Administrative Improvement Awards
The Administrative Improvement Awards recognize outstanding work at UW-Madison in process redesign/development or customer service that resulted in improved efficiency, increased revenue channels, cost savings or improved service delivery.
Submit a Nomination
Nominations for the 2026 Administrative Improvement Awards are now open!
To submit your nomination, complete the following steps:
- Download the nomination form (may automatically download)
- Complete the form
- Email the completed form and any support materials to the AIA committee
The deadline to submit nominations is Sunday, February 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.
Award Recipients
Teams that receive an award will be provided $10,000 in funding support to continue their project if there are additional phases, based on approval of the review committee.
Individuals who receive an award will receive a $2,000 lump sum in their payroll.
All award recipients will also receive a personalized certificate.
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 Category
- 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
- Method or steps taken to identify and achieve changes/improvements needed
- Any innovative or creative approaches used
- 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
- Connection to Mission
- Connection to the university’s mission
- Connection to the strategic goals of the unit, division, university, etc.
- Next steps
- Steps that have been taken to ensure that the achievements are sustained
- How the project outcomes might contribute to ongoing improvements and future initiatives
Supporting documents including visuals, graphs, or data sets can also be uploaded. All nominations must be submitted using the link provided.
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.
The nominations were evaluated and selected based on the following:
- Project Outcomes
- Results
- Changes or Improvements
- Connection to Mission
AIA Celebration
The 2026 AIA awards will be held on April 9, 2026, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at the Carson Gulley Center.
If you are interested in attending the award celebration, please register below by Friday, March 20.
Previous Recipients
Contact Us
Questions about the Administrative Improvement Awards should be directed to the Office of Finance and Administration at adminimprove@vc.wisc.edu.