A new monetary award program is being started for non-contracted university employees.

Richard Enyard, the director of human resources, said the Superior Performance Awards would be for non-negotiated civil service and administrative and professional employees.

He said there would be up to 10 awards of $500 given, and the money for the awards would come straight from the president’s office.

“If there are not 10 nominations that are meritorious, say there’s only two or three that should be recognized, then only two or three will be recognized,” he said.

Enyard said these groups of employees include positions such as associate directors, coordinators, office administrators, staff clerks, administrative assistants and food service workers.

He said the employees also must be full-time and have worked five or more consecutive years at the university to receive the award.

Enyard said the award program would be a three-year pilot program to see if it affects the motivation and morale of staff.

The award guidelines exclude vice presidents, deans, department chairs and directors, as well as members of the selection committee.

Enyard said the selection committee, which has not been formed yet, would consist of seven members.

Enyard said nominations, which will be collected by May 17, could come from anyone in the university, and employees could also self-nominate.

He said only employees who do not have contracts would be eligible, but there could be more awards developed for other staff.

“There is another program currently in development that hopefully will be inclusive of civil service employees who are negotiated,” Enyard said.

Angie Campbell, president of the Civil Service Council and vice president of the Staff Senate, said the Staff Senate sent a survey to all staff members about getting other new award programs started.

Campbell said President Bill Perry had the initiative to start the awards program in 2008.

She said the process of putting together the award had stopped for a while, and when Enyard was hired this year, he was able to revitalize the process.

“We had started it and then due to budget, it was just put on hold, and then with fresh eyes, we had a little bit of a different perspective,” she said. “We just finished putting the final touches on it.”

Campbell said there are about 375 civil service staff and about 200 administrative and professional staff on campus.

“There are a lot of awards for faculty, a lot of awards for students, but there really aren’t any awards for staff, and I think this was a start,” she said.

Campbell said it is important to recognize staff no matter who they are.

“There are a lot of staff on campus – about 1,200 of us – and we play an important role in the students’ decision to stay,” she said. “We are part of that bond that students develop while they’re here.”

Stephanie Markham can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].