Department of Human Resources

Outstanding Service Awards (OSA)

A. CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

I. Continuous Service Award - An employee is eligible to receive a Continuous Service Award once every ten award years.

Click here for a list of those who received an award the last ten award years (from 1997 to 2007-2008) and are therefore not eligible for nomination this year.

This award is designed to recognize employees who have consistently performed their ongoing responsibilities in a superior to outstanding manner and have significantly enhanced departmental, collegiate, or campus goals and objectives.

The nomination must be consistent with the criteria of the Continuous Service Award and should provide specific example(s) of the achievement, behavior, and/or effort for which the nomination is being made.

1. Work "above and beyond" the expectations of the job classification title;
2. Initiative;
3. Innovation;
4. Excellent performance;
5. Dedication.

Please note that longevity in and of itself is not a sufficient reason for selection.

II. Project Award - An employee will be eligible to receive a Project Award category once every five award years.

Click here for a list of those who received an award from academic years 2003-2004 to 2007-2008 and are therefore not eligible for nomination this year.

This award is designed to recognize individual employees or work teams.

The nomination must be consistent with the criteria of the Project Award category and should provide specific example(s) of the achievement, behavior, and/or effort for which the nomination is being made.

1. Based entirely on the output of the project and how it contributed to UMD;
2. How it supports the mission of the campus/unit.

B. NOMINATION PROCESS

1. Nominations may be made by a co-worker, supervisor, department head, director, or dean.

2. All nominations carry the same weight, i.e., a nomination by a department head is comparable to a nomination by a co-worker, a nomination by a group is comparable to a nomination by an individual. Multiple nominations will not be a factor in the final selection process. Each application will be judged on its own merit.

3. Supervisors, and deans (in academic units) and directors and/or department heads (in non-academic units) must review and sign the nominations.

C. ELIGIBILITY FOR NOMINATION

1. The nominee must hold one of the following job classifications:

• Civil Service (non-bargaining)
• AFSCME
• TEAMSTER
• Academic Professional/ Administrative (P&A) appointment that does not hold faculty rank. Individuals holding faculty rank are eligible for other monetary awards.

2. The nominee must have worked at UMD a minimum of two consecutive years in one or more of the job classifications specified above.

3. The nominee must be an employee on a continuing appointment of at least 50 percent time during the last two years. Awards are prorated according to term of employment (an example is shown below).

4. The nominee must have passed probation in their current position.

5. The nominee must have a current Performance Evaluation Form and Job Description in their official personnel file at UMD HR completed within the prior 12 months. UMD HR and the OSA Selection Committee will not review the content of the appraisals; they will verify their existence.

6. Must be actively employed on the scheduled day of the award ceremony.

D. Requirements for filling out the Nomination Form

• Must be typewritten or legibly handwritten.

• Original nominator must use this form and clearly show how the nominee meets the five Selection Criteria: (1) Work Above and Beyond Expectation, (2) Initiative, (3) Innovation, (4) Excellent Performance, and (5) Dedication.

• Supporting letters will not be accepted to support a nomination. Follow these tips if there are other employees supporting the nomination.

Tip 1: Each individual supporting the nomination MUST fill out a Nomination Form or a similar format may be accepted clearly showing how the nominee meets the five Selection Criteria: (1) Work Above and Beyond Expectation, (2) Initiative, (3) Innovation, (4) Excellent Performance, and (5) Dedication.

Tip 2: Instead of each nominator filling out a Nomination Form, the main nominator may list the names of all the nominators or individuals supporting the nomination on the Nomination Form.

Tip 3: The main nominator may collect all the letters of support from various individuals in their unit and summarize it in the Nomination Form and specify what each person wrote about the nominee for each of the Selection Criteria.

• Only the main Nomination Form is required to have the signatures. All signature areas must be signed before submission even if all areas (nominator, supervisor, department head, dean/director) is the same person.

E. STEPS FOR SELECTION PROCESS

Step 1. UMD HR processes the Nomination Forms received on the deadline date for eligibility purposes.

UMD HR contacts the main nominator if all requirements with the Nomination Form are not met.

UMD HR contacts the supervisor if the nominee does not have a Performance Evaluation and Job Description (within the last 12 months) on file with UMD HR.

Step 2. The Outstanding Service Awards Selection Committee reviews and votes on the eligible nominations.

Step 3. The OSA Selection Committee submits the selected winners for recommendation and approval to the Chancellor.

Step 4. UMD HR notifies all nominees by first class mail of the decision.

F. AWARDS

All awards will be of equal value except for the following:

1. Limitations as stated in Eligibility sections;

2. Maximum award amount is $2,500.00 each;

3. Members of a team receiving an award will divide a single award equally and prorated according to each individuals' appointment.

Awards are prorated according to term of employment. Examples:

Employee with 75% 12-month appointment would receive: $2,500 x 75% = $1,875.00

Employee with 75% 9-month appointment would receive: $2,500 x 75% = $1,875.00 divide by 12 months = $156.25 x 9-month appointment = $1,406.25

Note: Nominees will receive a copy of the Nomination Form.