The Innovation in Safety Award celebrates exceptional and ground-breaking innovations that advance safety at the University of Iowa.

Eligibility

All current permanent non-contract Merit Supervisory Exempt/Confidential and Professional and Scientific staff, tenure-track, research-track, or clinical-track faculty members with a 50 percent or greater appointment, and Postdoctoral Research Scholars/Fellows (FP01, FP02), are eligible for nomination. Self-nominations are not allowed. Deans, DEOs, department chairs/heads, supervisors, and other senior faculty or staff may serve as nominators. 

The successful nominee will:

• Have developed and/or implemented an innovative program or process to significantly improve UI safety culture. The innovative program or process should demonstrate a creative change in safety operation, have the potential for sustainability, and be educational.
• Demonstrate the shared commitment to safe and responsible conduct in a workplace setting.

Nomination and Selection Process

Required Documentation:

• Letter of Nomination: Attach a brief statement of no more than one page in length describing the nominee’s safety innovation, the applicability of the innovation to the broader campus, and its effectiveness.
• One Letter of Endorsement.  The letter of support should be no more than one page in length and address the nominee’s safety innovation, the applicability of the innovation to the broader campus, and its effectiveness.
• The Letter of Nomination and the Letters of Endorsement should be written by different people.
• Nominee Statement: Description of the safety innovation (up to 3 pages) prepared by the nominee. Include details of the innovation safety plan that have been implemented, demonstrate the efficacy of the plan or program, and include how the innovative safety program or process was or can be shared with other UI community members to improve the culture of safety.
• Nominee's CV or Resume (up to 10 pages).

Late or incomplete materials will not be accepted. A selection committee comprised of leaders from within the Office of the Vice President for Research, Environmental Health & Safety, and UI faculty will be appointed to evaluate nominations.

Submission Process and Deadline

The deadline for submissions is January 3, 2025. Submissions should be completed by Nominators. 

CLICK HERE to begin the submission process.  Click "Apply" and sign-in with your Hawk ID and password through the blue "University of Iowa Login" button.  If you have problems or questions, contact Lauren Galliart (lauren-galliart@uiowa.edu) in the OVPR well ahead of the deadline.

Award Details

• A prize of $1,000 and a commemorative gift.
• Recipients will be recognized at the University of Iowa Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony in May 2025.

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