Employee Achievement Awards

FASS Employee Achievement Awards recognize the dedication and hard work of FASS employees including staff, faculty and temporary instructors in our collective service to the arts, humanities and social sciences and to our communities.

Award streams and categories

Staff

Open for Nominations

Changemaker
Individual Work Performance
Lifetime Contribution
Team Work Performance

Submit a nomination

Teaching

Submit a nomination

Nominations open

The nomination period for the 2026 FASS Employee Achievement Awards opens Monday, March 2^nd.

Deadline to submit a nomination is Friday, May 15^th at 11:59pm PT.

How to nominate

Nominations from all students registered in FASS classes, FASS faculty members, and staff are accepted.
The nominator is responsible for ensuring the nominee and the nominee's department/program chair or director is aware and approves of the nomination. For the Staff - Team Work Performance Award, the team's leader or manager may consent on behalf of the team.
Nominations must be submitted electronically via the FASS Employee Achievement Award nomination form link listed above in each category. Upon clicking the link, please log in with your SFU personal computing ID to access the form.
Prepare your supporting documents before clicking on the link to fill out the nomination form as it is a requirement for submission. The supporting documents include:
- A letter of nomination that provides an outline of how the nominee merits the award (max 1-2 pages). It is important to provide as much information as possible about what the nominee has done that demonstrates they have met the criteria for their award category. Inclusion of relevant examples is encouraged.
- 1 to 3 letters of support from parties other than the nominator (max 1 page each). The letters should focus on how the nominee meets the award criteria. It is the nominator's responsibility to inform all parties which award category the individual is nominated for and the criteria for that category. The nominator is also responsible for collecting the letters and submitting them as part of the nomination package.
- Teaching Stream only - Course evaluations and course outlines and/or tutorial lesson plans from 3 courses, which can be from the same course in different semesters.

For questions regarding the nomination process, please contact before the deadline.

Staff Awards - fass@sfu.ca
Teaching Awards - fassadlt@sfu.ca

Timeline

Nomination submission period: March 2 - May 15
Awards will be conferred at the FASS Fall Reception: October 22

Award descriptions

FASS staff awards

FASS staff are proud of and dedicated to their work and often go well out of their way to deliver excellent service and creative ideas that improve the lives of those within the university community and beyond.

Eligible FASS staff include those with at least two years of full-time employment or equivalent in FASS during the previous two years (full-time) or four years (part-time).

Each award category will receive one award of $500 towards professional development. Winners will also be honoured at the FASS Fall Reception.

One award may be bestowed annually in each of the following categories (ties may be considered) depending on the nominations received:

Changemaker: To recognize the importance of identifying what we can do better and then making it happen. This can include but not limited to; fresh insights, a significant improvement or even a revolution in a business or teaching process or other activity undertaken in the past two years that significantly improves some aspect of what FASS does and so has lasting impact and benefits for our students and our communities.
Individual Work Performance: To recognize a FASS staff member who demonstrates work performance that is consistently above and beyond their job description.
Lifetime Contribution: To recognize sustained leadership and commitment to FASS over the course of their employment. FASS staff who have served the university for at least 15 years are eligible to be nominated.
Team: To recognize a high-performing team which exemplifies collaboration and cooperation and which demonstrates a significant contribution with results on behalf of their department/unit and FASS.

FASS awards for non-continuing teaching employees

FASS employs many excellent teachers on a temporary basis as Teaching Assistants/Tutor Markers (TA/TM), Sessional Instructors, and Limited Term Faculty. In SFU’s annual student surveys, FASS students consistently report the highest satisfaction with FASS teachers, who deliver inspirational teaching, spark and mentor our students, and serve their departments in multiple ways.

These awards will complement the FASS Cormack Teaching Awards given to continuing faculty by recognizing individuals who are not continuing faculty and who excel in one or more of the following areas: engaging students in discovery of new knowledge; introducing innovative pedagogical approaches to learning that stimulates student interest and understanding of complex material; encouraging and supporting student learning; organizing and delivering an interesting and challenging syllabus that engages students at appropriate levels; exemplifying collegiality, professionalism and interdisciplinary respect.

Each award category will receive one award of $300 towards professional development. Award recipients will be invited to present at the Cormack Teaching Symposium and later honoured at the FASS Fall Reception.