Nominees sought for university’s high honors

Nominations are being accepted for University of Colorado 2012 Honorary Degrees, University Medals, and Distinguished Service Awards. Deadline is Nov. 15.

An Honorary Degree (Doctor of Humane Letters or Doctor of Science) is the highest award the University of Colorado bestows. It is the policy of the Board of Regents to award Honorary Degrees in recognition of outstanding intellectual achievement in one or more of the following areas: intellectual contributions, university service, and/or public service.

University Medals are awarded in recognition of those persons whose achievements and contributions are particularly associated with the university, while Distinguished Service Awards are awarded in recognition of achievements and contributions particularly associated with the state and/or nation.

Nominations must meet the following criteria (Laws of the Regents, Article 9, and Regent Policy 9-A):

Nomination Process:

(a) Each year the vice president, university counsel and secretary of the board will solicit names of nominees for these awards.  Nomination deadline is Nov. 15.  Late or incomplete nomination packages will not be considered.

(b) Honorary Degree, University Medal, and Distinguished Service Award nominations must be submitted on the award nomination form and supported by three and not more than five letters of recommendation. The nominator will provide the recommendation letters and the nominee's current vita, address, and telephone number. The complete nomination package must be submitted to the Office of the Vice President, University Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Regents by the deadline date.  Please view the regents’ website at: www.cu.edu/regents/Awards/AwardsMaster.htm to ensure your nominee has not previously received one of these Regents awards.

(c)  Nomination Guidelines

No person may nominate him/herself, nor may current university employees be nominated.

Current public officials may not be nominated. Public officials are elected or appointed officials in policy making positions with the ability to directly affect the university through an official act.

Public officials may be nominated two years after completion of their terms of office. All nominations will be considered confidential.

(d)  Each chancellor will designate a campus Regents Awards Canvassing Committee that encourages qualified nominations. The assistant secretary to the board of regents will accept any qualified nomination not submitted through a campus canvassing committee, but will forward the nomination package to the respective canvassing committee for formal submittal on behalf of the respective campus. Chancellors will identify the chair of the canvassing committee to the assistant secretary to facilitate nomination referrals to the committee.

(e) The campus canvassing committees will submit qualified nominations to the assistant secretary to forward to the Regents Awards Committee. The Regents Awards Committee will be composed of four regents and four faculty members of the Faculty Council on Educational Policy and University Standards (EPUS) committee.

(f) The 2012 Regents Awards Committee will convene in January 2012, and the committee’s confidential recommendations subsequently will be presented to the board for action. The list of approved honorees will be made public at spring 2012 meeting of the Board of Regents. The deliberations of the Regents Awards Committee will not be released.

(g) To receive an Honorary Degree, the candidates selected must attend a university commencement within a two-year period following selection. University Medals or Distinguished Service Awards are generally awarded at commencements but may be awarded on other occasions, as determined by the board.

(h) Nominees not selected may be resubmitted for reconsideration if new information (such as additional accomplishments) is cited in the nomination package. Nominees not selected after two consecutive nominations may not be submitted again for three years, unless the awards committee specifically requests a submittal.

Award selectees will be invited to attend the commencement ceremony of the nominating campus, but can opt to attend any one of our several 2012 graduations. In accordance with State Fiscal Rules, some of the expenses for the honoree to attend commencement ceremony activities will be funded by the host campus.

It will be the responsibility of the nominator to obtain the required letters of support, vitae or resume, and nominee data. Nominations received, and judged to be qualified and complete, will be referred to the 2012 Regents Awards Committee. Nominators will be notified when the nomination package is complete.

Late or incomplete packages will not be forwarded for committee consideration. Nomination is no guarantee of an award.  Please forward by Nov. 15 the nomination form, nominee vitae or resume, and nomination support letters to: 

Jeri Barlock
Director of Operations
Office of the Board of Regents
1800 Grant Street, 8th Floor
Denver, CO 80203

For more information and to download award nomination forms, please go to:

www.cu.edu/regents/Awards.  If you would like hard copies of the forms sent to you, please call the Board of Regents office at 303-860-5667.