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Core Facilities Staff Recognition Program

UNC Research Core Facilities Staff Recognition Program

 

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Nominations Open November 1, 2024 and Close November 30, 2024

What

The UNC Research Core Facilities Staff Recognition Program is designed to recognize extraordinary achievements by SHRA and EHRA NF permanent, full- and part-time employees of biomedical research cores (including full-service recharge, collaborative and limited access core labs) at UNC Chapel Hill.

There will be two award cycles per year, and within each award cycle up to three nominated staff members may be chosen for recognition, one for each of three categories of staff excellence (see “Selection Criteria” section below). Each selected staff member will receive $1,000 (taxable income).

Awards will be decided by a selection committee.

 

When

There will be two nomination periods per fiscal year, once in April and once in November with awards announced in May and in December.

The next nomination period will run from November 1st-November 30th, 2024. Nominations will close on April 30th and decisions will be made in May, and announced shortly after.

 

Eligibility

For awardees:

  • Awardees must be full- or part-time SHRA or EHRA Non-Faculty staff in either a Permanent or Temporary staff position within a UNC Chapel Hill biomedical research core facility
  • There is no minimum length of service required prior to nomination
  • Staff members in full-service recharge, collaborative, and limited-access core facilities are all eligible for nominations

 

For nominators:

  • Nominations can be made by students, faculty or non-faculty EHRA or SHRA staff members.  Nominators can be either Permanent or Temporary.
  • Self-nominations are not allowed
  • Nominations may not be anonymous to the selection committee–you must self-identify in the nomination form.
  • Previous award winners are ineligible to receive an award for 18 months (3 award cycles) after their award.

 

Selection Criteria

Three separate awards with different criteria are available to recognize the varying but vital roles the staff of biomedical research cores play in supporting research at UNC Chapel Hill. When nominating a staff member, you must choose which award reflects their specific contributions. The awards and their selection criteria are listed below:

 

Technical Achievement Award Customer Service Award Performance Excellence Award
  • Innovation
  • Teamwork
  • Skills improvement
  • Creativity
  • Going over and above to complete a specific project
  • Educational achievement (certification or degree)
  • New Method Development
  • Attentiveness to customer needs
  • Enhanced Rigor and Reproducibility initiatives in the core facility
  • Improvement on Existing Method
  • Communication
  • Pioneering a multi-core pipeline project
  • Dedication and “sticking with it”
  • Flexibility
  • Training other staff on new technologies
  • Key contribution to publication or grant
  • Service Orientation
  • Developed new diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiative or a new “green” initiative for the core

 

Supporting materials can be included to demonstrate the contributions of the staff member  (e.g., publication(s), the specifics aims pages for a grant, letters of support from customers or other core facility staff members, and documentation for continuing education). While staff do not need to demonstrate every selection criteria for a category to be eligible, historically category winners have demonstrated multiple criteria. A sample nomination which resulted in an award can be found here:

Successful Performance Excellence Nomination

 

Ready to Nominate?

Click here to nominate a core staff member!

 

Previous Award Winners

Spring 2022 Award Recipients

Technical Achievement: Eric Holle, Animal Models Core

Customer Services: Ashley Ezzell, Histology Research Core

Performance Excellence: Cortney Pylant, BioSpecimen Processing Facility

 

Fall 2022 Award Recipients

Technical Achievement: Mia Evangelista, Pathology Services Core

Customer Service: Edison Floyd, Pathology Services Core

Performance Excellence: Paige Schmadeke, BioSpecimen Processing Facility

 

Spring 2023 Award Recipients

Technical Achievement: Joshua Adolph, High-Throughput Sequencing Facility

Customer Service: Brendan Sheridan, LCCC Bioinformatics Core

Performance Excellence: Lauren Ralph, Pathology Services Core

 

Fall 2023 Award Recipients

Technical Achievement- Hannah Lee Dixon, UNC BioSpecimen Processing Facility

Customer Service: Angie Mordant, Michael Hooker Proteomics Center

Performance Excellence: Allison Williams, Marsico Lung Institute Tissue Procurement and Cell Culture Facility

 

Spring 2024 Award Recipients

Technical Achievement- Bentley Midkiff, Pathology Services Core

Customer Service: Rossana Roberts, Abacus Evaluation

Performance Excellence: Gabriela de la Cruz, Pathology Services Core