Service Awards Announcement for Special Awards

The University is very pleased to call for nominations for three significant annual employee awards: President’s Leadership Award ; Gabor Exemplary Employee Award ; and iTHINK Financial Customer Service Award . Award winners will be honored at the Annual Employee Service Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.

President’s Leadership Award Program

The President’s Leadership Award Program is intended to recognize individual employees of Florida Atlantic University who have rendered services of an extraordinary nature to the University and/or the greater community.

Persons recognized should have played leadership roles in efforts that delivered substantial benefits to the University as a whole, to a community served by the University, or to another external population. Leadership can be demonstrated in many ways. In all cases, however, leaders inspire and mobilize others to work cooperatively and effectively toward the betterment of the University or community. Leaders are innovative and resourceful. They have a vision of how the institution, its relationship to the community, or the community itself could be made better. Leaders are willing to work hard to turn that vision into reality and they are able to earn the support of others for their projects. Leaders go beyond their job descriptions and exceed the typical expectations of the assignment. Leaders make a difference.

One President’s Leadership Award will be presented. Nominations will be accepted in the following categories: SP employee; AMP employee; Faculty or Librarian employee; and Academic Administrator.

Nominees may have shown leadership either in a crisis situation or in the normal work environment. Recognition may be for a single outstanding demonstration of leadership or for ongoing leadership within the University or the community at large.

The award winner will receive specially designed, engraved trophy and $1,500 (before taxes) along with a letter of congratulation from the President.

Gabor Exemplary Employee Award

The Gabor Employee Award recognizes two employees each year for their exemplary service to Florida Atlantic University in the performance of their specific jobs.

AMP and SP employees are eligible for award consideration. Nominations will require that the employees provided exemplary service in at least one of the following ways:

Specific dollar savings
Improved efficiency in operations
Program improvement through new program implementation or program enhancement of existing standards

Award winners will receive specially designed, engraved trophies and $1200 (before taxes) along with letters of congratulation from the President.

iTHINK Financial Customer Service Award

The iTHINK Financial Customer Service Award emphasizes and highlights an FAU employee’s commitment to providing top-quality customer service in all situations to all constituencies, including external customers (i.e., the public, members of the community, alumni, parents, donors, other colleges, and universities, and both profit and not-for-profit organizations) and internal customers (i.e., students and the University’s own faculty and staff). The award recognizes employees who have made exceptional contributions, exceeding normal expectations, to further the University’s mission by delivering service of superior quality.

AMP and SP employees are eligible for award consideration. Examples of service that exceeds expectations may include going above and beyond the call of duty in providing assistance to customers, being extremely conscientious in making sure that customers get the guidance they need to fulfill their needs, and maintaining a steady focus on the timely and courteous delivery of services even under stressful circumstances.

Award winners will receive specially designed, engraved trophies and $1200 (before taxes) along with letters of congratulation from the President. There will be 2 winners selected.

Nominations for All Awards

Nominations must be submitted on the online nomination form and must include an essay of approximately one page describing the nominee’s achievements in as much detail as possible. Additional documentation may be included to help the selection committee fully appreciate the nominee’s achievements.
Employees may be nominated for more than one award.
Multiple nominations for an employee are welcomed.
Nominations must be submitted by a second party; self-nominations will not be accepted.
Positions higher than Associate Dean and Director are not eligible.
Temporary (OPS) employees are not eligible
Nominees must have been employed for one continuous year prior to the nomination and must have had satisfactory service without any disciplinary actions during the preceding year.

A Selection Committee made up of Faculty, AMP, and SP representatives will screen nominations for all three awards, which will be presented at the Employee Service Awards ceremony on Tuesday, April 11, 2023

The nomination deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 10, 2023

Nomination Form

Helpful Hints to Complete a Nomination

The University is providing an opportunity for you to nominate someone you know that is doing some amazing things by going “above and beyond” their job description every day. We wanted to help provide you with some tips to assist you in writing your nomination to help the committee understand the significance of their contribution.

The nomination form is stronger if it provides significant information on how the person impacts the University. For example, if you have support letters from supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates; as well as letters from individuals from areas outside the department, or the university, it makes the nomination form stronger.

In your nomination explanation, please include data or examples to help explain their contribution.

Data-
Please include data or numbers and provide context for the significance of those numbers. For example, “Jane Doe discovered $400,000 in unutilized funds at the college that existed in various accounts.” is not as helpful to us as, “Jane Doe discovered $400,000 in unutilized funds at the to college that existed in various accounts, such as overhead return and tech and lab fee accounts. These funds played a critical role in making essential renovations, purchasing new equipment, and vehicle maintenance.
Remember the nomination period
The winner selection committee is looking for the accomplishments specifically from January 1 to December 31 of the previous calendar year. Examples provided should be from that time frame with the exception of the President’s Leadership Award. Their contribution may have occurred for a longer time period than including the previous calendar year.
Be specific
Many nominations use the terms such as “above and beyond” or “dedicated employee. These phrases do not help the committee on how they stand out. Please be sure to provide clear, concise examples that will provide insight to the committee. For example, “Kevin Jones found a way to help generate dollar savings to the college by converting a $350,000 deficit into a $150,000 surplus during the past year. In addition, he has helped improve efficiencies by implementing tools to help streamline processes to disburse scholarships reducing the time from 20 days to 5 days. Indicate how the person goes above and beyond their job description.
Conclusion
Be sure to include a summary of why you have recommended this person for the award.
Proofread
Be sure you have touched on all the criteria for the award. Make sure there are no typos that may confuse the readers. If acronyms are used, make sure that you have explained them with the initial mention.

We hope these tips help provide you with the information that is needed when filling out the nomination form.