Annual Awards

The award category descriptions are as follows: 

• Customer Service
  • Given to a person, team or unit that demonstrates excellent customer service, and consistently goes the extra mile to assist their customers
• Innovation
  • Given to a person, team or unit to recognize their efforts to improve processes, products or services
• Continuous Improvement
  • Given to a person, team or unit that demonstrates a commitment to continuous improvement through innovation and everyday actions
• New Employee Recognition
  • Given to a recently hired employee (less than one year of service) who has already made significant, positive contributions to the organization
• Belonging & Fairness
  • Given to a person, team or unit that has taken purposeful, tangible action(s) towards creating a greater sense of belonging and fairness in the workplace
• Collaboration & Teamwork
  • Given to a person, team or unit that promotes collaboration within or between divisions/departments, strengthens team bonds, improves morale and engagement, and boosts productivity

Timeline of the 2025 Annual Awards:

• January 6: Submission period opens
• February 7: Submission period closes
• February 24: Award recipients notified
• March 27: Award ceremony

The 2026 timeline will be updated in Fall 2025.

• Anyone from the UMD community (non-Administration included) can nominate a Division of Administration employee, unit or team of no more than 10 people.
• Nominations can include activities from outside the division
  • For example, a division staff member was part of a team working on a project with the Division of Student Affairs
• If nominating an individual, they must be a regular Exempt or Nonexempt employee, have a current PRD rating of "Meets Expectations" or above, and must have worked for the Division of Administration for at least six months.
• If nominating a team, each member must be a regular Exempt or Nonexempt employee.

The review committee is made up of peers across the division who will review the nominations and will decide if the nomination is appropriate for this recognition program. After review by the supervisor of the nominee, the review committee will send the finalists to the Division of Administration senior leaders for final selection.

The submission period is now closed. Thanks for your nominations!

The short form contains questions that will help the review committee better assess the nomination's qualifications. There will also be an option to submit optional supporting documentation, such as photos and emails.

Each category will have between 1-4 questions related to how the nominee demonstrates excellence in that category. Providing specific examples to the category will be beneficial. 

Guidance: stronger applications will have detailed answers to questions and be five sentences or more. Submitting supporting documentation, such as email testimonials, will also make the application stronger.

Approximate time to complete form: ~5-7 minutes

The Annual Awards occur once a year (typically in January) to honor and recognize division staff for their work over the course of the year. 

Administration Excellence is an ongoing recognition program to recognize staff at any point in the year, and usually include a specific project or work related experience.