Rising Star Award
About
The Rising Star Award recognizes Academic Professionals (APs) early in their career who demonstrate dedication and quality of performance that indicates they will continue to develop into an exemplary employee.
2026 Timeline
April 1 Nominations open
May 27 (12:00 pm) Deadline for all nominations to be submitted
September Award Recipients Announced
November 5 Awardees honored at the Employee Recognition Award Ceremony
Award Information
Nomination and Evaluation Criteria
The Rising Star Award recognizes early-career Academic Professionals (APs) who demonstrate dedication and high-quality performance, which indicates they will continue to develop into exemplary employees. APAC encourages nominations of employees who personify commitment, integrity, and professionalism in support of their department, college, or University unit’s mission.
Nominees should demonstrate a combination of some or all of the following characteristics:
- Initiative in providing guidance and assistance about interactions with other employees, faculty, students, and/or patients.
- Commitment to a high-quality work ethic in carrying out responsibilities.
- Consistent engagement as a team player; proactive in helping coworkers.
- Routinely goes above and beyond expectations when completing tasks.
- Supports team decisions and projects while actively contributing to help the team achieve its shared goal.
- Displays promising leadership qualities by spearheading accomplishments that have an impact on the work environment.
- Receipt of annual reviews documenting that performance “exceeds expectations.”
- Service contributions outside of defined job responsibilities.
Eligibility Criteria (to be verified by UIC HR)
- Nominees must be employed as APs at UIC (including regional campus locations and Chicago-based units of the UI System) at 50% time or higher for between three and ten consecutive years. Qualifying years of service may be across multiple AP titles but must be completed by April 1 of the nomination year.
- Nominees cannot be past recipients of the Rising Star or CAPE awards.
- An employee may not receive more than one of the following awards in the same Employee Recognition season: Award of Merit, CAPE Award, and Rising Star Award.
- Any employee with disciplinary action on their university employment record within the last five years will be ineligible.
- Nominees cannot be current members of the APAC Awards committee. If nominated, they must recuse themselves from the committee for the current award year.
Award
Each Rising Star awardee will receive a one-time cash award of $1,500. Up to three (3) APs will receive the Rising Star Award per year.
Nomination Application
The online Rising Star application portal is available at Rising Star Nomination. The nomination packets must be compiled as a single merged PDF file, uploaded, and include the following elements in the order listed below:
- A narrative/personal statement prepared by the nominator, not to exceed three pages.
- A current resume or curriculum vitae.
- An official job description (not an informal summary) is to be provided by the nominee’s unit. The nominator (if not the nominee’s supervisor) must inform the supervisor of the nomination.
- A minimum of three (maximum five) letters of professional endorsement.
- The PDF packet should be named LastName, FirstName_Rising Star 2026.
Who to Contact
For any questions regarding the Rising Star Award, please contact Selection Committee Co-Chairs- Shubha Priyamvada (shubha@uic.edu) or Nicole Messier (nmessier@uic.edu).
2025 Rising Star Award Winners
Edin Huicochea, Senior Academic Advisor, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Nicki Bohnker, Senior Research Specialist, College of Medicine, Peoria
Natalie Lopez-Yanez, Director, Public Health Initiatives, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Rising Star Selection Committee
Awardees may be contacted in subsequent award periods to serve on future Rising Star selection committees.
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Left to Right: Nicki Bohnker, Edin Huicochea, Natalie Lopez-Yanez