Professional Staff Council

John Paul Mees Award for Outstanding Professional Staff

To recognize excellence among University of Central Missouri’s many exceptional professional staff members, the Professional Staff Council created the John Paul Mees Award for Outstanding Professional Staff. Each year, this award is bestowed upon a current professional staff member who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to University of Central Missouri, their community, professional activities, and service to students. This award was named for Dr. John Paul Mees who embodied the above four criteria. Dr. Mees, who was affectionately known as J.P., began his employment at University of Central Missouri in 1988 as Executive Assistant to the President and Professor of Education. In 1994, he became Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs after serving in this position on an interim basis for a year. He was named to his final post, Vice President of Planning and Policy/Executive Assistant to the President, in 1998. Dr. Mees, passed away suddenly while serving in this role. To quote President Bobby Patton: “J.P. was an extremely dedicated and motivated employee of the University. He was always a good listener and attentive to others. He was a person who truly liked people and let that be known. Everyone felt valued and appreciated when working with J.P. He was a man with extremely high values and someone you could always trust. J.P. was active in the community both on and off campus. He always had a warm smile and a friendly handshake for everyone he met. He valued his family and was truly a caring person. In summary, J.P. was the sort of person that everyone enjoyed being with, who could make even difficult situations more bearable and affirmed the highest human values.”

Former Recipients

2003 Walt Hicklin

2004 Mary Alice Lyon

2005 Mike Jeffries

2006 Jim Piatt

2007 Dale Carder

2008 Carole Nimmer

2009 Beth Rutt

2010 Brenda Moeder

2011 Karen Hibdon

2012 John Culp

Watch the John Paul Mees video. (To view the video, you may need to download RealPlayer.)

Nominations

To nominate a current member of University of Central Missouri’s professional staff, for the John Paul Mees Award for Outstanding Professional Staff, please follow the instructions below.

Determine if the nominee is willing to be nominated for this prestigious award.
Nominations must be received by Jenne Vanderbout, Smiser Alumni Center, by 5:00 pm March 15, 2013. Nominations may also be emailed to vanderbout@ucmo.edu and should contain the two supporting letters as well as the fully completed Nomination Form.
ANY member of the University of Central Missouri community (faculty, staff, emeriti or students) may submit nominations.
The nominator must complete the Nomination Form explaining how the nominee has demonstrated outstanding commitment in all five areas: the University, their community, professional activities, service to students, and offices/positions held by the nominee during their employment at Central Missouri.
Two supporting letters must accompany the Nomination Form. These supporting letters can be from faculty, staff, emeriti, students, or community members. Each letter should be substantial (a minimum of one page), but must not exceed four pages in length.
After review by the Professional Staff Council President, all complete nominations will be forwarded to the Professional Staff Council Human Resources Committee for selection of the recipient. The award will be presented at the Professional Staff Breakfast, Thursday, April 18, 2013.
Individuals may receive this award once during their employment at University of Central Missouri.