President's Awards for Employee Excellence FAQs

Answers to frequently asked questions about the President's Awards for Employee Excellence.

What does a successful nomination look like?

• Successful nominations can be presented in many different forms. Nominations will effectively address the criteria of the award, be well written and concise, and give concrete examples of how the nominee has achieved the outlined criteria of the award. You can also refer to the Nomination Tips page to view more guidance.  

Is there a character limitation to the nomination form? If so, why?

• Yes. There is a 3,000 character limitation including spaces and punctuation. This equates to almost a full page in Word single spaced. A limit on length allows for a manageable, equitable review process of each nomination. Each nomination is reviewed by five committee members before the selection process.

My nomination has too many characters; can I send it separately outside the system?

• No. All nominations must be submitted through the system to be considered.
• If you need assistance in organizing, editing, or focusing your nomination consider reaching out to our nomination editor.

Who is eligible to be nominated?

• Benefits-eligible faculty, staff, union, and academic employees.
  • This does not include temporary and casual employees, graduate and undergraduate students, postdocs, visiting fellows, fellow post doc, post doc associate, cooperative extension staff or retired employees.
• Nominees will be vetted with their college/unit HR representative to ensure they are in good standing. 

Who can be a nominator?

• Faculty, staff, union, and academic employees. Also, temporary and casual employees, post docs, post doc associates, fellow post docs and visiting fellows.

Are nominations kept anonymous?

• Yes and no.
• There are a few employees within the Recognition Team who must review the full nominations for various reasons throughout the process.
• The names of nominees are shared with HR representatives to confirm eligibility.
• Nominations are not shared by the Recognition Team with nominees; however we do encourage nominators to share their nomination with their nominees.
• That being said, nominators could have many reasons to remain anonymous, and the committee respects their wishes.
• In addition – the entire nomination process is kept confidential from the public until nominee and awardee names are posted on the website following awardee selection.

Are nominees informed of their nominator? Can I see the contents of my nomination?

• Nominations will not be shared by the Recognition Team; however, we do encourage nominators to share their nomination with their nominee.

Are nominations made public after the selection process?

• Names and department of nominees and awardees are posted to our website in September. Actual nomination submissions are not made public unless chosen as an example for future reference, with the prior approval of the nominator, and nominee.

Can I submit a video nomination?

• Yes. Video submissions are highly recommended and must remain between 2-3 minutes maximum.
• Complete the nomination form and indicate you are nominating via video.
• Videos can be drop boxed to amp87 (Ashley Miller - Program Coordinator) or you can provide a hyperlink to excellence_nominations@cornell.edu.
• Please do not email a written nomination with your video submission as it will not be considered a valid nomination.

How are successful nominations selected?

• Nominations are de-identified prior to evaluation to provide for the fairest rating process possible.
• Each nomination is reviewed by five committee members and rated according to a rubric of criteria. 
• Committee members convene to discuss their top selections and determine the awardees.

What is the timeline for the nomination process?

• The nomination cycle will open May 1st, 2023 and close on August 31st, 2023.
• Nominations will be collected and reviewed on a rolling basis May -  early September.
• Awardees will be notified of their selection in mid September
• All nominees will be notified of awardee selection at the end of September. 
• In October all nominees and awardees will be invited to the award celebration held in November.

Can I nominate myself?

• Yes! If you’d like to nominate yourself make sure to indicate on the nomination form it is a self nomination.
• You must also provide 2-3 additional nominators on the form who can support your application. These individuals will be contacted to confirm their support of your self nomination. 

Can I ask someone else to nominate me?

• We would advise against it; however you can nominate yourself. 

Can multiple employees nominate one employee?

• Yes. Multiple nominations toward one employee help strengthen a nomination.
• You can submit one nomination and include each additional nominator on your submission. Or, each nominator can submit their own individualized nomination. 
• Nominations submitted that reference another nomination are not valid and will not be eligible. 

Can I nominate a group I was a part of?

• Yes!  Group nominations can be submitted through the ONE Cornell category.
• Please note you must enter at least 3 group members to your nomination. A maximum of 25 members can be entered.  

Can my nomination be selected every year?

• Nominees for individual categories (Mission Possible, Culture of Belonging, Thoughtful Leader, Game Changer and Culture of Sustainability) will only be eligible as an awardee every 5 years.
• ONE Cornell awardees can be eligible as part of the awardee category for consecutive years, in a supporting role.

What will awardees receive if chosen?

• Certificate with the name of the category.
• Recognition points within Cornell’s Appreciation Portal to spend on a gift of their choosing.
• Invitation to the Employee Excellence Awards luncheon held in November.