The UC Tech Awards Program celebrates the achievements of UC employees in designing, implementing or managing high-impact technology initiatives that drive digital transformation. It promotes increased engagement in the UC Tech community by recognizing the technology contributions of university faculty and staff across a range of roles, including IT, research, academia, and business.
The UC Information Technology Leadership Council sponsors the program each year and selects awardees based on the complexity, impact and mission alignment of their work affecting digital transformation. The awards provide university-wide recognition for technology efforts of strategic importance that advance the university’s mission of teaching, research, public service, and patient care; and/or improve the effectiveness of business operations.
The UC Tech Awards program has been an integral part of the UC Tech Conference since 2001, when created the Larry L. Sautter Award for Innovation in Information Technology (IT). Since then, the program has grown to seven awards.
The individuals and teams who are selected each year receive community-wide recognition and visibility, thanks to an awards ceremony, a press release, social media outreach and more. Learn more about the seven award categories (below) and review the 2023 application form – to share the important work being done across the university.
Eligibility
- Individuals or teams, including those who were equally involved in large projects.
- Staff and faculty employed by the University of California.
- Technology-centered functions, including technology, research, academic, and business support units.
- Those working in cross-location and cross-functional teams are encouraged to participate or nominate their colleagues.
UC Tech Annual Awards Categories
The awards recognize individuals, teams or project teams, as specified below. Up to one Golden Award and one Silver Award is awarded for each award category.
1. Larry L. Sautter Award for Innovation in Information Technology – The award is
given to an individual or a team for having implemented an innovative technology initiative that has had significant impact on the university’s academic/research mission, student life, business operations, patient care, or public service mission. Innovation is defined as the new application of technology, the creative use of limited resources, or an emphasis on collaboration to solve a problem.
2. DEI Leadership Award (For individuals only) – Recognizes the leadership of an individual in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in technical communities, as demonstrated by specific tactics to create vehicles that improve visibility, access and engagement of underrepresented populations.
3. IT Security Award – The award is given to an individual or team that advanced IT security at the University of California through awareness and training, policy, technical controls, and/or IT security hygiene. Projects that intersect with legal, privacy, and compliance are eligible.
4. Yvonne Tevis UC Collaboration Award – The award is given to an individual or team that conducted a strong collaborative technology initiative across two or more UC locations, across a UC campus and UC health system, and/or with other UC partners.
5. Mojgan A. Amini Operational Excellence Award – The award is given to an individual or team that transformed a business process (via reliability, speed, scale, efficiency, and/or effectiveness), whether through business process design, automation, customer service, digital transformation, or another initiative.
6. Design Award – The award is given to an individual or team that transformed one or more touch points through the application of various design disciplines (e.g., visual design, interaction design, user experience (UX) design, customer experience (CX) design and/or industrial design to improve usability and/or create a more elegant experience for everyone, including people with disabilities.
7. Sustained Impact Award (For individuals only) – The award is given to an individual who, over time, has contributed significant expertise, passion, and commitment to the university as evidenced by a portfolio of work supporting the technology arena.
Selection Criteria
The UC CIO Council selection committee assesses submissions along the following criteria:
1. Complexity – How complex was/were the problem(s) addressed?
2. Impact – How impactful was the work – number of individuals impacted, and/or depth of impact?
3. Mission alignment – Does the work advance the university’s mission or key values of access, affordability, and excellence?
About the UC CIO Council’s Selection Committee
The UC Tech Awards Program selection committee is composed of five members of the IT Leadership Council, including one member of the UC Office of the President and four others from locations who rotate annually. The committee determines the award winners on the basis of submitted materials and in accordance with the selection criteria. The names of committee members are listed on the program website after the selections have been announced each year.
Each year, the CIO Council chooses a gold and silver winner of each award type They look forward to reviewing submissions each year and to celebrating achievements of the UC tech community during the awards ceremony, typically on day 2 of the UC Tech Conference each year.
FAQs
- Do I /we apply for an “individual” or “team” award? The IT Leadership Council welcomes individual to apply. If the individual is leader of a project team, that individual can acknowledge those who worked on the project with them in their application and during the awards ceremony, but the focus will be on the individual leader. On the other hand, if project teams would like to apply as a group, they are also welcomed to do so.
- How far back in time can I submit projects? If you chose to celebrate a project team, the project must be operational and have been implemented within the last three years.
- Is there a limit on the number submissions for one individual or team? No.
Application Instructions
The deadline for submission of applications is will be announced via the UC IT News. Please stay tuned.
FYI, the information used to apply/nominate a colleague can be found on this 2023 UC Tech Application Form.
General timeline:
- Winners of the UC Tech Awards are announced publicly during the annul UC Tech Conference.
- Three months before the conference, applications are due.
- Six months before the conference, the UC Tech Awards Program application/nomination program launches each year.
Learn more about the UC Tech Awards Program Applications & Nominations Process
See this Presentation Deck
Contact: laurel.skurko@ucop.edu
UC Tech Awards Program Contact
Marketing & Communications
IT Services, UC Office of the President