UAA recognition awards and nomination process
Undergraduate Academic Affairs is a catalyst and advocate for excellence and innovation in undergraduate education. We lead programs and services for all students to succeed academically, learn from their challenges, and explore who they are, who they will become, and how they will contribute to their communities and the world. Our work ensures that undergraduate education is strengthened by the UW’s distinctiveness as a major public research university.
Staff recognition happens continuously as well as at the end of each academic year. Details are below.
UAA Value Award
UAA Value Awards are awarded quarterly to current, career UAA staff. You are invited to nominate a UAA staff member who exemplifies one of our UAA values: collaboration, compassion, curiosity, equity, integrity or transformational learning. Staff are recognized at each Coffee with the Dean, held several times throughout the year.
Eligibility
Any career staff member currently employed in UAA is eligible for the Value Award, including classified staff, professional staff and AmeriCorps members. Part-time and temporary staff can also be nominated. Recognition is not limited; individual staff may be recognized several times throughout the year.
Value Award process and timeline
Complete the recognition form and include a short statement of how this person embodied and modeled the specified UAA value; review the definitions here. The form asks for an articulation of how the nominee and their work gives expression to one of these UAA values. You will also be asked for three words to describe the nominee and their connection to the selected value. These words will be used when presenting the staff member’s demonstration of the value.
All recognized staff will be acknowledged during an upcoming Coffee with the Dean. Recognition information needs to be received seven business days before the Coffee with the Dean. Otherwise, the staff member will be acknowledged at the subsequent Coffee with the Dean.
Debbie McGhee Award for Excellence
The Debbie McGhee Award for Excellence is awarded annually to current UAA staff members who have substantially advanced our mission to be a “catalyst and advocate for excellence and innovation” and who fully embodies our mission and values. This award represents the highest accolade we bestow upon one another as we celebrate those who lead the way for all of us to continuously strive to do our best work and be our best selves.
Previously known as the Award for Excellence, the Debbie McGhee Award for Excellence was renamed to honor Debbie McGhee, a beloved UAA colleague who passed away between the time she was nominated for the award and the event at which it was awarded posthumously to her in June of 2019. Read more about Debbie here.
Eligibility
Nominees are eligible if they have worked in UAA for a total of three years. The years of service to UAA do not need to be consecutive. An individual may only receive this award once. A list of previous recipients can be found here.
Nomination process and timeline
A nomination letter is required (maximum of two pages in length). Supporting letters (maximum of three) are welcome but not required. A strong nomination will include a description of how, over time, the nominee has:
- Embodied UAA’s core values in their work.
- Substantially advanced UAA’s mission.
- Left their mark on UAA’s legacy of excellence.
Combine the nomination materials for each individual into a single PDF.
Awardees will be acknowledged during the UAA Spring Recognition Event.
Selection
Nominations for the Debbie McGhee Award for Excellence are reviewed by a selection team in coordination with UAA’s deans.
Jim W. Clowes Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education
The Jim W. Clowes Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education honors an individual UAA staff member for their work in developing and/or sustaining innovative approaches and/or programs to enhance undergraduate learning at the UW. It is named in honor of Jim Clowes, former associate director of the Comparative History of Ideas Program (CHID) and senior lecturer in the Jackson School of International Studies, whose life was cut short by cancer in March 2004.
Recipients of the Jim Clowes Award will receive $2,500 in professional development funds to further their growth and capacity for continuing innovation in undergraduate education. They are encouraged to use the funds to enrich their current practice, develop their own professional horizons more broadly, or explore new approaches to their work. Some ways that recipients of the Jim Clowes Award could use their funds include, but are not limited to:
- Attending a conference or professional meeting that may or may not relate directly to their current work, but could develop new insights or skills.
- Enrolling in a certificate or other educational program to develop new skills.
Any current UAA staff member is eligible for the award. An individual may receive this award once.
Nomination process and timeline
A nomination letter is required (maximum of two pages in length). A strong nomination will include:
- Detailed description of the innovative approach or program the nominee has undertaken. The Jim Clowes Award can be awarded based on the development of an innovative program(s) designed to enhance undergraduate learning and/or evidence of ongoing innovative practice in one’s professional work to contribute to undergraduate learning.
- Evidence of the nominee’s commitment to advancing undergraduate education and learning through new programs and/or systems.
Awardees will be acknowledged during the UAA Spring Recognition Event.
About Jim Clowes
The award honors Jim Clowes, former faculty member in the Comparative History of Ideas. Jim was a transformative educator who helped students believe they were agents of change in a world that could be grasped through critical, experiential and historical thinking.
Distinguished Partner Award
The Distinguished Partner Award is an annual award recognizing a colleague, program, department or organization whose collaborations with Undergraduate Academic Affairs have enhanced, enriched and deepened the undergraduate experience. The reciprocity of these relationships benefits undergraduates and the broader campus community.
Eligibility
Can be a colleague, program, partner or organization internal or external to the UW.
Must be external to UAA and first-time recipient of this award. A list of previous recipients can be found here.
Selection
The vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs selects the award recipient. Please send your nominations to Michaelann Jundt, senior associate dean.
UAA Stars
Paper stars are informal colleague-to-colleague recognition that are incorporated into the annual Spring Recognition Event. They will be distributed to offices one week before the event and can also be completed during the event. Please email Fiona Starr if you need additional stars.