STAR Awards provide recognition for employees or teams who have demonstrated exceptional performance.
STAR Awards Overview
The STAR Award is administered by FOA HR and provides recognition for employees or teams that have demonstrated one or more of the following performance standards:
Exceptional Performance
Demonstrated and sustained exceptional performance that consistently exceeds goals and work expectations in quantity and/or quality.
Creativity
One-time innovation that results in time/dollar savings, revenue enhancement, and productivity improvement; and/or ongoing innovative / creative activities that benefit organizational systems, protocols, and/or procedures.
Organizational Abilities
Exhibits extraordinary skills in leadership resulting in the accomplishment of significant departmental or divisional goals and objectives; effective project management, which could include developing a project and/or implementing a project with substantial success; and/or demonstrating organizational capability leading to a greater level of effectiveness.
Work Success
Significantly exceeding productivity, customer service, or similar goals, including demonstrating superior interactions with managers, peers, supervisors, subordinates, the University community, and/or clients and customers served.
Teamwork
Acting as an exceptionally effective and cooperative team member or team leader for a team that has significantly exceeded the goals/objectives of the department/unit.
Eligibility and Award Limits
Frequency
- On request
Eligibility
- Policy-covered career employees and MSP employees
- Clerical Unit (CX) employees
- K3 employees
- SV employees
- RP employees
Employees in the categories listed above are eligible for STAR Plan cash awards if, at the time of the award, they:
- Have successfully completed their probationary period, if applicable;
- Are on active pay status or on an approved unpaid leave; and,
- Received a “Fully Achieved Expectations” or better overall rating on their most recent annual performance evaluation. (UCD PPSM 23 requires written performance evaluations to be completed annually.) Policy-covered employees who have not yet received an annual performance evaluation may be eligible for an award if their manager confirms on the nomination form that they are “meeting expectations.”
- Policy covered contract employees who have at least 6 months of continuous service on a single contract are also eligible to participate in STAR Award program at UC Davis pending HR approval and provided that they meet the above requirements.
Award Limits and Restrictions
The following limitations apply to STAR Plan cash awards.
- No single STAR Plan cash award may exceed 10% of the employee’s base salary or $10,000, whichever amount is lower.
- Cumulative STAR Plan cash awards paid to an employee in a Plan year may not exceed 10% of the employee’s base salary or $10,000, whichever amount is lower.
- STAR Plan cash awards over $500 require department head approval.
- STAR Plan cash awards are strictly discretionary and may not be promised or guaranteed in advance.
- “Across-the-board” type awards (e.g., awards to a category of employees without regard to a recipient’s performance or relative contribution) are not allowed under the STAR Plan. Awards must be based on the recipient’s achievement as an individual or as part of a team.
Nomination and Selection Guidelines
The STAR Award Nomination Form (see instructions in the section below) must be submitted for every nomination for consideration:
Individual Award Nominations
Individual employees may be nominated based on one or more of the performance standards in the STAR Plan.
Input will be required from the employee’s manager/supervisor if someone other than the employee’s manager/supervisor is nominating.
Team Award Nominations
Team Awards may be granted to teams of employees who meet one or more of the performance standards set forth in the STAR Plan:
- For work on a project within the same department, or
- For work on the development and/or implementation of inter-departmental projects
If someone other than the manager/supervisor is nominating the team, input will be required from the team leader and each employee’s supervisor/manager.
Required Approvals
The process for all STAR Plan cash awards requires:
- Endorsement of the employee’s immediate supervisor
- Approval of the next-level manager
For higher award amounts, additional approvals are required:
- Awards over $500: require department head approval
- Awards over $500 and up to $4,999: require dean or vice chancellor office approval
- Awards above $5,000: require approval of the Chancellor
Submission and Processing Workflow
All STAR award nominations must be submitted via the FOA STAR Nomination Form.
This form will route to the necessary approvers including:
- Nominator
- Supervisor of Nominee
- Applicable Department Head
- VC Office
- FOA HR (if needed)
In addition, the form will route to the applicable fiscal officer to ensure the correct Chart of Accounts (COA).
Once all approvals are received in Smartsheet, DocuSign will automatically generate for final signatures.
Upon completion of DocuSign, FOA HR will submit the STAR award via AggieService and generate automatic updates to keep everyone informed on when employees can expect payment.
Questions? Contact [email protected].
Star Award Certificate Templates
This template is for optional use by any UC Davis department. The template is a Google Doc so you only need to fill in your specific information and then save and print on your local color printer. Note that print quality may vary from printer to printer. If you require professional printing, you can make a PDF and send to Repro Graphics.