Policy on Outstanding Service Awards Program

Effective: 5/01/05

Policy

The College of Biological Sciences (CBS) follows the University guidelines in providing an Outstanding Service Awards Program. The purpose of this program is to recognize and reinforce exceptional employee performance or accomplishments, generally tied to a specific project or time period of exceptional work related activity.

Guidelines

Eligibility

Outstanding Service Awards (OSA) may be given to:

• Any full-time or part-time Civil Service or Bargaining Unit employee
• Holding an appointment of at least 50% time or greater
• With at least one year of service

Selection criteria

Awards may be made for:

• Continued or sustained excellent job performance or
• Significant contributions to the College, a specific CBS department, or the University resulting in, for example, increased efficiency, increased quality of service, cost savings, or successful crisis management.

Award

OSA’s are given at the discretion of the Dean, Department Head or Director. An OSA may be given at any time during the fiscal year and is given in one lump sum. There is no special fund set aside for OSA’s, so the department or unit granting the award must fully fund it from internal funds. Occasionally the Dean’s Office finds it appropriate to give an OSA to an individual for service to the College as a whole. The amount of the award should depend on the degree of merit in the particular case and on the resources of the unit making the award. More than one award may be made in one fiscal year, but the total award for the year cannot exceed ten percent (10%) of the employee’s salary.

Process

Any CBS supervisor may recommend an employee for an award. Awards may be made anytime during the fiscal year. Recommendations must be in writing and submitted to the department head or director for review and approval. Awards approved by a department are sent to the CBS Human Resources Director for overall College review and approval prior to communicating the award to the employee.

Communications

Once an award is approved, employees are notified of their award in a personal letter from the Department Head or Director congratulating them for their significant contribution.

The OSA Program is communicated to employees as part of the CBS policies and guidelines through new employee orientation and general employee communications. Recipients of awards will be notified in a personal letter from their Department Head or Director.