Empower èƵ Incentive Plan
Empower èƵ Incentive Program
The Empower èƵ Incentive Program celebrates employees who go above and beyond to make a meaningful impact at the University of èƵ. This pilot initiative was initiated by the Board of Regents in response to feedback from the UA-wide Employee Experience Survey — and to offer monetary recognition for exceptional work that advances our mission and empowers our communities.
Final awards announced for 2025 Empower èƵ Incentive Program
In July 2025, UA President Pat Pitney announced the 4 Grand Prize awardees for the incentive program:
- Jessica Salas (UAA)
- Ashley Munro (UAF)
- Bernard (Bernie) Yadao (UAS)
- Kolene James (UAS)
In addition, 670 employees across the èƵ system received individual or group awards during the pilot program.
Learn more about all of the recipients on the Empower èƵ Honor Roll.
Detailed Program Overview
Here’s what you need to know:
- Who can be nominated: Regular, benefit-eligible employees in good standing with at least 6 months of service.
- Who can nominate: Any UA employee (including self-nominations).
- Award amounts: $100–$1,000 per award; four $5,000 Grand Prizes available.
- Categories include:
- Scalable Innovation - Innovation that improves operations
- Exceptional Student Service - Exceptional student service
- Empowering èƵ - Outstanding contributions and performance aligned with Empower èƵ values
- How to nominate:
- Submit a brief description of the employee’s contributions and outcomes to their supervisor or Human Resources Coordinator (HRC).
- Supervisors and/or HRCs complete the for review, approval, and awarding.
- Deadline for Grand Prize consideration: May 15, 2025.
Nominations are reviewed and approved by supervisors and èƵ leadership, with award funds allocated across each MAU.
Note: All submissions are subject to review and approval, and not all submissions may be deemed eligible for this program. Eligibility and final award determinations are made at the discretion of the nominee’s supervisor in accordance with èƵ policies and procedures. Individual Universities may provide additional guidance on the award review process.
- All regular, benefit-eligible employees are eligible.
- Nominees must be active employees in good standing with at least six months of service and no corrective action during that period.
- Supervisors verify eligibility before approving award submissions.
Awards can cover ideas that were developed, created, or had an impact in FY25, and
awards will be provided until the pilot program closes on June 30, 2025, or when funding
is exhausted.
Work to implement the improvements can have occurred as far back as FY23, but must
have an impact on the current fiscal year.
- Scalable Innovation - Recognizes ideas or actions that improve operational efficiency, introduce new or improved processes, or enhance customer service—well beyond regular job duties.
- Exceptional Student Service - Recognizes efforts that significantly improve student recruitment, retention, or graduation outcomes, or that enhance the student experience.
- Empowering èƵ - Recognizes outstanding contributions during critical times or exemplary performance that far exceeds expectations, demonstrating the values of the Regents’ Roadmap to Empower èƵ initiative.
The Regents allocated up to $500,000 for this program, which has been distributed to the Universities and System office based on employee headcount on Sept. 20, 2024:
|
University/SO |
% Headcount |
Allocation |
|
UAA |
38% |
$175,000 |
|
UAF |
49% |
$235,000 |
|
UAS |
7% |
$40,000 |
|
System Office/Foundation |
6% |
$30,000 |
|
Subtotal |
$480,000 |
|
|
Grand Prize Award (4 @ $5,000) |
N/A |
$20,000 |
|
Total Empower Incentives Available |
$500,000 |
At UAS, funds will be held centrally. The Chancellor’s Executive Cabinet will ensure distribution across campuses, divisions, and departments when approving awards.
At UAF, UAA, and System Office, the funds have been proportionally distributed at the Vice Chancellor or Vice President/Chief Officer level. Management reserves the right to make further distribution adjustments to fully spend the funds, if necessary.
In addition to the team and individual awards, there are four (4) Grand Prizes of $5,000 available.
- By May 15, 2025, each MAU (System Office and the Foundation, plus the three Universities) will select its top 3 awardees and submit them to the President’s Office.
- A systemwide committee will select from those twelve, four $5,000 grand prize winners (split among group recipients if applicable).
- Winners will be announced by June 30, 2025, and recognized at a BOR meeting.
Award recipients may be asked to provide additional information to support a one-page informational slide submission. Submissions received by May 15 will be considered for the Grand Prizes. However, if an MAU still has incentive funds available to award, submissions will continue to be reviewed until the funds are exhausted or the fiscal year ends.
Process
Employees may be nominated for awards by their colleagues or supervisors.
To nominate a colleague, notify that colleague’s supervisor or department that you would like to recognize them. You’ll want to include the following information in your message:
- Your colleague’s name and default UA email address.
- The nomination/submission form requires default UA email addresses rather than aliases.
- The award category in which your colleague should be recognized
- 3-5 sentences explaining what your colleague did that deserves to be recognized
- 2-3 sentences explaining the outcome of your colleague’s actions.
Nominate one of your employees or teams directly or based on the recommendation of their colleagues by completing this . Your HRC may also start the form and route it to you for review and approval. You’ll need:
- Your employee(s) name and default UA email address(es).
