FY25 Research Spot Awards Program

The Spot Awards program at UC Berkeley allows supervisors, managers, and other campus individuals to recognize special projects and accomplishments of PPSM non-represented and CX represented staff employees during the period of May 1, 2024 through April 30, 2025.

Please submit nominations for Vice Chancellor for Research (VCR) unit staff employees only using the online Research Spot Awards nomination form. To prevent delays, ensure that you have communicated with the nominee's supervisor prior to your submission; supervisors will receive an email request to approve the nomination.

Nomination Period Deadlines:
Monday, December 16, 2024
Friday, February 28, 2025
Wednesday, April 30, 2025

The Research Spot Award Review Committee and an internal VCRO panel will review and process Spot Award nominations. Final decisions on nominations will be made within two months after each submission deadline. The VCRO will notify Managers, Supervisors and Nominators of employees who will receive an award. Award packets will be emailed to managers, and checks will be processed for the respective pay cycle end dates.

Please send questions to vcrohr@berkeley.edu.

Eligibility
See the People and Culture website for complete details on campus eligibility criteria.  Nominees for VCRO Spot Awards must have a home department that falls under the Research division.  Questions regarding employee eligibility can be addressed to vcrohr@berkeley.edu or your BRS HR Partner.

Who is eligible?  Staff employees who:

•Are employed in PPSM (PSS or MSP) titles or in the Clerical (CX) bargaining unit (staff in academic or other represented titles are not eligible),
•Have successfully completed their probationary period, if applicable,
•Are on active, or approved leave status,
•Received a “meets expectations” or better overall performance rating in the last year (for PPSM employees who participate in Achieve Together, they must have received scores of “well done” or “stand out” for all achievement criteria in their final spring 2024 check-in period)
•Managers and supervisors who meet the eligibility criteria may be nominated, however, the VC Research Office requires that they have completed the Berkeley People Management (BPM) Part 1- Grow Today Series training prior to award payout. 

Who is not eligible:

•Academic employees (faculty, researchers, specialists, academic coordinators, postdocs,  etc.),
•Graduate and undergraduate students (unless they are working in an eligible PPSM or CX employee title),
•Senior Management Group (SMG) members.  

* Note that if you want to recognize or nominate a Berkeley Regional Services (BRS) staff member, please contact their respective Regional Director.

Criteria
The campus uses the Berkeley ‘Achieve Together’ Achievement Criteria as the basis for assessing Spot Award nomination accomplishments.  Nominations should articulate how the employee stood out in at least one of the five criteria:

•Collaboration
•Goal Accomplishment
•Inclusion and Belonging
•Innovation
•Job Mastery

To prevent delays, please ensure that your nomination justification addresses one or more of the five ‘Achieve Together’ criteria, and provides concrete examples of their exemplary work that demonstrate how the employee went above and beyond. Examples of strong justifications demonstrate that the nominee(s):

•went the extra mile to meet a critical deliverable or deadline, or deliver excellent service,
•inspired service to students, faculty, staff or the public that went beyond expectations,
•provided outstanding teamwork in the achievement of a specific unit objective,
•completed a project or task with excellent quality and/or creativity.

Useful Links:

•Research Spot Awards Online Nomination Form
•UC Berkeley Spot Awards
•Berkeley Achieve Together Criteria
•Achieve Together Criteria Quick Guide