Congratulations to Our 2023 Higher Education HR Award Recipients!

From creating exceptional employee development programs to transforming HR processes, higher ed HR professionals across the country are finding innovative ways every day to accomplish their institutional missions and priorities. CUPA-HR’s Higher Education HR Awards program recognizes some of the best and brightest in higher ed HR and honors HR professionals who have given their time and talents to the association. Here are our 2023 honorees.

Donald E. Dickason Award

This award, named for the association’s founder, is CUPA-HR’s highest honor and recognizes an individual for exceptional leadership and service to CUPA-HR.

Susan Norton

Susan Norton, senior associate vice president for human resources at the University of Alabama and long-time member of CUPA-HR, served as chair of the board of directors during 2020-21, helping lead the association through the uncertainty of that first pandemic year. She was one of the earliest participants in the Emerging CUPA-HR Leaders program and went on to serve on the Southern Region for several years before joining the national board in 2017. Norton’s leadership roles included chair of the Research Advisory Committee and member of the Public Policy Committee, Budget and Finance Committee, and National Awards Committee. Coming full circle, she served as a leader of the Emerging CUPA-HR Leaders program, mentoring program participants on their own leadership paths. Norton has frequently presented at CUPA-HR conferences.

Thanks to the generous support of award sponsor TIAA, CUPA-HR has made an $8,000 contribution to the University of Alabama.

Distinguished Service Award

This award recognizes an individual for distinguished leadership and service to CUPA-HR. In 2023, two of our past leaders received the award.

Leanne Fuller

Leanne Fuller, associate athletic director, human resources at Auburn University, has served in many CUPA-HR leadership positions over the years, culminating in a three-year term on the national board of directors as Southern Region representative. A long-time CUPA-HR member, Fuller was president of the Alabama Chapter and then served for several years on the Southern Region board of directors in the roles of chair, chapter liaison, corporate partners liaison and membership outreach coordinator. She has also shared her expertise and experience on the association’s Learning and Professional Development Committee, Public Policy Committees, and Engagement Task Force, and as a volunteer leader for the Emerging CUPA-HR Leaders program.

In Fuller’s honor, CUPA-HR has made a $4,000 contribution to Auburn University.

Vicki Stewart

Vicki Stewart, director of human resources at York College of Pennsylvania, has been a CUPA-HR member for almost 20 years and has served in many CUPA-HR leadership positions, including co-chair of the Eastern Pennsylvania-Delaware Chapter; chair and at-large member of the Eastern Region board of directors; and Eastern Region representative on the national board of directors. She also served as chair, vice-chair and a member of the Learning and Professional Development Committee and as a member on the Public Policy Committee and Engagement Task Force. Stewart has also served as a guide for the Emerging CUPA-HR Leaders program.

In Stewart’s honor, CUPA-HR has made a $4,000 contribution to York College of Pennsylvania.

Chief Executive HR Champion Award

Recognizing that what makes an institution great are its people, this award honors the president or chancellor of a higher ed institution or system who has demonstrated significant support for the institution’s HR work.

Nariman Farvardin, President of Stevens Institute of Technology

Lauded by those at his institution as a true champion of his employees, Nariman Farvardin has been recognized with accolades from multiple organizations for the institutional transformation seen over his tenure. Not only has President Farvardin supported the Division of Human Resources through hands-on involvement, but he also provided the financial resources necessary to implement their common goals: elevating the employee experience and creating a sense of community.

These efforts have included increasing leadership and professional development opportunities; conducting a compensation study and starting an employee appreciation program; creating the President’s Task Force on Equity and Inclusive Excellence; and collaborating to institute a flexible work arrangement for employees. Not the least of President Farvardin’s achievements is the intentionality with which he has cultivated personal professional relationships with his faculty and staff through regular, informal small-group meetings and establishing himself as an approachable, sincere leader who cares to know who you are, how your family is doing, and what he can do to help you in your work life.

Thanks to the generous support of award sponsor Segal, CUPA-HR has made an $8,000 contribution to Stevens Institute of Technology.

Inclusion Cultivates Excellence Award

This award recognizes and celebrates institutional initiatives and programs that have made a significant impact with respect to inclusive and equitable workplace practices, particularly those that have brought about cultural change throughout the organization.

R.I.S.E. Certificate Program, Texas Christian University  

After identifying the chance to connect two initiatives of TCU’s Vision in Action strategic plan — strengthening the workforce and strengthening the TCU experience and culture — Ebony Rose, senior learning and development consultant for HR (pictured on the left), and Aisha Torrey-Sawyer, director of diversity and inclusion initiatives for the office of diversity and inclusion (pictured on the right), teamed up to create a learning opportunity for employees looking to advance their skills and support a diverse and inclusive campus culture.

