Employee Services
Sonoma State University Excellence Award Program Description
Program Outline
The Sonoma State University Excellence Award is intended to recognize outstanding service by staff members. The Sonoma State University Excellence Award will be awarded to two employees per year. In order to be eligible for consideration, employees must have one year (12 months or more) of university employment, as well as meet the described criteria. A committee, consisting of a cross-section of the campus, will review the nominations and make a recommendation to the President. The recipients will be honored at the annual Staff Appreciation Day event in June.
Who is Eligible
All non-MPP Sonoma State University staff are eligible for nomination. In addition, employees must have one year (12 months or more) of SSU employment, work half time or more, and have a commendable work record to be eligible.
Criteria
Excellence Award Criteria
All nominees must:
- Have 12 or more months of university service.
- Work half time or more.
- Have a commendable work record.
- Personify excellence in all of the criteria described below
Criteria Description
Excellence Award recipients will have made a significant impact on the university through outstanding dedication, competence, exceptional performance, excellent service to students, and ingenuity, as demonstrated by one or more of the following
- Contributions to and a demonstrated commitment to the university's mission and core values;
- Significant improvements in student service or enhanced student satisfaction;
- Significant improvements in a work process or system, or significantly increasing the efficiency of an operation or unit;
- Demonstrated exceptional ability to foster collaboration, communication, and cooperation among colleagues and members of the campus community;
- Demonstrated performance at a level far above and beyond normal expectations.
Awards Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee consists of a diverse group of full-time staff employees who have been employed at the university a minimum of two years. Vice Presidents will select the representatives for their area to serve on this committee. The number of committee members will be determined by the eligible divisional population (1 for every 100 or portion thereof).
How to Nominate a Staff Member
Nominations will be accepted during the nomination period, which will be held annually.
Steps for nominating:
- Complete the nomination form. Give specific examples of nominee's outstanding service in the areas listed on the nomination instrument. Nominators may only nominate one person per cycle.
- Route the nomination form to Employee Services, Salazar 2078. Employee Services will review for eligibility. Form will then be routed to the nominee, who must approve of the nomination and return the form to Employee Services. The form will then be routed for signature of the Appropriate Administrator and Vice President, who may add comments prior to returning to Employee Services.
Responsibilities
Nominator: Complete and submit the nomination form, then route the form to Employee Services. Give specific examples of the nominee’s outstanding service. Clarify or provide additional information regarding the nomination as requested by Appropriate Administrator, Vice President, Employee Services, or committee members.
Appropriate Administrator: Review the nomination. If there are questions regarding the nomination, clarify with the nominator or Employee Services. Sign the form, and return to Employee Relations. The Appropriate Administrator may add comments prior to sending the form to Employee Services.
Vice President: Review the nomination. If there are questions regarding the nomination, clarify with the appropriate administrator, nominator, or Employee Relations. If there are no further questions, the Vice President will sign the form. The Vice President may add comments prior to sending it to Employee Services, for review by the committee.
President: Will review the Awards Advisory Committee recommendations, make the final determination and approve the awards.
Awards Advisory Committee: Will select a chair annually that will coordinate the activities of the committee, including scheduling meeting times and general facilitation of the meeting. Chair will forward committee recommendations in writing to the President and obtain approval of said recommendations.
The committee will meet together a minimum of one time per year to make their recommendation (April/May). Committee members will be responsible for reviewing all nominations in Employee Services and casting their ranking prior to the full committee meeting. Rankings provided by individual committee members will be considered confidential.
The committee will clarify information on the nominations as necessary, select their finalists based on the rankings, and forward their recommendations through Employee Services to the President.
Committee members will maintain confidentiality in all aspects of the awards process. Committee members will use only information provided on the nomination form for making their ranking decision.
If a committee member accepts a nomination for the award, a replacement will be selected by the appropriate Vice President.
Employee Services : Provides overall coordination, support, and training of Awards Advisory Committee members. Establishes nomination period deadline, distributes announcements and nomination forms, verifies commendable work record of nominee, receives nomination forms and routes for signature, and holds signed nomination forms for review by committee members. Employee Services serves as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Awards Advisory Committee.
Awards
Recipients of the Excellence Award receive:
- Cash award of $1500
- A personalized plaque
- A gift
- Their photo and article in Newsbytes and placed on the campus website
- Honored at Staff Appreciation Day
- Lunch with the President and their Vice President
- Breakfast for their department
- Participate in the Platform Party at Commencement
Past Excellence Award Nominees
Past Excellence Award Recipients
