The University of Nebraska Information Technology Services awarded its first system-wide Technology Excellence Award on Sept. 18 at a quarterly all-staff meeting.
JR Noble, Information Security Analyst, was presented the award by Deb Schroeder, Assistant Vice President of ITS and CIO at the UNK.

Noble was recognized for being “phenomenal when working with students, faculty and staff.” He also assisted with security awareness for students and “actively engaged with them and relates to them when they have questions.”
“JR understands the different needs of faculty and knows their academic working environment is different from a business office working environment,” according to one of his nominators. “He also knows that faculty and staff are at different technical levels and adjusts his communication to match his audience.
His positive attitude is infectious, and he works hard to provide a positive customer service experience—whether his customer is a faculty member, student, or a co-worker.”
The Technology Excellence Award was established at UNK in 2010. In 2018, the award was transitioned to recognize staff in the new unified ITS at the University of Nebraska. The award recognizes the exemplary performance of ITS staff members who consistently provide a level of service significantly above and beyond specific job responsibilities. To be eligible, employees must report directly to ITS and must have completed at least one year of service prior to the award application deadline.
Recognition for the award is based on an individual’s commitment in terms of job performance; a commitment to services for students, faculty and/or staff; and contributions to the profession.
Nominations were reviewed by a six-member committee with 2 faculty representatives from each campus - Kearney, Lincoln and Omaha.