What Qualifies

• Strategic community partnerships aligned with USC's mission
• Civic engagement programs that benefit external stakeholders
• Outreach to communities facing barriers to educational, economic, or health resources
• Long-term, sustainable relationships that strengthen USC's community role
• Measurable community benefit and impact

Strong Evidence

• Named community need or partnership opportunity addressed
• Others involved and the roles they played
• Measurable outcomes for community stakeholders
• Sustained engagement — not one-time events
• Whether the partnership continues

What Qualifies

• Research administration, compliance, or coordination excellence
• Lab management or core facility expertise that advances scholarship
• Support that expands opportunities for early-career researchers
• Measurable improvements in grant success, research output, or safety
• Infrastructure or process improvement that multiple researchers benefit

Strong Evidence

• Specific research challenge or opportunity owned
• Expertise applied that others relied on
• Measurable outcomes: grant rates, research output, safety records, faculty testimonials
• Impact beyond routine research support tasks
• Improvements that hold — not one-time fixes

What Qualifies

• Student program or service enhancements that improve quality, access, or effectiveness
• Student-centered problem solving that addresses barriers to success
• Retention or engagement initiatives with demonstrated outcomes
• Measurable improvements in satisfaction or success metrics
• Efforts that close achievement gaps or improve outcomes for students facing barriers

Strong Evidence

• Specific student-facing challenge or opportunity addressed
• Actions taken that improved the student experience
• Measurable outcomes: survey data, retention rates, service usage, satisfaction scores
• If others contributed, describe the roles they held
• What is now different in how student support works

What Qualifies

• Consistent, reliable upkeep that prevents problems and extends asset life
• Improvements to campus aesthetics, sustainability, or functionality
• Creative solutions to facilities or safety challenges
• Enhancements that improve accessibility or usability for people with different needs
• Responsiveness to urgent needs that minimizes disruption

Strong Evidence

• Specific examples — but also patterns over time
• Quality of the work itself: what it looks like, how it functions
• What the campus or system is like because of this person's presence
• Testimonials, observations, before/after descriptions — qualitative evidence counts
• Response times, completion rates, reliability data where available

What Qualifies

• Cross-department or cross-division partnership that breaks down silos
• Facilitation of diverse stakeholders toward a common goal
• Partnerships that include voices typically excluded from decision-making
• Measurable results that no single team could have achieved alone
• Ongoing partnerships — not just a one-time project

Strong Evidence

• Named departments and individuals involved
• Nominee's specific role in making collaboration work
• Outcomes achieved through partnership — not just the process
• Whether the collaboration continued or became permanent
• How shared credit was distributed

What Qualifies

• Novel process, tool, system, or method introduced
• Substantial redesign that increased effectiveness or efficiency
• Solutions addressing operational challenges or gaps
• Innovations that improve accessibility or enable broader participation
• Responsible use of emerging technology in a thoughtful, ethical manner

Strong Evidence

• Clear problem definition — what made it difficult
• Departure from standard practice, not routine improvement
• Measurable outcomes: cost/time savings, error reduction, quality gains
• Adoption or scalability — did others use it?
• If done through others, who helped design or implement, and what roles they played

What Qualifies

• Exceptional responsiveness and follow-through that exceeds standard expectations
• Service recovery that turns challenging situations into positive outcomes
• Relationship-building that creates lasting stakeholder trust
• Service approaches that address the needs of stakeholders facing barriers
• Consistent pattern of service excellence over time, not just a single moment

Strong Evidence

• Specific student-facing challenge or opportunity addressed
• Specific examples or patterns — not just general praise
• Quality and consistency of work, not hours worked
• Measurable outcomes: satisfaction scores, resolution times, stakeholder feedback
• Testimonials from those served — qualitative evidence counts
• What the experience is like because of this person

What Qualifies

• Mentorship and coaching that produces measurable professional growth
• Career development support that opens opportunities for others
• Advocacy for advancement — not just encouragement
• Development support for individuals with limited access to professional networks
• Long-term investment in others' success

Strong Evidence

• Named mentees or colleagues, and their growth
• Specific development actions taken over time
• Outcomes: promotions, new skills, increased confidence, leadership roles
• Sustained commitment — not one-off support
• Impact that goes beyond routine supervisory duties

What Qualifies

• Volunteering at signature campus moments — move-in, orientation, midnight breakfast, exam support
• Showing up at games, ceremonies, and campus traditions beyond job duties
• Small acts done consistently — snacks at the library, a welcome at the door, an invitation to someone on the margins
• Creating informal community that didn't exist before
• Being the person others count on to make an event feel warm

Strong Evidence

• Specific moments and events — and how many years they've shown up
• Colleagues or students who felt more connected because of this person
• The kind of stories that don't show up in a rubric but everyone knows
• What an event or moment felt like because this person was there
• Consistency across years, not one high-visibility moment

What Qualifies

• Measurable contribution to students, research, operations, or community — beyond role expectations
• Initiative that identified a real gap, acted on it, and produced a named outcome
• Something built or changed that others now benefit from
• Growing depth of judgment and ownership — not just increasing workload
• Impact that exceeds what is expected at this career stage

Strong Evidence

• Specific mission outcomes: named students helped, research enabled, process improved with results
• The gap they saw and what they did about it — not just that they were proactive
• How their contribution has deepened — better judgment, broader ownership, clearer mission connection
• Concrete enough that a reviewer who doesn't know them can verify it
• What USC has now that it wouldn't have without this person's initiative

What Qualifies

• Sustained institutional transformation — not single projects
• Cross-campus change affecting multiple divisions or the full university
• Strategic leadership advancing long-term university priorities
• Systemic changes that expanded access, removed barriers, or improved institutional outcomes
• Leadership pipeline built — others sponsored into roles

Strong Evidence

• A clear before and after — what changed at institutional scale
• Policy, structural, or cultural changes with evidence
• Cross-divisional outcomes named and quantified
• Systems that now operate without this person's direct involvement
• Leaders this person sponsored who now hold significant roles