The University of Utah is now accepting nominations for 2022’s District Staff Excellence Awards! Established in 1992, this awards program recognizes superior service and ongoing contributions by full-time staff employees.

We invite you to take a few moments to nominate a peer who deserved to be recognized on our online nomination form. Nominations will be accepted from Monday, May 2 through Thursday, June 30.

A total of 24 awards will be given to staff from four districts:

• Academic & Student Affairs
• Administration
• Hospitals/Clinics
• Health Academics

From this pool of 24 district champions, eight will be selected as the final University of Utah Staff Excellence Award winners. All 24 winners will be recognized at an awards ceremony hosted by President Taylor Randall and Chief Human Resources Officer Jeff Herring during the Fall 2022 Semester.

Hard copies of the nomination forms are available to those without access to the internet or a computer; please contact your district chair for more information.

Who is eligible to be nominated?

• The nominee should have at least three years of continuous service to the University of Utah by Thursday, June 30, 2022
• The nominee must be a current, full-time (.75 FTE or greater) staff employee
• The nominee must be in good standing (no disciplinary actions on file, etc.)
• Faculty, director-level staff and above, part-time hourly staff, Staff Council members and District Team members are NOT eligible for this award; self-nominations are not accepted
• The nominee must demonstrate superior performance specifically related to the university’s four major strategic goals:
  • Promote Student Success to Transform Lives
  • Develop & Transfer New Knowledge
  • Engage Communities to Improve Health & Quality of Life
  • Ensure Long-Term Viability of the University

How do I write an excellent nomination?

Provide specific and detailed examples related to the university’s four major strategic goals.

Address the university’s four major strategic goals in your nomination. Specific examples are highly encouraged.

Example: “This nominee ensures the long-term viability of the University because she is very creative, and goes above and beyond to make sure she brings back quality work.”

Better example: “The nominee used her creativity to brainstorm a new way to bridge the communication gap between patients, nurses and medical assistants. She helped establish a nurses/medical assistant exchange tool that allows RNs to easily communicate with medical assistants ahead of their patient’s appointment time. Patients have deeply appreciated this new communication strategy. Through this nominee’s creativity and quality work, she is ensuring the long-term viability of the university by ensuring patients are no longer frustrated by lack of communication and will continue to come back for hospital/clinics services.

While both examples are good, the second example contains clearer, more concrete details that relate to the university’s strategic goals.

Get the whole team on board.

Up to three letters of support are accepted for each nomination, so we recommend submitting all three support letters if you can. Ask members of your team who work closely with or have been impacted personally by the nominee to submit a one-page letter of support in addition to your initial nomination.

Though the total number of nomination letters does not impact overall scoring, different letters of support highlight different aspects of the nominee that may have been missed with only the initial nomination or provide more context on how the nominee demonstrates the university’s goals.

Include positive patient, customer or colleague comments in the nomination form or letters of support.

Some of our most successful nominations include comments collected from the nominee’s patients, customers, colleagues, etc. that highlight the nominee’s dedication to their job and the university’s strategic goals.

Provide background/context on the nominee’s role within their department.

It’s sometimes helpful to provide some background on the department, its programs, and the nominee’s role for our selection committee (consisting of Staff Council representation) so they have a better understanding of how the nominee’s efforts fit in the “grand scheme.”

For questions about 2022’s District Staff Excellence Awards process or nomination criteria, please contact Mandy Skonhovd.