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Guide to WSU Awards

The ��ҹ�糡 Awards Committee developed a Guide to WSU Awards, which can be accessed through the . We encourage academic directors, faculty, and staff members to review the guide and consider nominating a colleague for an award.

Guide to the One Smart Cookie Award

In 2021, ��ҹ�糡 launched a recognition program called “One Smart Cookie.” The objective of the One Smart Cookie program is to identify and recognize employees who have put forth innovative ideas that have either saved the university time, money, or other resources.

Faculty, administrative professionals, civil service, classified and student employees are eligible to receive recognition.

Nominees can be submitted at any time, by any of the audiences listed, above. Nominations will be received by the chief of staff in the office of the chancellor and reviewed by the chancellor upon receipt. The Office of the Chancellor will have 10 business days to review the nomination and award recipients.

Recipients will be awarded a cookie, delivered by the Office of the Chancellor, with a note of congratulations. They will also be recognized in the Cougar Weekly and may be recognized at an all-employee state of the campus address.

The “You Take the Cake” award is given out by the Chancellor of ��ҹ�糡 to recognize individuals or a group of individuals for doing great work, for accomplishing a challenging task, or at the completion of a project. A cake is delivered to the individual or the group and they may be featured in a campus story produced by marketing and communications.

Submit a nomination by March 13, 2026

The award will be given each year to a faculty member, or a group of collaborating faculty, who demonstrate excellence in teaching by meeting two or more of the following criteria:

• Learning communities that encourage integration across courses
• Undergraduate research experiences that encourage the connection of key concepts
• Service learning/community-based learning, in which field-based, experiential learning with community partners is an instructional strategy

Submit a nomination by March 13, 2026

The Distinguished Employee Excellence Award recognizes an employee with outstanding contributions to ��ҹ�糡 in one or more of the following areas of focus.

��ҹ�糡 Strategic Plan Areas of Focus:

• Student Success
• Accessibility
• Regional and Community Engagement
• Campus Culture & Environment
• Institutional Effectiveness

Submit a nomination by March 13, 2026

The Distinguished Research Excellence Award is given annually to a ��ҹ�糡 faculty member whose research, scholarship, or creative work is exemplary, and whose work has had a positive influence on the broader community. It is the campus’s highest research honor.

The award is based on student evaluations from the preceding semester. These are reviewed and a nominee selected and submitted from the ��ҹ�糡 Director of the Carson College of Business.

Endowed with a donation from former Interim Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, Peter Smith, who recognizes the importance of adjunct faculty to our campus, the ��ҹ�糡 Outstanding Business Adjunct Faculty Award will recognize an adjunct faculty who exemplifies high quality of teaching in finance, accounting, math, and other business-related academic programming. The recipient will receive a personalized gift and monetary award.

The award is based on student evaluations from the preceding semester. These are reviewed and a nominee selected and submitted from the ��ҹ�糡 Director of the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences.

Endowed with a donation from former Interim Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, Peter Smith, who recognizes the importance of adjunct faculty on the ��ҹ�糡 campus. The award is given out annually to an adjunct faculty member who exemplifies high quality of teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics-related academic programming. The award includes a personalized gift and monetary award.

The purpose of the Student Excellence Awards is to recognize the outstanding leadership and achievements of ��ҹ�糡’ student organizations, students, and advisors.  The awards ceremony is hosted by the Office of Student Engagement & Leadership.

As a member of Washington Campus Coalition for the Public Good, ��ҹ�糡 has the opportunity to recognize and award two outstanding student civic leaders. This award recognizes students who are addressing critical issues on their campuses and in their communities through service and social entrepreneurship.