Award categories
The categories within the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards reflect and celebrate the variety of roles, skills and expertise here at the University.
They recognise those who excel in academic, professional, research, technical or managerial roles, as well as those who champion inclusivity and support for our community, those who drive business change and positive student experiences, and those colleagues who truly live the University’s values.
Only staff are eligible to receive a nomination, but both staff and students can submit nominations.
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Student Experience Award
This category is for an individual member of staff or for a team of staff who have impacted positively on the student experience.
All University of Hertfordshire staff impact the student experience as it touches every aspect of what we do. Whether it’s providing academic or welfare support, creating employment opportunities, delivering social events and activities, or even running or improving a service. No matter how big or small, if staff positively make a different to a students’ time at Herts, they are a worthy nominee.
Accordingly, this award should attract nominations from staff operating in a wide range of contexts. Within this category, the judges will be looking to understand:
- What the initiative/project/activity delivered
- Who was involved and the process
- How equality, diversity, and inclusion was considered
- How the initiate/project/activity has positively impacted the student experience.
So as part of your nomination please include whatever specific examples and details you have to illustrate these points.
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Teaching Staff Member of the Year
Our Teaching Staff Member of the Year are those colleagues who our students recognise as inspirational, engaging and inclusive in their approach to teaching. They set the standard and make attending an early morning lecture that little bit easier and more enjoyable.
Staff nominated in this category should spend a significant proportion of their time in a teaching-specific role, whether that is as a lecturer, tutor, academic supervisor, or programme/module leader.
Nominees will:
- create a positive and engaging learning environment
- provide an inspirational approach to teaching and learning
- demonstrate excellence and innovation in their teaching role
- have a supportive nature, empowering their students to deliver their best work
- create a positive culture of equality, respect, and inclusion both among their students and within the staff body
To help our judges recognise the quality of your nominee please include any specific examples or instances where you feel your nominee has met the criteria outlined above.
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Technical Staff Member of the Year
Our Technical Staff nominees are those people who set the standard and provide excellent technical support, while making work that little bit easier and more enjoyable.
‘Technical’ colleagues could work in a wide range of Strategic Business Units – both professional and academic – and across all technical role types. They provide a range of support and assistance, to staff or students, configuring, installing and maintaining technical equipment and systems.
Nominees will:
- enhance the student learning experience in learning spaces, labs, workshops, studios or LRCs or support academic and research staff in their work with students
- demonstrate excellence and innovation in their work
- create a positive culture of equality, respect, and inclusion among both staff and students
- often go the extra mile
- recognise the key role they play in supporting the University’s strategic objectives, no matter how big or how small.
To help our judges recognise the quality of your nominee please include any specific examples or instances where you feel your nominee has met the criteria outlined above.
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Academic Staff Member of the Year
Our Academic Staff nominees are those people whose excellent teaching, enables student learning and success for our students.
‘Academic Staff’ includes any academic member of staff who is involved in facilitating students’ learning - whether through guiding student learning and enabling student success, innovating their teaching at a module level or developing our programmes and academic processes.
Nominees will:
- demonstrate excellent teaching which focuses on student learning
- create a partnership approach with students to support learning
- inspire others through their teaching practice
- demonstrate a commitment to reducing barriers to learning and success for our students
- create a positive culture of equality, inclusivity and respect both amongst their students and within the staff body
- actively encourage and support colleagues to innovate.
To help our judges recognise the quality of your nominee please include any specific examples or instances where you feel your nominee has met the criteria outlined above.
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Business Impact Award
Our Business Impact nominees could be either an individual member of staff or a team who have instigated a business initiative which has made a positive impact on the University, in turn contributing towards our strategic plan.
This category celebrates the innovation and ingenuity at large in the University.
Nominees may have introduced a project that has led to a noticeable improvement in a system, procedure or product inside the University.
Alternatively, they may have fostered a relationship with an external partner or the community which has resulted in a positive and significant benefit for the University.
As part of your nomination within this category, please provide details of:
- Why the initiative was created
- Who was involved and the process
- Details of the achieved impact, including the benefits to the University
Please provide specific details and examples (quantitative or qualitative) to help your nomination stand out to our judges.
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Community Contribution Award
Our Community Contribution Award celebrates an individual or a team who have made a positive contribution to our student and staff community by raising standards, introducing new initiatives, or inspiring others to achieve.
Examples include
- delivering progress towards our environmental and/or sustainability goals
- working to reduce inequalities / advance equality
- commitment to enhancing staff wellbeing
- working on staff and student community outreach (e.g. formal and informal mentoring support)
- developing strong relationships with communities within the University, local area, and/or beyond (i.e Staff Networks, Societies, Interest groups, external networks).
To help our judges recognise the quality of your nominee please include any specific examples or instances where you feel your nominee has met the criteria outlined above.
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Diversity and Inclusion Award
Presented to an individual or team that exhibits excellence in living and promoting behaviours that demonstrate diversity, inclusion and cultural competence at Hertfordshire. They will represent openness in thinking, embrace diversity that promotes equality of opportunity for all, and foster community cohesion. They will bring awareness to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and community. Nominees will likely be described as someone who:
- demonstrates commitment to the University's EDI objectives
- seeks to learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion
- promotes and develops activities and dialogue that highlight unity and strength in diversity
- supports activities that encourage others to get involved in diversity efforts intra-departmentally and throughout the institution demonstrates commitment to the principles of diversity through participation in activities that promote inclusion and respect for all.
To help our judges recognise the quality of your nominee please include any specific examples or instances where you feel your nominee has met the criteria outlined above.
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Living the Values
The ultimate accolade of the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards is the Living the Values award.
