Professional News

Nominations now being accepted for Outstanding Staff Awards

photo of award winners in stands at Kroger Field
2019 Outstanding Staff Award winners recognized by UK Staff Senate and the Office of the President.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 4, 2022) — The Office of the President and the University of Kentucky Staff Senate proudly announce the 13th annual Outstanding Staff Awards (OSA) ceremony to recognize the exceptional contributions of staff across the university.

Submissions and nominations are now being accepted through Nov. 1, 2022. 

The OSA event is composed of two elements:

  • recognition of staff who have won department, college and/or area-level awards, and 
  • awarding of the universitywide Outstanding Staff Awards.

You can submit/nominate staff for either, or both, of the two elements using the link below.

While the first element has been pre-determined at a local level, the second element is an invitation for all UK students, staff and faculty to nominate outstanding staff members who have made an immeasurable impact on the UK experience.

Categories for the universitywide Outstanding Staff Awards include:

  • Outstanding Staff Member selected from student nominations;
  • Outstanding Staff Member selected from staff nominationsl;
  • Outstanding Staff Member selected from faculty nominations; and 
  • Outstanding Staff Member selected from all nominations.

Submission and nomination instructions:

  • Local-level award recognition eligibility:
    • All local-level awards given from Nov. 1, 2021, to Nov. 1, 2022, are eligible for submission and recognition at the event.
    • You will have the option to nominate local-level award winners for an OSA at the end of the submission form.
  • Universitywide Outstanding Staff Awards nominations:
    • All staff are eligible to be nominated for an Outstanding Staff Award regardless of whether they have received another award this year. Winning a local level award does not automatically enter a staff member for consideration for an Outstanding Staff Award. Only staff nominated using the form linked below will be considered.

To submit information on local-level awards and/or to nominate a staff member for a universitywide Outstanding Staff Award, please complete this submission/nomination form.

The submission and nomination deadline is Nov. 1, 2022.

UK will recognize local-level award recipients and announce the winners of our Outstanding Staff Awards categories at the OSA ceremony in early December. Invitations to attend will be extended in November.

For questions regarding the OSA program, please contact Bobbi Jo Allen, Staff Senate program coordinator, at b.allen@uky.edu; Paige Noland, Special Events Committee chair, at paige.noland@uky.edu; or Olivia Ellis, Staff Senate chair, at olivia.ellis@uky.edu.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.