ITA Quarterly Stars Award
4th Quarter FY 2009
Nominations are due on Tuesday, November 10, 2009.
Purpose
The purpose of this award is to recognize employees and groups who have made significant contributions to ITA programs and demonstrated exceptional and sustained effort toward the accomplishment of ITA's missions during the quarter noted above.
Eligibility
All ITA employees are eligible, except Senior Executives, Senior Foreign Service and Schedule C employees. Overseas employees need to indicate whether they are a Locally Employed Staff (LE Staff). If the person is a Personal Service Contractor, then the nominator must find out if the contractor has an incentives clause in his/her contract and submit the contract with the nomination as verification of eligibility.
IMPORTANT ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
- Individual nominees must have a minimum of 1 year of service with ITA at the time of nomination and be performing at a “Level 3 (or equivalent for LE Staff) rating at the time of the nomination submission.
- Group nominee members must have a minimum of 6 months of service with ITA at the time of the nomination
and be performing at a “Level 3 (or equivalent for LE Staff) rating at the time of the nomination submission.
Frequency
This award will be granted quarterly.
Types of Quarterly Awards
The ITA Quarterly Stars Award recognizes employee accomplishments which have demonstrated leadership skill and independent initiative on a wide range of issues relating to a major USG/Departmental/or ITA objective. Below are past winning nominations that might be helpful in crafting your writeup:
Awards
Nominating Procedures
Any ITA employee may initiate a nomination. Self nominations are prohibited. Supervisory endorsement is required at least through the Office Director level.
Nominations must be submitted on form CD-326, Recommendation for Recognition, with an attached written justification (typed in Word format) to the CD-326 of no more than 500 words (minimum font size of Times Roman 10). Narratives should NOT be typed on the CD-326. Narratives should focus on clearly demonstrable leadership and initiative that is widely recognized.
Helpful Hints - Characteristics of Winning Nominations:
- Specific and Measurable Results
- Clear and Concise Language
- Focus on Facts
Nominations (approved/signed CD-326 and narrative) should be submitted via e-mail to Tina Agoo (Christine.Agoo@mail.doc.gov) in the Office of Strategic Resources, Room 2006. The deadline to submit nominations is Tuesday, November 10, 2009.
Selection Criteria
The following factors will be considered in evaluating nominations: (Note: Nominees do not necessarily need to meet all criteria)
- Demonstration of specialized knowledge used well.
- Accomplishment involves a unique contribution at a fairly high level.
- Demonstration of leadership skill and independent initiative.
- Achievement of multi-level and cross-organizational buy-in.
- Accomplishment of substantial benefit to ITA.
- Accomplishment impacts a wide range of issues.
- Accomplishment brings credit to ITA and DOC.
Selection Procedures
In order to provide more peer review in the selection process, nominations will be reviewed by ITA Quarterly Stars Panel. The panel will make final recommendations for awards to the Under Secretary. The Under Secretary will make the final selections.
ITA Quarterly Stars Panel (QSP)
All nominations are subject to a two-tiered review and recommendation process by the panel. The first tier is composed of Peer Review Teams which initially review all nominations and make recommendations to the QSP panel-at-large (second tier).
Panel Composition
Peer Review Teams: There are three teams: Administrative and Support Employee, Program employee and Supervisor/Manager. Each team is composed of 6 members: Assistant Secretary Units (4), Administration (1), Office of the Under Secretary (1). Members serve up to 2 years.
Nominations to serve on the Peer Review Teams will be peer generated. A call for nominations will be made by ITA Administration. Support employees must be nominated by support employees, professionals by professional employees and supervisors by supervisory employees.
ITA Adminstration will contact nominees to determine their willingness to serve on the review teams. The final selections for team members will be made by the head of the 6 units. The Deputy Under Secretary will appoint the Chair and Vice Chair from amongst the members.
QSP Panel-at-Large: The panel will be composed of the Chair and Vice Chair of the three Peer Review Teams and a senior executive, appointed by the Deputy Under Secretary, to serve as Chairperson. (Note: The Chairperson will only vote in case of a tie.)
Panel Review Process.
The Peer Review Teams will meet to review and recommend nominations to the panel-at-large. Following the peer review, the QSP panel-at-large will meet to review the recommendations, vote and determine the final nominations to be forwarded to the Under Secretary for final selection. In addition to the criteria listed above, the teams and the QSP will consider representation of ITA units, diversity goals, and overall excellence in making recommendations. All QSP members present will vote on all awards. A quorum must be present for the vote to be taken. (A quorum is defined as at least 1 Administrative Support, 1 Program Professional and 1 Supervisor present, with a total of at least 4 members present.)
Panel Recommendations
The QSP Chairperson will forward the recommendations to the Under Secretary. Only one winner per category will be selected.
Type of Recognition
Individual award recipients will receive a cash award of $2,000 and a framed certificate.
Group award:
2 employees-$2000 each
3-5 employees-$800 each
>5 employees-$4000 split
How Awards are Presented
Assistant Secretaries, the CFO and Director of Administration and the Deputy Under Secretary coordinate their ceremonies to present awards on a quarterly basis in conjunction with the existing Length of Service Ceremonies.
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For more information you can contact Tina Agoo by emailing at christine.agoo@mail.doc.gov or calling 202-482-4856.
