Criteria for Awards

Tufts Distinction Awards Criteria

Leadership – fosters an environment conducive to achievement, inspires trust and credibility, encourages contributions and development, guides activities and initiatives with utmost care for successful outcomes

Innovation – actively identifies novel ways to improve processes or ways of working, seeks creative approaches which may result in transformative, notable change

Customer Service – consistently provides timely, attentive, outstanding customer experiences, displaying concern for needs and continually striving to meet and exceed customer expectations

Integrity – demonstrates a principled dedication to values and beliefs, seeking to reflect ethical standards and do the right thing regardless of the circumstances

Collaboration – solicits diverse perspectives, builds consensus, creates partnerships, shares expertise and knowledge assuring the success of the team

Respect for Diverse Perspectives, Support for Inclusion – takes initiative to assure Tufts is a respectful and equitable community. Demonstrates a commitment to provide everyone at Tufts the best possible experience in the spirit of inclusion for all

David J. Kahle Award Criteria

A David J. Kahle award nominee will have successfully led a university-wide initiative to innovate and improve university service strategies, offerings or user experiences. The hallmark of the initiative should involve meaningful collaboration with stakeholders to ensure the innovation provides stakeholders with an enjoyable post-implementation experience.

• Ease-of-replication – Other departments use this, and it is easy to replicate.
• Ease-of-Use-User-friendliness
• Efficiency – The process contributed to and improved efficiency of stakeholder processes & performance improvement.
• Cost Savings-The initiative produced notable cost savings.
• Collaboration – solicits diverse perspectives, builds consensus, creates partnerships, shares expertise and knowledge assuring the success of the team.
• Creativity – This a unique, out of the box solution optimized for use at Tufts.

On the nomination form, please ensure you are responding to the question versus providing a general description of work done by your nominee.

Be specific in describing the contributions of the individual or team you are nominating. Point to real improvements and tangible impact by using multiple examples.

A great nomination will contain specific stories or examples about your candidate, and will address in detail how the candidate meets a combination of the above criteria. Strong nominations often include specific comments or quotations from those who have benefited directly from a nominee’s work.