Nominations for this year’s Professional Services Awards are now open to staff and students at the university – and there’s only one week left for people to nominate.

Building on the success of the 2022 Professional Services Awards, 2022-23 has been another challenging and extraordinary year for Professional Services staff.

With unprecedented investment in our physical and digital estate, Professional Services teams have moved on from ‘building back’ to leading and supporting the delivery of an ambitious programme of strategic change that will transform ways of working, our academic offering and the wider student experience.

The theme of this year’s Professional Services Awards is ‘Ambition’ and we’re looking forward to hearing how teams have reached even higher since the last awards, not only ensuring our Professional Services and campus operations run smoothly, but developing new services, capabilities and support for our fantastic global UoN community.

Our second awards will aim to capture the authenticity and team spirit that was so prevalent for the inaugural event. While we will be updating the format to include entertainment, digital streams and video summaries of nominations, the primary focus will still be to hold an evening of celebration and reflection with the focus upon showcasing all that our teams have achieved amongst the fantastic backdrop of our stunning EMCC conference centre venue.

Any member of the university’s staff or student community can nominate a team and Professional Services staff will also be able to self-nominate for any of the categories.

Activities on which nominations are based should have taken place between 24 April 2022 – 23 July 2023.

Who are Professional Services?

Professional Services includes all of Administrative Professional and Managerial (APM), Legal Services, Technical Services, Operations & Facilities and Childcare Job Families, including roles based in Schools and Faculties as well as central functions.

You can find a full list of staff groups that fall under ‘Professional Services’ here.

Nomination categories

To fully reflect the breadth and depth of services that are supported by our Professional Services teams, we have maintained the eight nomination categories identified for the inaugural awards that align to university core goals and values. All nominations are team-based to reflect the extraordinary collective efforts that we have witnessed during the course of the last year

Team of the Year
For teams who have demonstrated outstanding effort and contribution that has gone above and beyond to deliver services of value to the university

Team award for embodying university values
For teams that continually uphold and exhibit the university values of Fairness, Respect, Inclusivity, Ambition, Openness in their everyday duties

Team awards for enhancing the Campus Experience
For teams who have demonstrated a collective effort to enhance the student, staff or visitor experience on campus (this could be a physical activity or process or supporting technology)

Team award for contribution to sustainability
For teams whose activities have demonstrated value to the university but also a strong consideration for future sustainability (e.g. developing a sustainable service or way of working)

Team award for fostering creativity and discovery
For teams that are innovative and think out of the box when solving issues or are proactive in identifying new solutions

Team award for embedding collaboration
For teams who have truly embraced collaborative working in a cross-functional way with other university areas/teams

Team award for supporting potential
For teams that have encouraged each other or those they are engaged with to grow and thrive

Team award for solving problems and improving lives
For teams who have delivered solutions, services or activities that have made a significant difference to individuals or communities

Nomination process

Please nominate a team using the button below or find out more on our Professional Services Awards webpages.

Nominate a team here

We want to hear about colleagues whose achievements have been ambitious, who have inspired others and made a difference to those around them.

Colleagues can vote in as many categories as they like as long as they relate to a UoN Professional Services team. We ask that all nominations are appropriately tailored to the category and that the same wording is used for no more than two nomination categories.

Size and scale of activity is not a primary factor and all submissions are welcome against any of the eight defined categories. We actively encourage nominations from Professional Services staff from all communities, locations and job families.

Nominations will be open between Monday 26 June – Sunday 23 July 2023 and there will be the choice of either submitting nominations digitally via the event website (maximum 300 words), using a printed nomination form or by submitting a video/audio clip.

Physical forms will be distributed to key staff and student networks by the end of June.

Nominees will be notified by mid-August 2023.

If you have any questions or queries about the Professional Services Awards or would like to volunteer to be involved in the celebratory event on Monday 2 October 2023, please contact us via our specialist event mailbox – ps-awards@nottingham.ac.uk.

Find out more about the Professional Services Awards 2023 here.