GUIDELINES FOR PLANNING AN
AWARD
PRESENTATIONALL-UNIVERSITY HONORS
COMMITTEE
UNIVERSITY
SENATE
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Updated July 2008
The University of
Minnesota confers a number of awards and honors on prominent local, state,
national, and international persons who have achieved distinction and
recognition in public service, enterprise, education and science, literature,
and the arts. These awards are made on the basis of policy established by the
Board of Regents and procedures determined by the Senate All-University Honors
Committee.
GUIDELINES FOR PLANNING AN AWARD PRESENTATION
Purpose statement:
This reference guide is meant to serve as a guide for colleges and units
within the University to help them prepare and present awards and honors.
Honorary degrees, Outstanding Achievement Awards, and the University of Minnesota Award of Distinction are the highest awards the
University of Minnesota gives. Ceremonies at which they are presented should
adequately reflect the prestige the award brings to the individual and the
institution.
Board of Regents policy requires that no disclosure is to be
made to the nominee while his or her name is under consideration.
Protocol is used for the following
awards:
- Honorary Degree: This degree is the highest award conferred by the
University of Minnesota. An honorary degree may be awarded to an individual who
has achieved acknowledged eminence in cultural affairs, public service, or in a
field of knowledge and scholarship. Honorary degrees are not awarded to
encourage or reward contributions to the University.
- Outstanding Achievement Award: This award may be conferred only on graduates
or former students of the University who have attained unusual distinction in
their chosen fields or professions or in public service, and who have
demonstrated outstanding achievement and leadership on a community, state,
national, or international level. The candidate’s education at the
University should represent a significant portion of his or her total
postsecondary education. Outstanding Achievement Awards are not awarded to
encourage or reward contributions to the University.
- University of Minnesota Award of Distinction: this award recognizes people who have attained distinction in their field, profession, and/or public or volunteer service and who are not or have not been a student or employee of the University of Minnesota.
This guide is divided into 4
sections.
I. Nominations, approval, acceptance, announcement
II. Materials and
preparation of materials
III. Award/honors presentation
events
IV. Funding
I. Nominations, approval,
acceptance, announcement
- Plan to submit the nomination packet to the All-University Honors Committee,
c/o Vickie Courtney, University Senate, 427 Morrill Hall, (612-625-4805) at
least six months before the date of presentation.
- Once the All-University Honors Committee, the President, and the Board of
Regents have approved the nomination, the Program Director for the All-University Honors Committee
will notify the nominee in writing and ask him/her to send a written acceptance
to the president or to call Vickie Courtney in the Senate Office
(612-625-4805) or the main office line (612-625-9369).
- Once the nominee’s letter or call is received in the Office of the
Program Director, the
department/unit nominator will be contacted by the staff in the Office of the Program Director.
- At this point you can begin to plan the presentation ceremony. It is
only at this point in the process that it is now possible to
disclose information about the recipient.
- Choose a person
to be the event contact from your unit and a person to be the citation contact
(the citation contact will read and edit copy written by University Relations).
This can be the same person.
- Call the nominee and begin to coordinate
a date for the presentation of the award. Consider the recipient’s
schedule, the president’s schedule, and the schedules of the regent or
other dignitaries who will present the award if the president is unavailable.
(See event section in handbook at http://www1.umn.edu/usenate/alluhonors/handbook.html)
- Try
to schedule the event as soon as possible after approval; however, you may want
to present the award at a large celebration that is coming up or a special
reception at Eastcliff. That is fine as long as it works for the
nominee.
- If the award is to be presented at commencement, be sure to
coordinate your plans with the appropriate college commencement planner.
II. Materials and Materials
Preparations
- Honorary degree: citation in a leather cover and a hood.
- Outstanding Achievement Award: citation in a leather cover and a crystal obelisk
engraved with the individual’s name and the presentation date.
- Award of Distinction: citation in a leather cover and a crystal obelisk
engraved with the individual’s name and the presentation date.
- Once the date has been determined, call Kristin Cleveland in University Relations
(612-624-1682) so that citation, medallion, or obelisk preparation can begin. Allow six
weeks lead-time.
- She will need the following information immediately:
- Date of the event
- Name of the award event contact
- Name of the citation contact (the person who will read, edit, and finally
approve the content of the award once it has been written by University
Relations).
