2001 Models of Excellence Program

Excellence Criteria

The following excellence criteria will be used by the Selection Committee to identify individual staff members or staff teams as "Models of Excellence" for outstanding contribution to the mission of the University. Extremely noteworthy contribution will receive "Honorable Mention."

Supportive Practices, Procedures and Policies

• Bringing about significant positive change for the University's mission,
• Eliminating significant obstacles to achieving the University's mission,
• Resolving, in unique/novel ways, problems that impede progress.

Innovative and Proactive Leadership

• Utilizing highly effective and/or novel practices to inspire and lead others to contribute constructively to the University's mission,
• Proactively identifying and resolving challenges that interfere with team/unit/school/center activities to further the University's mission,
• Encouraging a coordinated effort by a complex group and facilitating the group's ability to meet complicated goals,

Extraordinary Service to Key Constituencies

• Supporting internal and/or external constituencies in ways that exceed expectations and result in unexpected and very positive outcomes that support the University's mission,

Substantial Cost-Effectiveness

• Identifying improvements to University practices, policies and/or program designs that result in substantial cost savings or financial gain to the University while enhancing the organization's ability to support the University's mission.

Exemplary Relationship Building Within and/or Outside of the Immediate Organization

• Developing and utilizing strong, constructive and productive relationships that enable goals to be met that would be impossible otherwise.

Nominations

Nominations of staff members (individual or team) are welcome from any full or part-time faculty or staff members of the University of Pennsylvania, including self-nominations. Nominations should:

1. Apply to notable achievements by staff member(s) that are above and beyond job expectations.
2. Occur during the previous academic year.
3. Include a one-sentence description of the achievement.
4. Include a brief description of the standard job responsibilities of the nominee(s).
5. Offer a detailed description of the achievement explaining how the nominee(s) went above and beyond job expectations utilizing standards of excellence reflective of the Models of Excellence. This information should be typewritten on no more than two pages.
6. Include the name, work address, e-mail, and work telephone number of the nominator, nominee(s), and the nominee(s) supervisor.

References

Each nomination should be accompanied by two University references from individuals familiar with the work cited. References should confirm and expound on the described achievements and how they surpassed job expectations. No more or less than two references should be provided, one of which should be a supervisor of the nominee(s). If the nominator is the supervisor, please provide two other sources of reference.

References should be typewritten and limited to one page each. These references should be included as part of the nomination in sealed envelopes labeled with the name(s) of the nominee(s).

Nomination materials and the reference materials should be sent by intramural mail to:

QOWL--Models Program, 527-A, 3401 Walnut/6228

Timing

All nominations are due by November 8, 2000. Nominations should apply to achievements that occurred during the previous academic year.

Selection

Individuals and/or teams will be selected as "Models of Excellence" or accorded "Honorable Mention" based on the notable nature of the contribution to the University and the use of excellence practices to achieve outcomes above and beyond job expectations. The number of awards given annually will be a reflection of the very high standards associated with these awards.

Selection Committee

The following committee of Penn leaders, including previous Models of Excellence award winners, will review all nominations and select the award winners for the 2001 program.

Robert L. Barchi, Provost

John A. Fry, Executive Vice President

Regina Cantave, Administrative Assistant, Information Systems and Computing; Chair, A-3 Assembly

Kurt Conklin, 2000 Models of Excellence Award Winner; Health Educator, Office of Health Education, VPUL

Susan Croll, Executive Director, School of Medicine Administration

Siddharth M. Deliwala, 2000 Models of Excellence Award Winner; Manager, Electrical Engineering Instructional Laboratory, SEAS

Larry Gross, Professor of Communications, Annenberg School for Communication; Chair, Faculty Senate

Beth Hagovsky, Vice Chair, PPSA; Associate Director, Student Affairs, Wharton Undergraduate Division

John J. Heuer, Vice President of Human Resources

Serita Lewis, 2000 Models of Excellence Honorable Mention; Administrative Assistant, The MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Team, The Wharton School

Harbir Singh, Edward H. Bowman Professor of Management; Chair, Management Department, The Wharton School

Marie Witt, Associate Vice President, Business Services

Ex Officio: Marilyn Kraut, Manager Quality of Worklife Programs, Division of Human Resources

Notification

Staff members chosen for these honors will be notified in January and this information will be publicized broadly to the University community.

Celebration

A celebration in honor of the "Models of Excellence" and "Honorable Mentions" will be held on April 3, 2001.

Awards

Staff members identified as Models of Excellence will receive a cash prize of $500 each and a Models of Excellence award.

Staff members receiving Honorable Mention will receive a cash prize of $250 and an Honorable Mention award.

Questions?

For more information about this program contact Marilyn Kraut, Manager, Quality of Worklife Programs (kraut@hr.upenn.edu or (215) 898-0380).