- What are the chances of my nominee receiving an award?
- Can someone get an Excellence Award if they have already received an Infinite Mile Award?
- Can more than one person nominate the same individual or team for an award and will this increase their chances of an excellence award?
- How should my colleagues submit statements of support for my nomination?
- What do I do if I can't use the online nomination form?
- How long is the average Excellence Award nomination?
- When can I submit a nomination?
- Can I nominate myself?
- Who can submit a nomination?
- Who is eligible to receive an MIT Excellence Award?
- Do I have to choose a category for my nomination?
- Does my nominee have to meet every criteria in a category?
- When will the decisions be made?
- How are the award recipients selected?
- How is the selection committee put together?
- How will I know if my nominee has been selected?
- Who is invited to the awards ceremony?
- What do the recipients get?
- Who has received an award in the past?
1. What are the chances of my nominee receiving an award?
On average we have received nominations for over 100 individuals and teams each year. Typically, we’ve given out 15-20 Excellence Awards. See our archive of all award recipients since 2001.
2. Can someone get an Excellence Award if they have already received an Infinite Mile Award?
Yes. This has happened several times over the past 8 years. Infinite Mile Award nominations should be revised to fit an Excellence Award category and submitted via the online Excellence Awards nomination form.
3. Can more than one person nominate the same individual or team for an award and will this increase their chances of an excellence award?
More than one person can submit an online nomination for the same individual or team. It does strengthen a nomination to have more than one nominator, particularly if the nominators can provide a different perspective on the nominee's work (i.e., a supervisor and a customer or client). We’ll accept a maximum of 3 nominations per nominee OR 1 nomination with 2 letters of support. Letters of support should not be longer than one page.
4. How should my colleagues submit statements of support for my nomination?
Statements or letters of support can be submitted by email directly to the Excellence Awards Chair, Kande Culver, at excellence-support@mit.edu. Supporting statements should clearly indicate who submitted the original nomination (the nominator) and who is being nominated (the nominee). Please put the name of the nominee in the subject line of the email. The committee will accept a maximum or two (2) letters of support per nomination. Letters of support should be no more than one (1) page long.
5. What do I do if I can't use the online nomination form?
If you are unable to use the online nomination form, either because you can not get a certificate or you do not have access to a computer, please contact Kande Culver at excellence@mit.edu. You will be provided with a Microsoft Word version of the form.
6. How long is the average Excellence Award nomination?
Most successful Excellence Award nominations are around two pages long. It seems to take about that much space to address the questions on the nomination form and demonstrate how the nominee has met most of the criteria for the category.
7. When can I submit a nomination?
You can submit nominations for the Excellence Awards anytime throughout the year. The nomination deadlines for the 2010 awards were on Monday, October 26, 2009 for campus nominees and Monday, October 19, 2009 for Lincoln nominees. Nominations received after that date will be saved for the following year's awards. Nominations for the 2011 awards will be due in October 2010.
8. Can I nominate myself?
Teams can be nominated by a member of the team. It is not recommended for individuals to nominate themselves.
9. Who can submit a nomination?
Any member of the MIT community can submit a nomination. Faculty and supervisors can nominate their staff, employees can nominate their supervisors, and co-workers can nominate one another. Nominations can also be submitted by alumni, students, and people outside the MIT community who would like to recognize an MIT employee's work.
10. Who is eligible to receive an MIT Excellence Award?
These awards are intended primarily to acknowledge the work of benefits eligible service, support, administrative, and sponsored research staff. They are also for faculty and other academic staff where their work meets the specific guidelines described within the five award categories. These awards are not intended to recognize research or teaching accomplishments. Both teams and individuals are eligible to be nominated for any of the award categories. Subcontractors, consultants, outsourced, and temporary employees are not eligible for the cash award.
11. Do I have to choose a category for my nomination?
Yes. The online nomination form will not accept a nomination without a category. If you can't decide which category is best, you can select more than one. The committee will decide which of the selected categories is most appropriate.
12. Does my nominee have to meet every criteria in a category?
A nominee doesn't have to meet every criteria but they should meet most of the criteria (e.g., 4 out of 5).
13. When will the decisions be made?
The selection committee meets for a day during IAP to make the final selections.
14. How are the award recipients selected?
The committee reviews all the nominations by category and scores them based on how well they demonstrate the specific criteria. It is very helpful to the committee if the nominator responds to the example questions in each of the three sections of the nomination. The committee also considers the diversity of the pool of recipients. Effort is made to include as broadly representative a group of people as possible, however excellence is the primary standard.
15. How is the selection committee put together?
Each year the Rewards & Recognition office puts together as diverse and broadly representative a committee as possible. All job categories, including faculty, and a wide array of departments, labs, and centers are represented. The Rewards & Recognition Key Contacts, Assistant Deans, and department managers are consulted for suggestions of candidates who will be thorough and thoughtful contributors.
16. How will I know if my nominee has been selected?
All nominators will be informed of the results, either by phone or by letter, in late January. You may also contact the Excellence Awards chair at excellence@mit.edu.
17. Who is invited to the awards ceremony?
The entire MIT community is invited to the ceremony. Award recipients may invite family and friends as well.
18. What do the recipients get?
Individuals receive $2000.00. Teams share up to $10,000 with a cap of $2,000 per individual. They also receive a unique gift of an elegant cast of building ten in a glass snow globe.
19. Who has received an award in the past?
You can see all the previous award recipients with a brief excerpt of their nomination by going to the Archive of Award Recipients.
