CIT Awards

Description

The Student MVP Award recognizes one student employee each year in the Illinois State University community for outstanding contribution(s) to the customers, staff, and/or operations of their technical team, as well as collaboration with others. The winner will receive a $500 award, to be used for professional development opportunities.

• Qualifications

  • Any member of the Illinois State community may nominate a student employee on a technical team for the award. Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible for the award.
  • The nominated student must have worked for Illinois State University on a technical team during the previous fiscal year. Financial awards may only be distributed to student staff actively employed at the time of the award announcement.
  • Student MVP Award winners are not eligible to win the award for a period of four years after their initial receipt of the award.
  • The Student MVP Award winner is announced at the Spring CITx conference. Honorable mentions are also announced at that time.
  • Nominations for the 2026 award will be accepted beginning in Fall 2025. 

• Tips for Nominators

  • Submit on time. Nominations are due via the online form no later than December 31.
  • Be specific. Pay careful attention to the evaluation criteria below and be sure to include in your nominations how specifically the student has excelled in those areas. More detail typically scores higher as it is made clear how the student meets the qualification criteria.
  • Provide backup. Include statements of support (up to 3 maximum) with your nomination. No particular format is required. Statements of support that come from a variety of sources, including customers and partners, score higher. All statements of support must be submitted to isucit@ilstu.edu by the submissions deadline to be considered.
  • Know the score. The CIT Planning Committee uses a scoring matrix to evaluate nominees. Both the nomination form and any statements of support factor into this scoring. Following is the criteria on which Student MVP Award nominees are evaluated, along with the score weighting:
    • A significant and impactful contribution to the customers, staff, and/or operations of the technical team with which they are employed, performed within the previous year. (25%)
    • Exhibiting excellence in the areas of responsibility assigned. (50%)
    • Collaborating with others - working with colleagues, customers, and other student staff to assist, mentor, and/or develop. (25%)