President's Employee of the Year Award

The President’s Employee of the Year award, offered through the System Staff Council (SSC) is the highest award that System Administration has to offer and aims to recognize University of Colorado System Staff who demonstrate excellence in all aspects of their work.

Eligibility

All system administration classified or university staff employees, who have been employed with the university for a minimum of a year, may be nominated for the award. Temporary employees, student workers and university officers are ineligible for this award. Nominations are accepted from fellow staff, faculty or students who have first-hand knowledge of the nominee's performance.

Timeline

• Nomination forms open on July 27, 2026 and will close on August 12, 2026.
• Communication to awardees, nominators, and nominees will be on/by August 27, 2026
• The President's Employee of the Year will be announced at the September Town Hall on September 16, 2026. 

All nominee's shall be judged against the following criteria (based on the University of Colorado's Guiding Principles): 

• Outstanding Performance: Completion of work tasks that exceeds expectations by way of competence, commitment, and consistency in meeting deadlines; demonstrates a willingness to assist others; communicates successfully and efficiently with individuals from different teams/departments/campuses.
• Integrity & Respect: Behaves in an honest and ethical manner; gathers facts in order to make decisions; promotes and upholds the principles of ethics, integrity, transparency, and accountability; provides a respectful and responsive working environment; shows regard for others' traditions, abilities, perspectives, and qualities; promotes and embraces diversity.
• Responsibility: Seeks out opportunities for professional development to better understand their role within the organization; a conscientious steward of the university's human, physical, financial, information, and natural resources.
• Discovery & Excellence: Accepting failure when it happens; fosters creativity in problem-solving; sees opportunities for excellence everywhere; takes initiative to make processes or procedures better; helps ensure that the university is an economic, social, and cultural catalyst.
• Community: Supports and encourages communication and collaboration amongst units, teams, departments, and/or campuses to improve our communities; encourages, honors, and respects academic culture; encourages and supports innovation and entrepreneurship at all levels of the university. 

Submit Your Nomination

Questions? Email ssc-exec-committee@cu.edu