Administrative Improvement Awards

Before completing the nomination form, please ensure the project and nominees are eligible to receive the Administrative Improvement Award.

• All current Academic Staff, University Staff, faculty, limited employees, and student employees are eligible for the award. Individuals and teams may be nominated.
• Self-nominations will be accepted with written approval from supervisor/manager .
• Projects must be completed with solutions implemented on or after January 1, 2025. Projects completed earlier must provide evidence of continuous improvement cited in the nomination form.

You will be asked to provide the following details about each nominated project.

• Project name
• Name of project sponsor (if known)
• Project objective
  • A description of the situation before the project was initiated
  • The problem or opportunity that led to the initiation of the project
  • Individuals or groups impacted by the problem
• Changes or improvements made
  • Method or steps taken to identify and achieve changes/improvements needed
  • Any innovative or creative approaches used
  • Stakeholders involved in the process
  • Project length and timeline
• Results
  • Direct outputs or outcomes of the changes and improvements
  • Whether the project goals were met
  • Quantitative “before” and “after” data, if available
  • Qualitative data such as testimonials, if available
• Impact
  • Impact on customers, end-users, or other stakeholders, including the unit/division or university as a whole
  • What was gained from the project
  • Connection to the university’s mission
  • Connection to the strategic goals of the unit, division, university, etc.
• Next steps
  • What the nominated individual or team will do next, based on the project outcomes and work completed to date
  • Steps that have been taken to ensure that the achievements are sustained
  • Evaluations for further improvement
  • How the project outcomes might contribute to ongoing improvements and future initiatives
  • Plans for communicating and sharing the project results (and with whom)

Supporting documents including visuals, graphs, or data sets can also be uploaded. All nominations must be submitted using the link provided.

The nomination process takes roughly 30 minutes to complete once all of the project information is gathered. Follow these guidelines to ensure your colleagues are recognized for their great work.

• Details about the nominated project can be entered directly into the online form or uploaded to the online form as a single document using this template.
• Review the nomination form and make sure you have all the information you need to answer the questions. If you need more information, reach out to the nominated individual(s) for the required details before starting your nomination.
• Complete the entire nomination form. The review committee can only assess the project based on the information provided in your nomination submission. You do not need to complete it in a single setting. You will be able to save your progress and return to the nomination form later.

Nominations are reviewed by UW-Madison employees who have received the award in the past, administrators, and subject matter experts in improvement and innovations efforts.

2025 nominations were evaluated and selected based on the following:

• Method and approach
• Results
• Next steps
• Impact

Details about the nominated project can be entered directly into the online form or uploaded to the online form as a single document using the downloadable template below.

Download the template