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The University of Texas at Austin

Staff Excellence Award

The College of Liberal Arts Staff Excellence Award honors the efforts and contributions of outstanding staff members across the college. Eight staff members will be selected to receive an award of $1,200 each and a framed certificate signed by the Dean. Staff working at all levels within the college, including in supervisory roles, are eligible to be nominated.

To nominate a deserving staff member, complete the nomination form and submit via the COLA HR Wiki Submissions Portal.

Awards Timeline

 Opening Date: November 2, 2026
Closing Date: December 1, 2026

Eligibility Requirements

Nominees must meet the following eligibility requirements:

  • All COLA staff, including Classified and A&P are eligible.
  • Cannot have won the award in the past 3 years.
  • Must be appointed to work at least 20 hours per week.
  • Must have been in current role for at least 1 year.
  • Cannot have any documented performance issues, including any Performance Improvement Plans, since the last performance review cycle.

Nomination Guidelines

Nominees must meet one or more of the following criteria:

  • Recognition of exceptional impact on the College and/or the University.
  • Demonstrated exceptional collaboration, innovation, and relationship bridging between multiple departments, schools, or units.
  • Exceptional contributions towards supporting a positive workplace culture.
  • Acting as a champion of volunteerism and service within the College and/or University.
  • Builds a community-oriented climate that supports collaboration and understanding.
  • Significantly improve processes in systems, customer interaction, or efficiency in their workplace.
  • Consistently perform at a level above meeting job expectations.
  • Develops and/or maintains innovative programming that supports community building for students, staff, faculty, and/or the wider Austin community.

A selection committee will evaluate all eligible nominees. Winners will not be selected by the number of nominations, but by the content of the nominations.

Recent Recipients (not eligible)

Meghan Tantum, Lisa Vera, Megan Moeller, David Macha, Clare Thoman, Monica Flores, Christina Bui, Anne Burke, Faith Hanley, Patricia Heisler, Marshall McCready, Jeff Meserve, Hannah Young, Sarah Eliason, Edily Infanto Santos, Brittany Marsh, Andrea Pittard, Shannon Rose, Erica Whittington

Previous Excellence Award winners from 1995-present