTE) or full time, faculty or staff, and must be in good standing with the college. Temporary staff and graduate associates are not eligible. There are eight awards, and the recipients for each category will be recognized at the EHE Convocation on August 20, 2025, and receive a $1,000 cash award from the Herrick fund (Note: Recipients of the staff team award share the cash prize.) Members of the EHE Executive Committee and the EHE Staff Advisory Council will review and select awardees. Note: All cash awards, regardless of amount, represent taxable income to the individual.
Awards
EHE Distinguished Teaching Award
Honors individuals for excellence in teaching that encourages inquiry, reflection, and innovation. Recipients value multiple perspectives and infuse technology while encouraging scholarship and collaboration. Nominations should address how the nominee demonstrates the following aspects of the EHE Distinguished Teaching Award:
- Supporting inquiry, reflection, and innovation through excellent teaching allowing multiple perspectives
- Encouraging scholarship and collaboration among their peers and students
EHE Distinguished Faculty Service Award
Honors individuals who make extensive contributions to furthering the mission of EHE. Their contributions allow faculty, staff, and students to focus positively on achieving excellence. Recipients offer a record of participation and contribution in departmental committees, graduate studies committee, program committees, and professional committee memberships. Nominations should address how the nominee demonstrates the following aspects of the EHE Distinguished Faculty Service Award:
- Furthering the mission of EHE by both taking direct action and inspiring others
- Offering service to EHE by committee membership or other substantive means
EHE Distinguished Research Award
Honors individuals who advance the field through transforming and integrating knowledge, facilitating learning, solving compelling problems, contributing to public policy, evaluating practices and programs, or interpreting knowledge for relevant audiences. Nominations should address how the nominee demonstrates the following aspects of the EHE Distinguished Research Award:
- Scholarly activity that transforms or integrates knowledge within a given field
- Contributions that advance learning, problem-solving, policy, evaluation, or scholarly understanding
The Rudine S. Bishop Enhancement Award
The Rudine S. Bishop award, named for the emeritus EHE professor who has done award-winning work in the field of African American children’s literature, honors faculty or staff who have demonstrated exceptional innovation and creativity in their respective fields. The individual chosen for this award will have clearly demonstrated their belief in the value of pioneering new ideas and approaches that enhance the educational experience within the college and beyond. This commitment to innovation may be reflected in a number of ways: designing and offering cutting-edge courses, developing unique programs or initiatives that engage EHE students and the college, implementing new technologies or methodologies in teaching and research, or other activities that significantly contribute to the advancement of the college. Nominations should address how the nominee demonstrates the following aspects of the Rudine S. Bishop Innovation Award:
- Demonstrating a commitment to enhancing the educational experience through innovative programming or other specific activities
- Generating and implementing new ideas and novel approaches to advance the success of the college
The Brian Focht Faculty Impact Award
Honors outstanding EHE senior faculty who have made significant and sustained contributions to their fields of study and reflected excellence in all aspects of their career, including teaching, research, leadership, and service. Nominations should address how the nominee demonstrates the following aspects of the EHE Faculty Impact Award:
- Exhibiting exemplary scholarship related to critical issues in their fields
- Advocating for access inclusion, fairness and justice
- Facilitating mutual respect and belonging for people from all backgrounds and communities
- “Paying it forward” through mentorship and leadership
- Engaging in distinguished service at the local, national and/or international level(s) in pursuit of contributing to the greater good
EHE Distinguished Staff Leadership Award
Honors exceptional staff leadership within the college. Recipients motivate others by mentoring or coaching, provide excellent service, and create an environment that reflects EHE’s mission, vision and goals. Nominations should address how the nominee demonstrates the following aspects of the EHE Distinguished Staff Leadership Award:
- Demonstrating effective leadership
- Motivating others to achieve professional and personal development
- Offering service to others and creating an environment that supports EHE's mission, vision, and/or goals (see EHE's strategic plan for more information)
EHE Distinguished Staff Award
Honors outstanding EHE staff who create an environment that fosters respect, integrity, fairness, and professionalism. Recipients provide exceptional customer service to enhance faculty, staff, and student experiences at The Ohio State University. Letters of nominations should address how the nominee demonstrates the following aspects of the EHE Outstanding Staff Award:
- Creating an environment that fosters respect, integrity, fairness, and professionalism
- Encouraging teamwork and collaboration
- Demonstrating exceptional customer service toward staff, faculty, and/or students
EHE Outstanding Staff Team Award
Honors an outstanding group of two or more EHE staff members working as a team to advance the mission, vision, core values, and community pillars of EHE. Recipients may be staff who work together consistently on a shared project or be part of a college-wide team, representing multiple units. Nominations should address how the nominees demonstrate the following aspects of the EHE Outstanding Staff Team Award:
- Contributing to a collaborative work culture and exemplifying excellence in their work processes and outcomes
- Demonstrating exemplary teamwork in engaging groups/units across EHE, OSU, and or the broader community context
- Producing achievements that benefit and elevate the entire EHE community