Team Recognition Award

The Team Recognition Award recognizes a team of Western employees who exemplify cooperation, collaboration, and open communication. The team receiving the award must be comprised of a core group of integral team players who actively worked in partnership on a project that significantly advanced one or more of the three core themes of the strategic plan: Advancing Inclusive Success, Increasing Washington Impact, and/or Enhancing Academic Excellence.

If you would like to see the nomination form questions ahead of time to prepare your answers before entering them into the Qualtrics form, please reference the PDF of Team Recognition Award nomination questions.

Selection Criteria

To be considered, the team must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Build effective collaborative relationships across different work units, groups or departments.
  • Produce a measurable positive impact on the advancement of the university mission and strategic plan goals, beyond the expectations of team members' regular position requirements.
  • Approach the team project in an innovative way that departs from "business as usual."
  • Create a team environment that promotes cooperation, communication, trust, and respect for differences.

Award/Recognition

The team receiving the Team Recognition Award will be recognized at the Celebration of Excellence Awards in May, and each team member will receive a Team Recognition Award medallion pin and certificate.

Award Adminstration

President’s Office (Michele.Anderson@wwu.edu)

Nomination Process

Nominations may be made by any WWU faculty or staff member. The team of faculty and/or staff may also include students. The President's Cabinet will review all nominations and make the final selection.

The nomination process for the 2024 award is CLOSED. Thank you for taking the time to nominate a cross-functional team making a positive impact on the WWU community!

Awardees

2024

IT Major Incident Response Team group members standing in front of the Old Main steps

IT Major Incident Response Team - Various

The IT Major Incident Response Team of Western Washington University demonstrated remarkable dedication and professionalism in restoring critical IT services for the campus after a series of catastrophic failures of the datacenter infrastructure. The failures, which occurred over a two-week period in February 2024, threatened to disrupt the university's core functions of instruction, research, and operations. The small team of IT experts worked tirelessly for long hours (including nights and weekends) to restore the systems to operation, ensuring that no critical data was lost. Thanks to their exceptional effort, the university was able to process payroll on time, disperse financial aid to students, and pay its bills without any major delays or penalties.

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS

FIRST ROW: Chuck Lanham (IT); Wanna VanCuren (EAS); Chris Miller (EIS); Peter Atwater (ATUS); Megan Summers (Human Resources); 
SECOND ROW: Henry Lawrance (EIS); Max Bronsema (WebTech); Steve Treloar (EIS); Jon Junell (EIS); David Bass (Western Libraries); Aoife Finch (EAS); 
THIRD ROW: Dennis Terrell (EIS); Jabez Kizer (EIS); Scott Giles (EAS); Tim McLaughlin (EIS); Erik Favro (ATUS); Eric Spanitz (EAS); 

NOT PICTURED: Geordon Brewer (Physics – Astronomy); Aspen Clark (ATUS); John Farquhar (ATUS); Nate Fortner (ResTek); Colin Hanson (Engineering & Design); Jeff Packer (EAS); Nigel Packer (WebTech); Meredith Stott (Business & Financial Systems)

RUNNERS-UP TEAMS

  • Title IX Recognition Team
  • Swift Quake Collaboration Team
  • MSN Program for Equitable Care Team
  • Cold and Snow Response Team

Past Awardees

1 awardee(s) for this year

2023 Awardees

Group photo of nine of the Leadership Philanthropy to Geology Team members smiling in front of the Old Main steps

Leadership Philanthropy to Geology Team - Various

A team of professionals across the university worked together to make possible a $5 million gift that endowed a geology professorship and will support geology graduate students for decades to come. They developed and executed a strategy that led to this second-largest cash gift in Western’s history. Members of University Advancement and the College of Science and Engineering came together to engage an alum after a lengthy period of reduced engagement with Western. As they built a relationship with the alum and learned of his interests, they identified what would be transformational for the Geology Department while resonating with the donor. This 18-month collaboration to engage the alum in a meaningful way resulted in a $2 million endowed chair named for the donor’s graduate school mentor Ned Brown, and a $3 million endowment to support graduate students in Geology, creating an enduring legacy for the Geology Department.

 

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS 

Amber Asbjornsen, University Advancement (former); Frances Badgett, University Advancement; Mark Bagley, University Advancement; Mark Brovak, University Advancement; Ty Hill, University Advancement; Bernie Housen, Geology; Zeck Koa, University Advancement; Victoria Martinsen, University Advancement; Sean Mulcahy, College of Science and Engineering; Rayne Rambo, Presidents Office; Liz Schermer, Geology; Angie Vandenhaak, University Advancement (former); Calloway Warnick, University Advancement
 

RUNNER-UP TEAMS

  • Fairhaven Staff Team
  • Department of Education Leadership & Inclusive Teaching Team