This award celebrates an individual member of staff who is the epitome of our University values. The winner of this award will embody each of our values and is an ambassador for the University, internally and externally.
Judged by the Vice-Chancellor’s Executive group, nominees will fully embrace the University values in all aspects of their role.
- Friendly - being open and approachable, respectful, and inclusive
- Ambitious - bringing pace, energy and ideas, striving to improve our ways of working
- Collegiate - supporting and empowering others, and collaborating to achieve the best outcome
- Enterprising - being resourceful, taking ownership, and making things happen
- Student-focused - being responsive to students' needs, and working in partnership with them.
To help VCE recognise the quality of your nominee please include any specific examples or instances where you feel your nominee has met the criteria outlined above.
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Manager of the Year
Our Manager of the Year nominees are members of staff who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and management, which is reinforced by excellent results in their area of responsibility.
In this context, 'Managers' are any individual that has a formal responsibility for other staff members. Nominations are welcomed from those who lead teams both large and small, operating at all levels of the University.
Nominees will:
- develop a positive working environment
- regularly recognise and reward their team’s strengths
- create a positive culture of equality, respect, and inclusion within their team
- demonstrate strong leadership and clear direction to the benefit of their team
- achieve the key objectives set for them and their team
- show support for and understanding of their team as individuals.
To help our judges recognise the quality of your nominee please include any specific examples or instances where you feel your nominee has met the criteria outlined above.
Note: Nominations for those who have excelled at mentoring colleagues rather than directly managing them are welcomed in the 'Community Contribution Award'.
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Professional Staff Member of the Year
Our Professional Staff nominees are the people who set the standard of professional work at Herts and consistently perform well, while making coming in to work that little bit easier and more enjoyable.
‘Professional Staff’ refers to most non-academic staff and includes those colleagues in our partner services who are also part of our campus community, such as Tenon, Securitas, and Aramark. They deliver a professional service to keep the University operating smoothly and efficiently.
Nominees will:
- demonstrate professionalism, excellence and innovation in their work
- consider and strive towards creating a culture of respect, engagement, and inclusion, encouraging diversity within their work
- contribute to a positive work environment, supporting and empowering others to deliver their best work
- recognise the key role they play in supporting the University’s strategic objectives, no matter how big or how small.
To help our judges recognise the quality of your nominee please include any specific examples or instances where you feel your nominee has met the criteria outlined above.
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Researcher of the Year
Our researchers (academic and research staff) drive both excellence and innovation in their fields, helping to support the University’s research-rich environment that informs our teaching.
The criteria for this category have been broadened out this year to allow us to recognise researchers at all stages of their careers: those who have achieved ‘big ticket’ successes, alongside those who may just be starting out in their research career but who are already making a difference in a variety of ways.
Nominees will:
- deliver research that demonstrates a commitment to addressing social, economic, cultural, scientific and environmental challenges
- foster a positive academic culture based on equality, inclusivity, and respect within the University.
They should also have achieved at least one of the following:
- have led or worked on delivering ground-breaking research projects
- have made a demonstrable contribution to their discipline [for example through publications or other outputs which advance understanding, scientific methods, theories or applications]
- have achieved significant economic or societal impact beyond academia
- have built significant relationships across academia or with global partners
- have achieved meaningful and mutually beneficial community outreach and engagement.
To help our judges recognise the quality of your nominee please include any specific examples or instances where you feel your nominee has met the criteria outlined above.
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Student Experience Award
This category is for an individual member of staff or for a team of staff who have impacted positively on the student experience.
All University of Hertfordshire staff impact the student experience as it touches every aspect of what we do. Whether it’s providing academic or welfare support, creating employment opportunities, delivering social events and activities, or even running or improving a service. No matter how big or small, if staff positively make a different to a students’ time at Herts, they are a worthy nominee.
Accordingly, this award should attract nominations from staff operating in a wide range of contexts. Within this category, the judges will be looking to understand:
- What the initiative/project/activity delivered
- Who was involved and the process
- How equality, diversity, and inclusion was considered
- How the initiate/project/activity has positively impacted the student experience.
So as part of your nomination please include whatever specific examples and details you have to illustrate these points.
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Team of the Year
Our Team of the Year nominees are a team of staff who have made a significant contribution to the overall success of the University during the past year.
They may work within a single department, or cross-functionally to deliver a project. Team members can include students who are employed by the University on a casual basis.
The winning team will:
- consistently deliver best practice
- demonstrate innovation through their enthusiasm to continually improve
- consistently consider equality, diversity, and inclusion in their plans and actions
- deliver progress towards the University’s strategic plans
With an enormous range of teams and activities, this category may attract a diverse group of nominations therefore the judges will be looking for achievements that are measurable, tangible and impressive. As such, please include specific examples or instances within your nomination submission.
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Technical Staff Member of the Year
Our Technical Staff nominees are those people who set the standard and provide excellent technical support, while making work that little bit easier and more enjoyable.
‘Technical’ colleagues could work in a wide range of Strategic Business Units – both professional and academic – and across all technical role types. They provide a range of support and assistance, to staff or students, configuring, installing and maintaining technical equipment and systems.
Nominees will:
- enhance the student learning experience in learning spaces, labs, workshops, studios or LRCs or support academic and research staff in their work with students
- demonstrate excellence and innovation in their work
- create a positive culture of equality, respect, and inclusion among both staff and students
- often go the extra mile
- recognise the key role they play in supporting the University’s strategic objectives, no matter how big or how small.
To help our judges recognise the quality of your nominee please include any specific examples or instances where you feel your nominee has met the criteria outlined above.
