Coastal Carolina University has received the SunGard Higher Education Technology Award from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR).

Created in 1999, this award recognizes individuals or teams at an institution that have initiated technological innovations that advance the higher education human resource profession. The institution receives $3,000 for an endowment or scholarship fund on behalf of the recipient.

Coastal 's Office of Human Resources and Equal Opportunity, with assistance from Information Technology Services, recently led an initiative to automate the student employment hiring process, which made the process more efficient, consistent and consumer-friendly. Director Janis Chesson was listed on the award, along with Kim Sherfesse, Belinda Pope and Matt Nicholson.

The new process eliminated nearly 600 forms related to student employment that previously were prepared manually, reduced the form processing time by approximately one week and eliminated duplicate data entry across multiple departments.

Founded 60 years ago and based in Knoxville, Tenn., CUPA-HR is a nonprofit, member-supported organization that serves more than 9,000 human resource professionals at 1,600 colleges and universities as well as others interested in the advancement of human resources in higher education. CUPA-HR's National Higher Education Human Resource Awards program promotes and rewards outstanding performance in the field of human resource administration.