Distinguished Staff Award

Nominating Individuals

Who may be nominated: All classified staff (contract classified and classified non-union), and professional staff at the University of Washington who hold a 50% or greater regular appointment and have been employed at the University for a minimum of six months as of the nomination deadline are eligible to be nominated.

What you will be asked: As a nominator, you will be asked to explain how your nominee provides extraordinary service beyond their basic job description and demonstrates the University of Washington values of integrity, diversity, excellence, collaboration, innovation, and respect. You will be also asked to explain how your nominee:

• Provides superior sustained service or a special one-time contribution to the mission of the unit or University;
• Continually contributes to a respectful, diverse, and collaborative work environment;
• Exhibits exceptional resourcefulness, innovation, or creativity, and exemplifies excellence and integrity in workplace relationships, interactions, and decision-making.

Nomination letters need to identify at least three of the above criteria that apply to the nominee.

Nominating Teams

Who can be nominated: A team may be a formally appointed group or a group of up to eight (8) people who work together on a regular basis. Both project teams and permanent teams may be nominated. The team award is divided equally among team members.

Teams consisting of classified (contract classified and classified non-union), and/or professional staff at the University of Washington who hold a 50% or greater regular appointment and have been employed at the University for a minimum of six months as of the nomination deadline are eligible to be nominated.

What you will be asked: As a nominator, you will be asked to explain how the team members provide extraordinary service beyond the basic job description and how their work as a team demonstrates the University of Washington values of integrity, diversity, excellence, collaboration, innovation, and respect.

Individual team members must be identified and each individual's contribution must be described. A team may be nominated for:

• An extraordinary accomplishment, demonstrated by the completion of a special work project or activity during the last year, or
• A superior, sustained effort that contributed significantly to the mission of one or more units of the University as a whole.

Nomination Process

All University of Washington faculty, staff, and students are welcome to nominate staff members for the Distinguished Staff Award. All nominations are submitted online and the nomination process requires:

• 1 nomination letter (600 word minimum, but no more than 1200 words) and
• 3 support letters (300 word minimum, but no more than 600 words each)

As a nominator, you are responsible for writing the main nomination letter and collecting and submitting the three support letters. You may start, save, and return to your nomination at any time.

Once you have submitted your nomination, you will receive an email with a link that allows you to review your nomination. Your support letter writers will also receive an email asking them to review the letter you've entered on their behalf.

Tips for writing nomination letters:

• Provide concrete examples of the candidate's exceptional performance. Please tell us why this particular employee shines.
• Quote examples of the nominee's outstanding qualities as stated by others.
• Submit letters composed by groups of supporters.
• Solicit many letters and choose the best three to submit.

The most successful nominations provide support letters from more than one constituency. Support letters should come from at least two of these groups:

• coworkers
• supervisors
• faculty
• students
• peers
• other UW-affiliated individuals

Only one nomination can be accepted per employee or team. If more than one nomination is received, the nominators will be asked to consolidate the materials.

Please contact a DSA co-chair if you have difficulty with the online nomination process.

DSA Co-Chair
Anne Marie Marshall
uwdsa@uw.edu
206-221-4349

DSA Co-Chair
Mary Mahon
uwdsa@uw.edu
206-616-8710