Thomas Award for Outstanding Community Education/Service

Award Description

The Cleo and Carla Thomas Award for Outstanding Community Education/Service, established in 1999, is a faculty-administered award designed to honor an outstanding faculty member in their achievements in the area of education or service to the civic community of Jacksonville, Alabama and the surrounding area.

The award is named after and funded by Drs. Cleo and Carla Thomas. The Thomases are longtime supporters of Jacksonville State University, giving both their time and generous charitable contributions to the students and faculty of the JSU community. Dr. Cleo Thomas is a past president of the International House Board, and both he and his wife, Dr. Carla Thomas, established the Thomas Outstanding Community Service Award to “support the teaching enterprise and honor faculty service and activities.” According to Dr. Cleo Thomas, “Much of...what makes our region wonderful can be traced to JSU.” This award honors the impact that JSU, its faculty, and its students have on our local community.

Jacksonville State University views community education and service as an active collaboration that builds on the resources, skills, and knowledge of a regional area to improve its quality of life in a manner consistent with the campus mission.

The person selected for this honor will receive an honorarium of $500, a budget of $500 for expenses, and a framed certificate that recognizes this accomplishment.

Criteria and Eligibility

• Full-time faculty holding the rank of Instructor or higher
• Notable experience devising programs or workshops for the community, volunteering in the community, developing outreach programs, involving students in service activities, utilizing university resources for the benefit of the community, and/or promoting multi-cultural awareness
• Evidence of a high standard of civic engagement and service learning documented with peer reviews, student evaluations, assessments from community organization representatives, and other evidence of community and civic engagement
• An awardee is ineligible to receive the same award again for three years but remains eligible for other awards during that time.

Nomination Procedures

This award will be selected by the Faculty Honors and Grants Committee, which is comprised of at least one faculty representative from each academic college.  Nominations by students, colleagues, department heads, and deans are encouraged. Accomplishments from the previous three academic years (AY) will be considered (including AY 21-22, AY 22-23, and AY 23-24, beginning with Fall 2021 and ending with Summer 2024).

Nominators should inform nominees that they are being nominated and may solicit their assistance in preparing nomination materials.

Required Nomination Documents

The nomination packet for this award will consist of the following, compiled into one single PDF file in the order indicated. Please contact Faculty Commons if you need assistance compiling documentation into a PDF file.  Letters of support from faculty, students, and colleagues are encouraged, along with documentation of the service being considered. All materials will be reviewed by the Faculty Honors and Grants Committee.

1. One official Letter of Nomination by the nominator(s) advocating the basis for the nomination (relating the nominee’s community service activity to the criteria for the award)
2. Up to three additional Letters of Support from internal or external colleagues to complement the Letter of Nomination—No more than three additional Letters of Support will be considered
3. Nominee’s curriculum vitae (no more than fifteen pages) *For those nominating a colleague, contact the nominee for a copy of their CV, or contact the nominee’s departmental administrative assistant for help acquiring a CV
4. Supporting documentation may include statements from community members or organization leaders, presentations to the community, newspaper articles, articles or presentations on community projects, and recognition from community organizations—*Only supporting documentation from the specified years outlined in the Nomination Procedures will be considered

Nomination Deadline:

All nominations must be submitted electronically via the Faculty Awards nomination form, linked below, no later than 4:30 PM CST on Friday, February 21, 2025. No deadline extensions will be given.