Staff Awards and Recognition.
The BUSPH reward and recognition program serves to reward and reinforce actions and behaviors that exemplify the School’s mission, as well as celebrate individual successes and achievements. BUSPH is fully vested in recognizing and rewarding employees for exemplary service to our community, recognizing the impact of significant contributions made by employees, thus striving to maximize employee job satisfaction. BUSPH firmly believes in the team-spirit of our community and the importance of fostering a culture of employee engagement, encouraging a sense pride in one’s work while promoting loyalty to our employees, attracting and retaining top talent.
Employee recognition can be given in many ways and is most effective when it takes place on a regular basis through a variety of mechanisms.
Recognition from Managers
Recognition from managers can be very powerful. When done in a meaningful and purposeful way, it will enhance staff engagement and development. Recognition is unique to what drives and motivates individual staff members. When deciding on the type of recognition, think about ways staff members would like to be recognized. Recognition for outstanding contributions and achievements can be during 1:1 meetings, department meetings, or even at school-wide events.
A few ways managers can recognize staff employees include:
- Publicly praise employees by calling attention to their achievements. This can be in an email, internal newsletter, group meeting, or another appropriate forum
- Hosting a recognition lunch
- Having the employee lead or take ownership of a project
- Providing opportunities for the employee to cross-train or job shadow
For additional ideas on recognition, please consult department administrators, unit leaders, or the Associate Dean for Administration.
Think.Teach.Do. Staff Awards Program
The Think. Teach. Do. Staff Awards Program is modeled after the credo, “Think. Teach. Do. For the Health of All”, which represents the core purpose of BUSPH. These three award categories recognize SPH staff members whose contributions have positively impacted SPH departments or the school as a whole. The objective of this Awards Program is to develop a recognition system aimed at enhancing team morale and staff resilience while rewarding staff excellence at BUSPH. It is also designed to stimulate innovation and novel approaches to work-related tasks/projects that benefit departments or SPH as a whole. All BUSPH part-time and full-time staff are eligible.
Awards will be given to up to two (2) staff members in each of the three categories on a quarterly basis (up to six awards, four times per year). Awardees will be announced during all-school assemblies. Barring any unusual financial/budgetary challenges the school may experience, each recipient will receive a pre-tax award of $400 dollars.
Award Categories
Think – Innovation, Research Activities, Program Development
The Think. Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated exceptional innovation in research activities, program development, or the creation/ implementation of tools and systems that dramatically improve processes within a unit or SPH as a whole. Efforts meritorious of this award advance the strategic priorities of SPH.
Teach – Mentorship, Advising, Training, Facilitation
The Teach. Award is presented to an individual whose collaborative work has had a positive impact within the SPH community. They may have taken ownership of key concerns and needs, acted on opportunities, solved problems, or brought people and resources together to make processes more efficient/accessible for others.
Do – Community Service, Diversity & Inclusion, Community Support, Grant Management
The Do. Award is presented to an individual who has created extensive opportunities for others toward community building and making connections through programs, policies, and/or spaces. These efforts should honor the experiences of various populations and reflect the BUSPH core purpose to spark social change, foster a sense of belonging, and build relationships across differences.
The full outline of the Think.Teach.Do Awards Program can be found in the Forms and Resources section of the Staff and Operations Handbook. To recognize an employee for their outstanding contributions consistent with the Think.Teach.Do mantra, please submit your online nomination form.
Excellence Awards
Excellence Awards recognize truly exceptional contributions made by SPH staff members that are critical to the continued success of the School. Excellence Awards honor excellence and achievements by SPH staff members playing key roles in collaboration, leadership, mentorship, or training.
- Excellence in Collaboration: Recognition of an individual who has played a key and potentially under-recognized role in making a complicated collaboration between multiple groups successful. This could include an individual who has gone above and beyond to enable collaborative and successful work.
- Excellence in Leadership: Recognition of an individual who has played a vital role in the leadership of personnel, resource(s) or project(s).
- Excellence in Mentorship or Training: An individual who has played a key role in teaching, guiding, or being a role model for other staff. The nominee for this excellence award does not have to be a formal mentor but rather an individual that seizes opportunities to educate and guide others around them.
A call for nominations for excellence awards is announced each spring via SPH This Week. All SPH staff are eligible for these awards. This award may be given more than once to the same individual, but at least five years must have passed since a recipient received the award previously. Nominations should highlight contributions and achievements made within the past 12 months. Awards are selected by a committee comprised of staff and school leadership.
Excellence awards are given each spring at the school-wide SPH awards ceremony. Barring any unusual financial/budgetary challenges the school may experience, recipients receive a commemorative certificate and a monetary award.
The Dzidra J. Knecht Staff Award for Distinguished Service
The Dzidra J. Knecht Staff Award for Distinguished Service is the highest school award for service that can be given to a staff member at SPH. Recipients have made outstanding and sustained contributions to the administrative functioning of their department, and therefore the School of Public Health. The recipients of this award exemplify all that the School stands for in both accomplishment and citizenship arenas.
A call for nominations for the Knecht award is announced each spring via SPH This Week. All SPH staff are eligible for these awards. This award may be given more than once to the same individual, but at least five years must have passed since a recipient received the award previously. Individuals who have retired from SPH within the previous 12 months are eligible for this award. Awards are selected by a committee comprised of staff and school leadership.
The Dzidra J. Knecht Award is given at the school’s convocation ceremony. Barring any unusual financial/budgetary challenges the school may experience, recipients receive a commemorative silver bowl and a monetary award.
For additional information on staff awards, contact the Associate Dean for Administration.