Who is Eligible for a COSA?
Nominees, both individuals and team members, must be UC Berkeley career staff (appointment type 2) or Contract (appointment type 1) staff members with non-executive tier titles (i.e., not SMG, Senior Management Group) and have at least one year of employment at UC Berkeley.
Academic appointees (both senate and non-senate) are not eligible. A staff member who has received an individual COSA within the last three years is not eligible for an individual award. However, he/she may receive a team award.
Individual awards are for work performance occurring within the last three years. Team awards are for staff teams whose activities or project is currently at or near completion. If the team activity or project is completed, the completion date must be within the past three years.
Eligible teams are:
- two or more individuals united around a specific project
- structured to work collaboratively
- may or may not be from the same department
- meet measurable outcomes, generally within a specific time frame
- consist of members who are all accountable for the work
- Work groups (individuals grouped together for administrative or organizational purposes who interact to accomplish unit or departmental goals) can be considered eligible for a team nomination in their completion of a one-time project, but not for meeting on-going departmental or unit goals.
- Entire units or departments are typically not eligible for a team nomination.
Who Can Nominate?
Any member of the campus community, including staff, faculty, and students, may submit nominations. Nominations need not come from the nominee's supervisor or department. Each nomination must be supported by two different individuals: the primary nominator and a supporting nominator.
Self-nominations will not be considered.
Is There A Maximum Team Size That I Can Nominate?
Each nomination is evaluated on merit and, though there is not a predetermined limit on team sizes, key contributors on teams typically range from two to ten individuals. Nominations must highlight how each individual specifically contributed to the team in a significant and outstanding way; nominations that fail to do this do not meet the minimum standards for a COSA.
What Makes A Succesful Nomination? How Can I Best Communicate Why My Nominee Deserves a COSA?
Every year, many deserving staff are nominated for a COSA. The Chancellor and her designees, the Chancellor’s Staff Advisory Committee, strive to ensure the most exceptional of the nominated staff receive a COSA. The best way to ensure a successful nomination is to follow all directions on the nomination form. Answer all the questions completely--clearly explain how your nominee has exemplified two of the criterion of excellence and how they have demonstrated exceptional initiative to create significant positive impact on the UC Berkeley campus community. The reviewers may not have a thorough knowledge of your area of campus, your unit, your internal processes and organization; give specific examples and enough context to enable to reviewers to understand the exceptional nature of your nominee’s accomplishments.
When Will I or My Nominee Hear If My Nomination Was Succesful?
For the 2024 COSA cycle, award recipients and their primary nominator will be informed by the end of March 2024. The primary nominator for employees not chosen to receive a COSA will also be informed by the end of March 2024.
Employees who are nominated but not chosen to receive a COSA will not be informed by CSAC. It is up to the nominator(s) if they wish to inform their nominee(s) that they were nominated. For your convenience, CSAC also provides a list of other award programs that recognize staff achievement.
When Will The Next COSA Award Ceremony Be Held?
Traditionally, COSA Award Ceremonies are held in April of each year. Stay tuned for more information for next year's event!
Questions
If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at cosa@lists.berkeley.edu.