President's Exemplary Service Award

President's Exemplary Service Award

President's Exemplary Service Awards are one way managers can recognize and reward employees who demonstrate outstanding service or performance.

President's Exemplary Service Award Overview

UT Austin managers and supervisors may nominate eligible employees to receive up to 32 hours of time off from work  per fiscal year for specific services or activities that demonstrate exemplary service or performance. The awards must be made in increments that cover one full day of work (typically 8 hours).

Eligibility

Classified, administrative and professional employees who have been employed by the university for at least 12 continuous months are eligible to be nominated for the award. The award is not available to faculty, teaching assistants, assistant instructors, or students employed in positions that require student status as a condition of employment.

Nomination and Selection Process

Managers may nominate any eligible employee from their units for a President's Exemplary Service Award, following this process:

• Complete the  President's Exemplary Service Award Nomination form (PDF) (also available to download via (DOC) format). The nomination must include justification for the basis of the nomination and the number of hours recommended to be awarded. The exemplary service or activity cited may be subsequent to the employee's most recent performance evaluation.
• Submit the nomination on the President's Exemplary Service Award Nomination Form, along with the most recent performance evaluation which must be satisfactory or higher, and transmit the documents to the appropriate department/unit head.
• The department/unit head shall review all nominations received to 1) ensure the nominee is eligible to receive an award; and 2) make an independent determination that a nominee's documented specific service or activity reflects exemplary performance.
• Within ten (10) working days of receipt of the nomination, the department/unit head shall forward to the unit’s vice president, dean, or their designee for review and approval.
• Approval or denial of the nomination request will be forwarded to the department/unit head and then the manager/supervisor who initiated the nomination.
• If award hours are approved, the manager shall notify the employee of the award. In addition, the manager will request that the unit timekeeper credit the hours to the employee as Exemplary Service.
• Once the award has been given, the unit’s vice president, dean, or designee should provide a copy of the approved nomination form to Strategic Workforce Solutions hrs.sws@austin.utexas.edu in Human Resources, including the date the award was given.

Use of Award Hours

The employee must use the award hours within 12 months of receipt and before using any vacation time off. If the employee transfers to another university department, any unused award hours will also transfer. An employee will not be paid for unused award hours upon separating from the university. The top of page five in the Request & Enter Absence - Workday Process Overview explains how to add exemplary service hours to an employee's time off balance. The employee will record hours used by selecting the time type of “exemplary service” from the dropdown menu on the timesheet.