FAQ

No. Nominations must be for teams or individual staff members at MIT.

On average we receive over 100 nominations for individuals and teams each year. Typically, there are 15-20 Excellence Award recipients and one recipient for Collier Medal.  See previous award recipients.

Yes. This has happened several times. Infinite Mile Award nominations should be revised to fit an Excellence Award category or the Collier Medal criteria and submitted via the online nomination form.

Yes, more than one person can submit an online nomination for the same individual or team. If possible, it is advised that nominators work collaboratively on the nomination, and include the names of all the nominators in the opening statement. Nominations should not exceed 6 pages in length, and can also include Additional Documentation. This can be a letter of support, a compilation of statements of support from multiple colleagues, an example of the nominee's work, or any other documentation that might be helpful. Each nomination can only include one Additional Documentation, of no more than two pages in length.

Nominations may be augmented by Additional Documentation. This single document can be a letter of support, a compilation of statements of support from multiple colleagues, an example of the nominee's work, or any other documentation that might be helpful. Each nomination can only include one Additional Documentation, of no more than two pages in length.

Please submit your Additional Documentation in PDF format, and title as “Nominee Last Name_AD_Nominator Last Name.” If you are submitting audio/video/other file formats, please use the same naming format.

If you are unable to use the online nomination form, either because you can not get a certificate or you do not have access to a computer, please contact us at excellence@mit.edu. You will be provided with a Microsoft Word version of the form.

Most successful nominations are around two pages long. It seems to take about that much space to address the questions on the nomination form and demonstrate how the nominee has met most of the criteria for the category. Nominations may not exceed 6 pages in length.

Nominations may be augmented by Additional Documentation. This single document can be a letter of support, a compilation of statements of support from multiple colleagues, an example of the nominee's work, or any other documentation that might be helpful. Each nomination can only include one Additional Documentation, of no more than two pages in length.

The nomination period is typically open from early to late fall each year. The deadline will be noted in the nomination form.

No. Individuals may not nominate themselves for an individual award. If you are nominating a team that you worked on, please acknowledge your involvement, but do not include yourself on the list of team members eligible to receive an award.

It is not appropriate to nominate a family member, spouse, or partner. It is recommended to suggest that a colleague or team member write a nomination instead.

Any member of the MIT community can submit a nomination. Faculty and supervisors can nominate their staff, employees can nominate their supervisors, and co-workers can nominate one another. Nominations can also be submitted by alumni, students, and people outside the MIT community who would like to recognize an MIT employee's work.

These awards are intended primarily to acknowledge the work of benefits eligible service, support, administrative, and sponsored research staff. Staff must be employed by MIT at the time of Excellence Awards to be recipients. They are also for faculty and other academic staff where their work meets the specific guidelines described within the six award categories. These awards are not intended to recognize research or teaching accomplishments. Both teams and individuals are eligible to be nominated for any of the award categories. Subcontractors, consultants, outsourced, and temporary employees are not eligible for the cash award. 

The Collier Medal is open to all MIT students, staff, faculty, and the extended MIT community who have not received the award previously. In honor of Sean’s model citizenship that far transcended his work, the Collier Medal will be given to an individual or group that demonstrates one or all of the award criteria specifically for this award.

Yes. The online nomination form will not accept a nomination without a category. If you can't decide which category is best, you can select more than one. The committee will decide which of the selected categories is most appropriate.

A nominee doesn't have to meet every criteria but they should meet most of the criteria (e.g., four out of five).

The Selection Committee begins reviewing shortly after the nomination window closes and makes their determinations by late February. Notifications are sent to all nominators by early March through the Submittable platform.

The committee reviews all the nominations by category and scores them based on how well they demonstrate the specific criteria. It is very helpful to the committee if the nominator responds to the example questions in each of the three sections of the nomination. The committee also considers the diversity of the pool of recipients. Effort is made to include as broadly representative a group of people as possible, however excellence is the primary standard.

Each year the Recognition Program puts together as diverse and broadly representative a committee as possible. All job categories, including faculty, and a wide array of departments, labs, and centers are represented. The Recognition Key Contacts, Assistant Deans, and department managers are consulted for suggestions of candidates who will be thorough and thoughtful contributors.

Notifications are sent to all nominators by early March through the Submittable platform.

The entire MIT community is invited to the ceremony. Award recipients may invite family and friends as well.

Excellence Award individual recipients receive $2,000. Teams share up to $10,000 with a cap of $2,000 per individual. They also receive a unique gift of an elegant cast of Building Ten in a glass snow globe.

Collier Medal recipients receive comparable cash awards and an engraved granite award. The stone used in the award is the same stone used in the Collier Memorial. 

See previous award recipients and brief excerpts of their nominations.