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Diversity, Engagement, Service and Leadership Awards

UMKC Awards in Diversity, Engagement,

Service and Leadership


Chancellor’s Award for Embracing Diversity

This award recognizes and celebrates a UMKC faculty member, faculty-led student organization, or a UMKC department, unit or organization for engaging in UMKC’s Strategic Plan Pillar 4, working to foster an environment of invigorating multiculturalism, globalism, diversity and inclusion.

Eligibility. Full-time UMKC faculty, faculty-led student organizations or a UMKC department, unit or organization are eligible.

Qualifying Criteria. Recipients demonstrate exemplary efforts toward achieving at least one or more of the goals listed below from Pillar 4 of UMKC’s Strategic Plan.

1: Achieve a more diverse and inclusive student body, faculty and staff to increase access and academic success.

 2: Create and sustain an organizational environment that acknowledges and celebrates diversity and employs inclusive practices throughout its daily operations

3: Engage students, faculty and staff in learning varied perspectives of domestic and international diversity, including social justice.

4: Create and sustain an institutional infrastructure that effectively supports progress in achieving diversity.

5: Leverage the university’s mission as a statewide system of institutions to improve outcomes and reduce disparities for historically under-represented and underserved populations in Missouri and in global outreach efforts.

Embracing Diversity Nomination Process. Candidates may be nominated by UMKC students, faculty, staff, Chair, Dean or community members. Self-nominations are also acceptable. The following information must be submitted for consideration:

☐ Diversity Award Cover Page (link here) (Google chrome users: right click the link, select copy link address and paste in a new tab in the browser)

☐ Letter of nomination, 5-page maximum

The letter should explain the nominee’s qualifications for the award including specifics on the diversity-related program, initiative, project, or efforts and outcomes achieved.

☐ One additional letter of support (2-page limit)

☐ An abbreviated CV for the nominee if the nominee is an individual (5-page limit)

☐ Documentation regarding the diversity-related program, initiative, project or efforts and outcomes achieved. Examples of documents include websites (PDF or links) or other promotional materials (5-page limit)

The materials above must be submitted as a single PDF to awards@umkc.edu by December 15, 2023 January 15, 2024 (deadline extended). 


Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Community Engagement

This award recognizes and celebrates UMKC faculty who have made engagement with the community a central aspect of their approach to student learning and scholarship.

Eligibility: Full-time UMKC faculty

Qualifying Criteria:

  • Sustained leadership in working with the public and/or community organizations in addressing critical community concerns, and/or
  • Innovative ways of working for the well-being of citizens and communities, and/or
  • Documented excellence in extending University knowledge
  • Evidence of the impact on a targeted audience, and/or
  • Evidence of impact on scholarship/research, instruction and curriculum development, and/or student learning.

Award Nomination Details. The following information must be submitted for consideration:

☐ Engagement Award Cover Page (link here)  (Google chrome users: right click the link, select copy link address and paste in a new tab in the browser)

☐ Letter of nomination, 5-page maximum

The letter may be signed by multiple individuals, but a primary nominator must be identified.  The letter should detail the nominee’s unique qualifications for the award based on the qualifying criteria above.

☐ An abbreviated CV for the nominee emphasizing activities relevant to the award (5-page limit)

☐ One or two additional letters of support which may include community partners (Limit 2 pages each)

The materials above must be submitted as a single PDF to awards@umkc.edu by December 15, 2023 January 15, 2024 (deadline extended). 


Chancellor’s Award for Career Contributions

This award is one of UMKC’s highest honors. It recognizes and celebrates a UMKC faculty member who has made significant contributions to higher education at UMKC over the course of his or her career and has significantly enhanced the mission of the University.

Eligibility:

Recipient must be a current full-time faculty member with 15 or more years of service to UMKC, or a full-time faculty member who has retired in the past or current year and has been awarded emeritus status.

Qualifying Criteria: Recipient will have a demonstrated history of engagement with the University community and a career that has significantly advanced the mission, vision, and values of the University. This exceptional individual should be a recognized leader within the UMKC community whose contributions have helped make the University function at a high level throughout the course of his or her career.

Award Nomination Details

The following information must be submitted for consideration:

☐ Career Contributions Award Cover Page (link here) (Google chrome users: right click the link, select copy link address and paste in a new tab in the browser)

☐ Letter of nomination, 5-page maximum

The letter may be signed by multiple individuals, but a primary nominator must be identified. The letter should detail the nominee’s unique qualifications for the award based on the qualifying criteria above.

☐ An abbreviated CV for the nominee emphasizing relevant activities (5-page limit)

The materials above must be submitted as a single PDF to awards@umkc.edu by December 15, 2023 January 15, 2024 (deadline extended). 


Chancellor’s Award for Exceptional Leadership

This award recognizes and celebrates UMKC faculty members who have had a significant impact on the academic enterprise of the university through their leadership and service, and who have made exceptional leadership contributions in a dimension of shared governance that positively impacts the work of a department, division, school, and/or the campus (e.g., department chair, program director, committee chair, service in the Senate, etc.).

Eligibility.  Full-time faculty, including those who hold or held a part-time (≤50% FTE) leadership role as a committee chair, senate leader, program director, department/division chair, assistant dean, or associate dean.

Qualifying Criteria: This award is similar to the Chancellor’s Award for Career Contribution but recognizes a UMKC faculty member for leadership contributions made in a specific role. To be considered for the Chancellor’s Award for Exceptional Leadership, the nominee will have made exceptional leadership contributions in a dimension of shared governance that positively impacts the work of a department, division, school, and/or the campus (e.g., department chair, program director, committee chair, service in the Senate, etc.). The nominee’s leadership will have elevated the work of the unit while fostering a culture of respect, inclusion, academic excellence, and a commitment to shared governance.

Award Nomination Details

The following information must be submitted for consideration:

☐ Leadership Award Cover Page (link here) (Google chrome users: right click the link, select copy link address and paste in a new tab in the browser)

☐ Letter of nomination, 5-page maximum

The letter may be signed by multiple individuals, but a primary nominator must be identified.  The letter should detail the nominee’s unique qualifications for the award based on the qualifying criteria above.

☐ An abbreviated CV for the nominee emphasizing leadership activities (5-page limit)

☐ One or two additional letters of support

The materials above must be submitted as a single PDF to awards@umkc.edu by December 15, 2023 January 15, 2024 (deadline extended).