- Kristin Cleveland will call the event contact when
the citation, hood, or obelisk are available to be picked
up.
III. Awards/Honors
Presentation Events
Awards are presented at public events. Although often these awards are
presented at commencement, awards can be given at other times during the
academic year also. An award may be presented at any public event at which
students, faculty and staff attend, or at a department or college milestone
event with the recipient as the keynote speaker.
The Presentation
Event:
Avoid scheduling the award presentation during regents meeting week
(second week of each month) because this is a particularly busy time and it will
be very difficult to schedule University administrators. Peg Wolff in
University Relations (612-624-6504) can help you with protocol and other event
questions.
- When scheduling a date for the presentation, get a few
possible times and check the availability of the president. Gail Eckel in the
president’s office (612-625-1871) can help you with his schedule. It is
appropriate to have the president read the citation at the presentation. If the
president cannot be present, ask a regent, the executive vice president and
provost, another vice president or a college dean, or a regents professor.
- 2. Be sure to double-check the date with the recipient.
- To schedule a regent to confer the award, call the Regents Office
(612-625-6300). There are very few exceptions where a regent does not confer.
The regent can read the citation in lieu of the president, as well as confer the
award.
- Honorary degree recipients receive both a citation and hood. If the award is
given during a formal ceremony where people are dressed in academic regalia, the
president and regent, or department chair, nominator, or college dean should
hood the recipient. If it is not a formal academic event and participants are
not in academic regalia, the recipient should decide if he or she prefers to
have the hood placed around his or her neck or have it handed to
him or her.
- Outstanding Achievement recipients receive a citationand an engraved crystal obelisk. The obelisk will be presented by the president, regent, department chair, nominator, or college dean.
- Award of Distinction recipients receive a citation and an engraved crystal obelisk. The obelisk will be presented by the president, regent, department chair, nominator, or college dean.
Event locations:
There are many venues on campus from which to choose. Consider the size of
your event and whether the recipient is giving a speech.
Some venues to
consider:
- Coffman Memorial Union: President’s Room, Mississippi Room, Campus
Club, the theater
- Weisman Art Museum
- Eastcliff, home of the president
- Walter Library
- Ted Mann Theater
- Gold Room, Northrop Memorial Auditorium
- Nice departmental spaces
Invitations
Speakers &
Participants
- Determine who is going to speak.
- To be sure your speakers do not simply duplicate what will be read in the
citation, offer to script the remarks.
- Identify an emcee to introduce the presenter, regents and the award
recipient.
- The recipient, if he/she speaks, should do so after the award is presented.
Regalia
This information is the same for both the honorary degree and the
Outstanding Achievement Award. Determine the type of event. If it is
ceremonial, wear academic regalia. If not, the decision can be made by the award
recipient. If the recipient is from another country, you need to learn about
his/her expectations. To determine cultural protocol and to obtain additional
information about hosting international recipients, contact the Office of
International Programs (612-624-5580).
Event Day
- In correspondence in preparation for the event, tell all participants what
time you want them to arrive and where to come.
- Go over details when ceremony participants arrive. Be sure they know their
roles.
- Tell everyone that a photograph will be taken when the hood or crystal obelisk is
presented. It is helpful to have the photographer talk to the participants
before the event if possible. You may need to give the presenters a few
suggestions for good photos, (i.e.) stepping to the side when the recipient is
hooded or the crystal obelisk is presented.
- Tell the presenters that the hood or crystal obelisk, and citation will be at the
podium.
- Have water and glasses at the podium for
speakers.
IV. Funding
- Costs of the event are the responsibility of the department or college.
- University Relations bears the costs of the citation, crystal obelisk, and hood. However, if the date is changed after engraving and printing are complete,
the department /college may bear the cost of reordering.
Photography
The nominating department is responsible for finding and paying a
photographer for the event. If you need help finding a photographer call
612-624-6868 and ask for a list of freelance photographers.
Tell your
event photographer what you plan to do with the photographs, (i.e. use them in a
publication, give copies to the recipient, or keep them in the department as a
record of the event). This information helps the photographer plan what
equipment to bring and how to direct the participants posing for the
photographs.
News
To generate media coverage about your event, contact a news service
representative in
University Relations (612-624-6868).