Since its rollout in 2019, the R.I.S.E. (Responsible for Inclusion and Sustaining Excellence) Certificate program has graduated participants representing every college on campus, as well as departments that span all levels of the university. Through educational sessions and the creation of an action plan by each participant, this program is preparing its graduates to move concepts of diversity and inclusion into action. Before completing the program, participants develop an action plan intended to support sustainable positive change on an institutional level.

Thanks to the generous support of award sponsor EyeMed, CUPA-HR has made a $5,000 contribution to Texas Christian University.

National HR Excellence Award

This national award honors transformative HR work in higher education that results in significant and ongoing organizational change within the recipient’s institution. The recipient is chosen from the recipients of CUPA-HR’s Regional HR Excellence Awards.

Human Resources Team, Grand Valley State University 

In February 2022, Grand Valley State University Human Resources began implementing a total transformation of their operations model. After 60+ years practicing with a compliance-based HR model, GVSU shifted to a hybrid of the HR Generalist and HR Business Partner models. The hybrid approach is structured around HR business partners, total rewards and talent management, which allows cross-functional support of programs and initiatives across campus. The new HR structure gives GVSU the ability to invest in and commit to employee talent development initiatives that span the entire employment lifecycle, and also mitigates the effects of turnover by reducing the recruiting time cycle.

In recognition of the GVSU team’s efforts, CUPA-HR has made a $4,000 contribution to Grand Valley State University.

Congratulations to our other Regional HR Excellence Award recipients: the Office of Human Resources at Towson University and the People and Culture Team at Utah Valley University! Both institutions received $1,000 contribution from CUPA-HR in recognition of their work.

HR Innovation Awards

The HR Innovation Awards recognize innovative thinking in higher education HR, especially models that can be adapted for use on other campuses.

HR Process Transformation, Rollins College

Although the Rollins College HR team has always strived to improve the services it provides, it recognized that many of its processes were manual, resulting in inefficiencies that had been compounded by workarounds created over the years to fit existing systems or business practices. In 2021, the Rollins HR team embarked on a journey to transform its business processes and HR systems. It began with an audit to determine areas that needed to be addressed. Then a new HR and IT project team was charged with creating a road map to identify solutions and prioritize the work. The project team worked over the next year to complete several core projects, including employee and manager self-service portals, single sign-on for benefits, an online HR portal that gives employees access to more robust HR information and resources, an external HR website oriented toward potential applicants, and other technology changes that consolidated resources, streamlined processes, reduced data errors, and provided better service to employees.

In recognition of the team’s work, CUPA-HR has made a $5,000 contribution to Rollins College.

BRIGHT Leaders Program, University of Texas at Dallas

Recognizing that organizations that treat every employee as a leader create the best leaders and workplace cultures, The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) office of human resources created the BRIGHT (Bold, Responsible, Inclusive, Growing, High-Performing, Transformative) Leaders program, which it planned to launch in 2020 until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic postponed those plans. As the pandemic subsided, the shift to more remote work options for staff and faculty made the original in-person cohort model less ideal. So the team pivoted and completely redesigned the program to be a fully inclusive online program that provides a wide range of leadership and professional development opportunities and resources for staff and faculty at all levels. These opportunities and resources allow participants to advance professional and personal goals, and in turn, advance the mission of UTD.

In recognition of the team’s efforts, CUPA-HR has made a $5,000 contribution to the University of Texas at Dallas.

National Chapter Excellence Award

This national award recognizes a chapter that is making a significant impact through its commitment to CUPA-HR and to the higher ed HR community. The recipient is chosen from the recipients of CUPA-HR’s Regional Chapter Excellence Awards.

Northern and Central California Chapter

The Northern and Central California Chapter strives to cultivate an inclusive and welcoming community that helps connect their local higher ed HR professionals with resources they can take back and share with their institutions. They work to achieve this through financial responsibility, commitment to CUPA-HR chapter guiding principles, and cultivation of strong leadership. Through the use of at-large positions, the chapter helps potential board members to shadow and learn how the chapter operates, which maintains the central operating structure as the chapter transitions through different leadership. Additionally, they offer many networking and professional development opportunities, including an annual spring mixer.

Congratulations to our other Regional Chapter Excellence Award recipients: the Michigan Chapter and the Kentucky Chapter!

Do You Know Someone Doing Award-Worthy Work?

CUPA-HR invites nominations for the Higher Education HR Awards beginning in January each year. In addition to an engraved award and national recognition, some awards include a monetary contribution to the award recipient’s institution, made possible through the generous support of our award sponsors.

To read about more outstanding HR programs across the country, check out the recipients of CUPA-HR’s 2023 Regional Higher Education HR Awards.