UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 17, Page 6
January 18, 1996
Professional Merit Award guidelines announced

PURPOSE: An annual program to identify and acknowledge meritorious
performance among designated elements of the University's professional
workforce. Recipients receive a one-time cash bonus of $1000.

CRITERIA: Eligible professional staff are nominated for outstanding
performance during the designated calendar year. Performance must
relate to (a) the introduction of new or innovative procedures in the
workplace; (b) the adoption of demonstrable/significant cost saving
mechanisms or techniques; (c) significant personal contributions that
contributed directly to the achievement of approved departmental or
University goals; or (d) the provision of outstanding service to
members of the University or the citizens of Delaware.

ELIGIBILITY: Program is open to full-time and part-time professional
staff with at least one year of University service. Officers of
administration, deans, chairs, directors of major functions and other
defined senior professionals are excluded.

NOMINATION PROCESS: Recommendations for recognition may be initiated
by the individual, peers or supervisor. Each nomination may include up
to three endorsements from other University employees who do not
report directly to the nominee but are qualified to assess his/her
performance.
   Each vice president will determine an appropriate internal
mechanism (such as a small screening panel) to review nominations in
units under his/her area of responsibility. This process must be
communicated to all professionals in the unit. The panel, or other
review mechanism, will screen all nominations, verify that the
criteria given above have been met, and make recommendations of
finalists to their vice president. Other sources to consider in
screening nominations can include annual performance evaluations,
letters of commendation or other comparable documents. The vice
president for employee relations, as account administrator, approves
the award recipients after consulting with the president.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT LETTER: At the completion of the merit award selection
process, an acknowledgment letter should be issued by the appropriate
vice president to inform professional staff of the award recipient(s)
and to recognize publicly their outstanding performance. Vice
presidents should also include the names of other nominees and the
reason(s) for their nomination.

NUMBER OF AWARDS: Awards will be allocated in a manner roughly
proportional to the number of eligible professionals within each vice
president's area of responsibility.