Frequently Asked Questions: Assistance for Nominators
Q: I was involved in nominating a colleague for this award, and I was curious if those who were nominated, but who don't win, are notified
A: Yes, all nominees and their main nominator will be notified once all winners announcements are completed. All nominees will receive a memento item and their nominating letters to enjoy.
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Q: I don't see information about how to get a nomination packet. Is there a form somewhere? Or do I just write up a paragraph?
A: Visit the Awards and Criteria page for information on each award and the nomination criteria. Nominations are submitted through the UA Competition Site. Please note that letters of support are required for each nomination so don't delay, as it may take you time to collect these letters from supporters and no incomplete or late submissions will be accepted. EXTENDED submission deadline is 5:00 pm, January 31, 2022.
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Q: We want to nominate a team but wonder if it needs to be made up from one department or can employees from different departments working together be nominated. For example, includes UA employees from six different departments. Just not sure if by “team” all members have to be part of one unit/division.
A: Absolutely – a team can be cross-functional across multiple units.
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Q: Our clinical faculty has had to figure out a variety of innovative ways to train graduate student clinicians with little or no ability to work with patients. We would like to nominate them for a team award. Would they be eligible, or is that only for staff?
A: Faculty members can be part of a team primarily composed of primarily University and Classified Staff when the staff members of the team play key roles in the design, implementation, and/or outcomes of the work; a team primarily comprised primarily of faculty members is not eligible.
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Q: We wanted a clarification on the 15 year employee requirement to nominate a corker for the Billy Joe Varney Award. Can they be any type of UA employee for 15 years? She has been a UA employee for at least 15 years but a minimal amount of that time includes being a Graduate Assistant. We don’t want to nominate her for this award if it’s not going to be considered.
A: The total amount of time as benefits eligible is the criteria, not the title under which they met the years required.
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Q: We have an amazing colleague we want to nominate for the Billy Joe Varney Award for Excellence who will not be with us when the next nominations happen.
A: I'm sorry to hear about the situation and she sounds like an amazing person, but unfortunately we have had employees who retired just before being chosen before causing a similar situation and according to UA procedure our winners must be current benefits eligible at the time of the ceremony at the end of April or so. Unfortunately, it sounds like that would likely not be the case in regards to your candidate.
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Q: I’m reviewing the nomination requirements and on the Team award it says recommended at least 3 letters of recommendation and in the nomination requirements it says no more than 3. Please advise.
A: For the team submission one nomination letter and two supporting letters are required, a third supporting letter is optional.
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Q: I'm the admin asst for Dr XXX and he was asked to submit a letter of recommendation for an employee. Do I complete the steps on the UAz website to nominate her or where can I go to find her nomination to attach the letter?
A: You should send the letter to the person who requested it. That person will then submit it with the rest of the nomination packet.
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Q: I am a little confused and I would like to double-check what is the maximum amount of letters of recommendation per nomination? Some places say 3 in others they say 5.
A: To submit an individual nomination you need a minimum of 3 letters and a maximum of five.
For the Billy Joe Varney, which has more stringent criteria, it calls for a minimum of 5, but no more than 7 letters.
Team awards call for a max of 3 letters and team nomination.
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Q: Team Award for Excellence: I would like to know if the Teams to be nominated can include more than one department/unit? That is, teams consisting of 2 or more members, and from two different units. I had the pleasure of working with two different units toward accomplishing a mutual goal.
A: Yes, teams may be made up of employees from more than one department
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Q: Are designated campus colleagues (post docs) eligible for the award of excellence?
A: Nominees for the University Award for Excellence must be Classified Staff or University Staff; postdocs are not eligible for these awards.
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Q: We want to nominate our associate director with continuing status for an award, but weren't sure if he was eligible?
A: Faculty are not eligible for these awards. Nominees must be Classified Staff or University Staff. If you are unsure of an individual's status, check with that department's HR representative.
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Q: We are nominating an employee for an award and asked someone from another department to write a nomination letter, but found they are also submitting a nomination for this person. Can an employee receive more than one nomination for an award?
A: Yes, separate nominations have been received for Individual and Billy Joe Varney in the past during the same year. Judges are assigned packets in different categories so its likely they would not be judged by the same persons.