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College Staff Employee of the Month and Dean’s Award: Employee of the Year

Current Employee of the Month Winners

Past Employee of the Month Winners

  • January - Jennifer Carr
  • December- Teresa Smith
  • November- Allison Walters
  • October - Stephanie Hedrick
  • September - Laura Rasnick
  • August - Keri Rouse
  • July - Cindy McRae

Current Dean's Award: Employee of the Year Winner

CALS's Employee of the Month program recognizes current staff members who demonstrate outstanding contributions to the college. One staff member each month receives the award, and all recipients of the monthly award in a fiscal year (July 1 -June 20) are eligible for the Dean's Award: Employee of the Year.

The Employee of the Year is recognized at the annual college picnic and receives a $1,000 award.


The nominee must:

  1. Demonstrate professionalism and enthusiasm in the performance of his or her responsibilities and in daily interactions with faculty, staff, students, and others in the department, college, and/or university.
  2. Display humanitarian efforts and act to improve morale.
  3. Demonstrate a willingness to help others within the department, college, and/or university.
  4. Demonstrate a commitment to his or her professional development or encourage the professional development effort of others.
  5. Be willing to take initiative and to accept and carry out additional responsibilities beyond regular job assignments.
  1. All on- and off-campus staff in the college are eligible.
  2. The nominee must be a current classified or university staff employee within the college or other units that support our college (example: personnel, sponsored programs).
  3. The nominee must have been employed by Virginia Tech for at least one (1) year on a full-time basis or the equivalent service on a part-time basis at the time of the nomination.
  4. A current member of the selection committee cannot be considered for recognition.  If a current member is nominated, he or she has two options: 
    a. Request that the nomination be held until the following year when service on the committee is completed.
    b. Resign from the committee so that the nomination is considered during the current year.
  5. There are no restrictions on the number of times a staff member can be nominated. However, the person cannot be selected as Employee of the Month more than once per year and cannot be selected as Employee of the Year more than once every five years.
  1. Anyone can submit a nomination.
  2. All nominations are received electronically and are valid for six months after submission.
  3. If your nomination expires after six months and your nominee has not been selected, please resubmit.
  4. Please use the electronic form to submit your nomination.

The selection committee meets monthly to choose from a pool of nominations the recipient of the following month's award. For example, if August is the award month, the selection committee meets by the middle of July. The award is presented at a convenient time in August.

  1. Recognition included as part of the monthly award: a letter from the Dean, award plaque, a gift clock, a college polo shirt, presentation photo, and college press release.
  2. The monthly award recipient receives a letter of commendation from the Dean; the recipient's supervisor, director, or department head receives a copy of the letter.
  3. A short award presentation is scheduled when convenient for the recipient and the Dean during the award month. The recipient receives a plaque and a college member takes a photo during the presentation.
  4. Award presentation photos are displayed in Hutcheson Hall.
  5. All recipients of the monthly award in a year (July-June) are eligible for the Dean's Award--Employee of the Year.
  6. The Employee of the Year recipient is recognized during the annual college picnic and receives an award plaque and $1,000.

Nominate a Deserving Staff Member

Nominations for Employee of the Month are ongoing. Watch for monthly email reminders that solicit nominations.


For questions, please contact: 

Crystal Tawney
Executive Assistant to Dr. Alan Grant, Dean | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
cdtawney@vt.edu
540.231.4152