Distinguished Service Award
Overview
The Distinguished Service Award is given annually to recognize an individual in the SACUBO region for his or her distinguished service to higher education in the field of business and financial management. The award is normally presented at the SACUBO Annual Meeting; however, the 2020 recipient will be recognized at the next SACUBO conference.
Awards will be made at the discretion of the selection committee and with approval of the SACUBO Board of Directors. It is not required that the award be given annually.
Guidelines and Eligibility
- Candidates must be contributing members of our professional community, and must be, or have been, directly associated with managing resources in higher education.
- Candidates must show mature and effective professional skills, leadership ability, and vision.
- Candidates may not be currently serving on the SACUBO Board, staff, or Distinguished Service Committee.
- Anyone, within or outside of higher education, may submit nominations for the award.
2020 Recipient
Al Little is the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Service Award. Al is the Vice President for Business Services at Florida State College at Jacksonville, a position he has held since 2014. He previously served as Chief Business Officer at three other institutions for a total of 24 years CFO experience, and he is the longest tenured CBO in the Florida College System. He began his career in Tennessee after completing degrees at Lipscomb University and Middle Tennessee State University, and he moved to Florida in 1989.
Al has been described as someone who leads with humility, competence, and integrity – a man of great character. Those who have worked with Al know the “storms” he has had to “weather” including addressing an ineffective ERP implementation, reorganization of units, centralization of services, major decreases in enrollment, decreases in funding, and other challenges. Al has been stalwart in the performance of his duties and in assurances that tightening of the belt did not mean to cease and desist with innovation and doing great things.
Al began service with SACUBO as a member of the Community College Constituent Council in 1999, and subsequently served as Constituent Council Chair, Database Administrator, and the Presidential succession line, totaling 13 years on the SACUBO Board. He maintained the SACUBO database, the SACUBO website, and sent out email communications for 8 years. Al wrote a database program to track and award CPE credit based on barcode scans, which was used for a period of time by three of the four regional ACUBOs. He also served on numerous ad hoc committees and completed two terms on the NACUBO Board of Directors.
Al is married to his lovely wife, Mary, and they recently celebrated their 35th anniversary. They have a son, Matt, who lives much too far away in Chicago with his wife, Sarah. Al is looking forward to retirement sometime in 2021.
