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Nominees for the President’s Our Common Ground Staff Award are recognized for their sustained and exceptional fulfillment and expression of the values contained in �պ�����’s Our Common Ground. It is expected that nominees will excel in and reflect the totality of the values and aspirations expressed in the Our Common Ground statement. The award recognizes a commitment to all of the Our Common Ground values rather than a specific act or achievement.

Nominees for the President’s Our Common Ground Staff Award must be current, regular, on-going staff members (full time, part time, represented or non-represented) in good standing, who have worked at �պ����� for a minimum of three years. Staff members must have served a minimum of three years by the end of the fiscal year, June 30th, to be considered. Years of service are calculated based on an employee’s benefit service date.

The following employees are not eligible for this award: 
• Voluntary or involuntary terminated staff members
• Temporary employees
• Student employees
• Post doctoral fellows and associates
• Faculty members
• Previous award recipients within the last five years
• Our Common Ground Staff Award committee members

The Award Committee recommends candidates for the President’s Our Common Ground Award to the University President, who will make the final decision on award recipients. 

The Awards Committee will be made up of one staff member from each college and school appointed by the Dean and one staff member from each administrative unit appointed by the senior officer. The President of Staff Council will be a member of the committee and serve as the Committee chair. Committee members each serve for a three-year, staggered term and are eligible for reappointment to a second term. 

Deans and senior officers are encouraged to consider nominating previous award recipients. The University President appoints the Committee from the nominations received.

Members of the Committee may nominate individuals and/or provide letters of support; however, they will be asked to recuse themselves from deliberations on these individuals. During their service on the Committee, members may not be nominated.

Any member of �պ����� community (faculty, staff, and students) may nominate eligible staff members for the President’s Our Common Ground Staff Award. Staff members may self-nominate. Award committee members may nominate individuals and/or provide letters of support; however, they will be asked to recuse themselves from deliberations on these individuals.

The following four submission materials are required for each nomination to be considered. When writing a nominator letter or letter of supporter, please review the Our Common Ground statement and reference the Award Evaluation Rubric (PDF) used by the Award Committee. 

One Nomination Letter - The nominator should submit a letter explaining the qualifications of the nominee and a description of how the nominee exemplifies the values expressed in the Our Common Ground statement by citing specific examples and evidence. Please note: If the nominee is selected as an award recipient, the nominator will be asked to write and read a brief citation introducing the nominee at the award ceremony in September.  

Three Letters of Support -The nominator is responsible for soliciting and coordinating with three additional �պ����� community members who will each write an additional letter of support on behalf of the nominee. A diversity of perspectives from letter of support writers is encouraged. Letters of support should provide clear examples of how the nominee integrates the Our Common Ground values into every aspect of their work at �պ�����. 

Initially, nominees are not notified of their nominations. However, at the conclusion of the selection process and as part of recognizing employees, the nominees (both those selected and those not selected) will be presented copies of the nomination letter and letters of support.

March 24: Call for nominations opens.  
May 2: Nominations due, submission closes.  
May-July: Nominations reviewed by Award Committee. 
September: President announces award recipients to �պ����� community, and invites awardees, nominators, letter of support writers, previous recipients, and senior leadership to a breakfast ceremony to celebrate.
 

Tips on Writing Letters of Nomination or Support

The Presidential Staff Recognition Award Planning Committee has provided the following information to the �պ����� community in order to help letter writers brainstorm ideas and then craft a recommendation that can reflect the value they place on their nominated colleagues:

• Give context: Be sure to detail what the person does in the �պ����� community, how you have seen them in their role, and why their actions/contributions to the �պ����� community are worthy of recognition.
• Tell a story: Paint a picture in the reader’s mind of why these contributions are so important. Telling a story that can serve as a microcosm for what this person does in the �պ����� community helps the reader get a deeper understanding of and appreciation for why the nominee is outstanding.
• Discuss the nominee’s impact: Connect the dots between the role this person fills in the �պ����� community and how that role is reflected in the six values of Our Common Ground.

Try to think of your letter as a supportive argument on behalf of the person who has been nominated; your goal is to use context and detail to lead the reader to the conclusion that the person you’re writing on behalf of should be recognized. A helpful letter structure could be:

Month Day, Year

To Whom it May Concern:

FIRST PARAGRAPH: Introduce the person you’re nominating; their position, their department, where they work in the �պ����� community (it could be on campus or at an off-campus location). In addition, introduce how you know this person: Is it a close colleague in your department? Is it someone you’ve partnered with on a project? Is it someone you’ve never directly worked with, but maybe you interact with quite a bit and they’ve had a positive impact on your experience at the university? Give the reader some context for how you know the person; it will help the reader to start to form a picture in their mind of who this person is and what their role is in the university community.

SECOND PARAGRAPH: State why you are nominating this person: Why have they stood out to you as an exemplary member of the �պ����� community? Tie your reasons back to the values of Our Common Ground. These reasons can be anything from ensuring that the �պ����� community remains a safe place to work and live, to fostering new projects or ideas, or to consistently being a well-respected pillar of your work environment.

THIRD PARAGRAPH: Give the reader some additional context for the reasons you state above. A helpful way to do this can be to tell a story about this person. Bring them to life through their actions by recalling one or two experiences you had with them that made you think, “Wow, this person really is the epitome of respect/integrity/innovation/openness/justice/responsibility.” Then, tell that story; show the reader how the actions or ideas of this person made you think of them as outstanding. That story can be a powerful way to paint a picture in the reader’s mind for who this person is and what their impact is on our community.

FOURTH PARAGRAPH: Discuss impact. Build off the story you’ve told and highlight that as an example of how this person reflects Our Common Ground. Think of discussing impact in up to three ways: 1) On the individual level: How has this person’s actions/contributions to the �պ����� community had an impact on you? 2) How have you seen this person’s actions/contributions have a positive impact on those around them? 3) How does this impact on those around them have a positive impact on the university? Remember that the President’s Our Common Ground Staff Award is designed to recognize staff members who have a very wide variety of roles at the university, so think about how a person’s work and/or your day-to-day experience with them reflects the six values of Our Common Ground.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Your Department
(Note: This sample letter is 444 words)

A few final tips:

• Keep it conversational: An effective letter does not need to be overly-formal. The tone for this story can be casual; think of it as you’re explaining this person to a friend/colleague over coffee, and you just want to give them a clear explanation of why you admire the person you’re writing for.
• Don’t feel obligated to address every single value of Our Common Ground: Know that your letter is one of several that are submitted on behalf of an individual. Other letter writers will be supporting this person in different ways.
• Read your letter once over: Make sure you’ve said what you want to say. You may also want to find a friend or colleague to read your letter as well; sometimes fresh eyes can be helpful to pick up on tiny spelling or grammatical errors.
• Upload your letter: You can draft your letter at a university computer and then upload the file as a .docx, a .pdf or a .jpeg file. In addition, a letter may be written directly into the online form.