Madison Reporter

Nominations are open for the 2025 Administrative Improvement Awards, organized by the Office of Finance and Administration. The deadline for submissions is Friday, February 7.

The awards, established in 2013, honor outstanding contributions in areas such as customer service, process innovation, and efficiency improvements that enhance effectiveness or generate new revenue.

“UW-Madison employees continuously work to offer the best teaching, research, and public service experience possible,” said Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Rob Cramer. “The Administrative Improvement Awards celebrate employees and their contribution to our mission by making impactful changes to administrative practices.”

Past award recipients include:

- The Department of Medicine Central Finance Administrative Improvement Project: Mickie Dickrell and Jillian Raff received the 2024 award for implementing Smartsheet to replace manual financial spreadsheets. This change led to real-time financial reports and reduced administrative burdens.

- Student Affordable Housing Access Initiative: Helen Faith, Brenda Gonzalez, Nancy Lynch, Kristen McRoberts, Edward Stevens, Karla Weber Wandel, and Alex White were recognized in 2024 for developing an eForm within MyUW Student Center. This tool streamlined applications for affordable off-campus housing.

- Campus Cloud Infrastructure Team (DoIT): Rhonda Davis, Drew Denson, Michael Hopwood, Mark Nessel won the 2023 award for re-engineering UW–Madison’s cloud infrastructure service. Their efforts increased capacity while reducing costs by 45%.

All current employees at UW–Madison are eligible for nomination. Teams receiving an award will get $10,000 in funding support if further project phases are approved. Individual recipients will receive a $2,000 lump sum.

A review committee comprising past winners and experts will evaluate nominations. Further details on the awards can be found at finadmin.wisc.edu/aia. Inquiries can be directed to adminimprove@vc.wisc.edu.