UCOP celebrates its STAR awardees this Friday, Aug. 15
August 11, 2014 •
This Friday marks a special event and a perfect opportunity to step out of the office on a summer afternoon: a new UCOP-wide celebration to recognize the 2013–14 STAR Award recipients, Friday, Aug. 15, 4 p.m. on the Franklin fifth floor patio. (Click link to add to your calendar.)
All OP staff are welcome to attend to applaud their colleagues who have been recognized for exemplary performance and contributions that promote operational and administrative improvements at UCOP. The event will include a brief presentation by UC President Janet Napolitano and other senior leadership, and desserts and champagne will be served.
The celebration, inspired by a recommendation of the Staff Engagement Performance Management work group, is intended to acknowledge award-winning performers to the entire UCOP community. It is co-sponsored by UCOP Local Human Resources and OP Staff Assembly.
“STAR awards are generally presented personally or on a unit or departmental level,” said John Fox, executive director of Local UCOP Human Resources. “This event will showcase the awardees and celebrate their excellent performance.”
The STAR (Staff Appreciation and Recognition) award program allows managers to give one-time cash awards to staff below the executive level. UCOP STAR awardees from 2013–14 and their nominators and managers received personal invitations to the event, asking whether or not they would like to participate.
While recognition of individuals who have received STAR awards for specific achievements and performance is admirable, the STAR program itself is problematic, because it is not centrally funded. Large departments have more ability to allocate funds for staff recognition than smaller ones in an environment where most departmental budgets have been frozen and reduced repeatedly. As a result, staff in some departments have no opportunity to receive STAR awards because the departments do not have budgetary allocations to fund them. UCOP-wide recognition of those who have received the awards accentuates the inequity between departments. Can this be addressed?