- Teams or groups of employees require 1 form per employee to be recognized.
- The nomination/submission form requires default UA email addresses rather than aliases.
- The award category in which the employee(s) should be recognized.
- 3-5 sentences explaining what your employee(s)’ did that deserves to be recognized.
- 2-3 sentences explaining the outcome of your employee(s)’ actions.
All nominations require supervisor approval. Supervisors will:
- Confirm the eligibility of their employee(s).
- Determine the monetary amount of the award, ranging from $100 to $1000
- VCAS (UAA & UAF) or CHRO (System Office) approval is required for awards over $700.
- Provide a brief justification of the award amount.
Nominations will be reviewed centrally by the Chancellor’s Executive Cabinet. The Cabinet will award up to 40 $1,000 awards across all three UAS campuses. Nominations should include:
- Nominations can be made by any UAS employee and should be submitted via .
- The Executive Cabinet will award up to 40 $1,000 awards across all three UAS campuses.
- The Executive Cabinet will centrally review, approve nominations, and make awards.
- UAS will be following a different submission and award process from some of the other MAUs. Exact details can be found on the UAS Employee Hub.
- Nominations can be made by any employee and should be submitted via .
- The executive team will centrally review, approve nominations, and make awards.
Detailed instructions on how to submit the nominating form are available here:
Please note that the NextGen form requires the use of the default UA email addresses rather than an alias email.
Supervisors and HRCs must have the following information to complete the form. You may need to ask the individual for some of these details:
- UA ID of person being nominated as well as their supervisor’s name and email address
Recipient’s Adjusted Service Date (PEAEMPL) can be located within Banner.
Questions and Contacts
Review the FAQs below. If your question isn’t answered, reach out to the contact for the Empower èƵ Incentive Program at your MAU (below). New FAQs will be added, so please scroll down.
This pilot program is in support of the Board of Regents’ Roadmap to Empower èƵ. Please refer to the details in the original plan announcement. As a general guideline, these incentives are for extraordinary performance that results in a measurable outcome.
- All regular benefit-eligible employees are eligible to be nominated for an award.
- Nominated employees must be active employees in good standing and employed for at least six (6) months with no corrective action during that time.
- Supervisors verify employee eligibility before submitting and approving awards.
Supervisors or an HR Coordinator will submit award recommendations through a NextGen form (available 4/4). Supervisors and HRCs have the best level of knowledge about the award criteria and knowledge for the form submission requirements.
The Supervisors or department HRC will submit on behalf of their employees to recognize their essential role in advancing the UA Employee. Alternatively, a colleague can and should notify the recipient’s supervisor or department of employees that they would like to be recognized and why they believe the individual should receive an award. An HRC can provide the supervisor with the required department details.
All submissions are subject to review and approval, and not all submissions may be deemed eligible for this program. Eligibility and final award determinations are made at the discretion of the nominee’s supervisor or above in accordance with èƵ policies and procedures. Individual Universities may provide additional guidance on the award review process.
All team submissions entered by May 15 will be considered for the Grand Prize. If a team wins, the $5,000 prize will be split among all group members.
See the “Award Amounts” section above or refer to page 2 of the official Awards may be in the amount of a minimum of $100 to a maximum of $1000.
Separate from the above-mentioned incentive awards, there will be four (4) Grand Prizes of $5,000 to be awarded.
By the end of April, each MAU should identify a process to select finalists for their top three awards. Awards for Grand Prize consideration will recognize efforts that have made or will make the most significant impact and align with the Roadmap to Empower èƵ. Award recipients may be asked to provide additional information to support a one-page informational slide submission. Submissions for the Grand Prizes must be received by May 15 to be considered. However, if an MAU still has incentive funds available to award, submissions will continue to be reviewed until the funds are exhausted or the fiscal year ends.
Near the end of the fiscal year, a UA-wide committee selected by the President will review all 12 submissions (consists of three per each MAU, plus the System Office and UA Foundation). Their task is to choose the top four submissions from all the entries to receive a Grand Prize. Grand Prize awards of $5,000 will go to either an individual or a group, and if a group is selected, they will split the award amount.
Winners will be announced by June 30, 2025, and the submissions of the Grand Prize winners will be recognized at an upcoming BOR meeting.
At this time, this is a one-time pilot project and meant to align with the Roadmap to Empower èƵ Initiative.
Yes, self-nominations will be accepted. You should have a conversation with your supervisor about the area of the Empower èƵ Incentive type that matches with your desired submission, and it must have supervisor approval/meet the criteria.
Your supervisor is key to knowing the status of awards, and once the process moves through different departments, they will be notified of the status. Ultimately, your supervisor will know when the award has been processed.
Additional Questions & Contacts
I have reviewed the initial plan announcement, the Board of Regents , the Q & A’s above, and the NextGen form (available 4/4) and still have questions.
Who can I contact on my campus for answers?
Please put “UA Empower èƵ Incentive Plan” as the email subject line and send to: