Staff awards
Award Overview
The College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture established the Outstanding Staff award in 2022 to recognize exceptional classified and professional employees. Candidates will be considered through a nomination process. Up to four recipients may be selected in a given year. Recipients will be honored at the Celebration of Excellence, and will receive a monetary award of $2,000.
Nominee Eligibility
- Must be designated as a classified or professional staff member of the college or the organizations it oversees. This includes a wide range of positions including administrative and technical support, farm and forest field positions, food service and mechanical positions, postdoctoral positions and others.
- Continuous employment in the college for at least one year.
- Nominee is not a past winner.
- Staff awards committee members are eligible for nomination, but will be excluded from voting.
Who can nominate?
- All faculty and staff of the college are encouraged to nominate those co-workers, supervisors, direct reports, and colleagues who stand out as providing exceptional service.
Selection criteria
- Dedicated to customer service in all interactions, including contacts both on- and off-campus.
- Committed to service that exceeds position expectations.
- Fosters a positive work environment and demonstrates exemplary professional character and behavior.
- Strives to support the teaching, research, and service goals of the college.
- Demonstrates teamwork and collaboration within their unit, throughout our college, and/or across the university.
- Finds innovative ways to solve problems and shows resilience.
Process
- An online form has been created to accept nominations. No separate formal letters are required.
Selection committee
A committee of nine staff, nominated by unit leaders, is convened to develop and oversee the awards process. They will use the above criteria to identify the top nominees and will recommend recipients to the dean for final approval. All members sign a confidentiality agreement and will serve on the committee for two years.
Current committee members are:
- Elizabeth Homer, Accounting Support Specialist CL3, Dean’s Finance Office
Chairperson - Leah Maxwell, Field Director, School of Social Work
Clerk - Robin Arnold, Accounting Support Specialist CL2, School of Social Work
- Tamara Levitsky, Associate Scientist, School of Biology & Ecology
- Rachel Robertson, Financial Manager, School of Food & Agriculture
- Susan Gallant, Associate Dean for Finance & Administration
Consultant