The Graduate College is proud to announce Christina Harms, an office manager in academic affairs at the Graduate College, is a Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Awardee. Harms advises students and staff in university departments on academic policy, graduation processing, and procedures in support of over 18,000 graduate students.

“Tina uses her extraordinarily strong organizational skills to manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced, high-volume work environment,” wrote nominator Meg Siebenhar, the Graduate College’s associate director of admissions, registration, and enrollment services. “Tina consistently performs duties above and beyond her daily work responsibilities and will go out of her way to make sure that students and staff have the information that they need to move on to their next step.

“Because Tina's work is in the area of graduation, she can sometimes be the last point of contact a student has with this university. Tina is often engaged with providing student's letters of completion to prospective employers or providing students/departments with procedures to address any issues that may impede their ability to graduate. I find that Tina's communication style puts students at ease and provides them with a smooth graduation experience as they are leaving their academic career and moving on or advancing in their professional career.”

Sixteen civil service employees were recognized with Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Awards for exceptional performance by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – eight this year and eight in 2020. Each recipient receives $1,000 and a plaque. Recipients’ names also are engraved on a plaque displayed in the Illinois Human Resources Office. Permanent staff members with at least two years of service and retired employees in status appointments during the calendar year may be nominated for the award. A committee recommends finalists, who are then approved by Chancellor Robert Jones.

Photo of Christina Harms by Fred Zwicky.

Story by the U. of I. News Bureau, repost from August 26, 2021, Illinois News Bureau article.