Seeking nominations for the 2025 Administrative Improvement Award 

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2025 Administrative Improvement Awards, sponsored by the Office of Finance and Administration. Nominations must be submitted by Friday, Feb. 7.

Since 2013, the Administrative Improvement Awards have recognized exceptional contributions in customer service, process design or redesign or innovation; or development that enhanced effectiveness and efficiency, generated new revenue, saved time or costs, improved service delivery, or other benefits.

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

Below are past recipients and projects that have made a positive impact on the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s mission and received an administrative improvement award.

Department of Medicine Central Finance Administrative Improvement Project 

Mickie Dickrell and Jillian Raff; 2024 award recipient 

The Department of Medicine implemented Smartsheet to replace its time-consuming and manually managed financial spreadsheets. The team used the tool to streamline and automate tasks, leading to real-time financial reports, more transparency and clarity for leaders, and decreased administrative burden on staff. The successful transition to Smartsheet has prompted other integrations across the department that will benefit medical residents and staff.  

Student Affordable Housing Access Initiative  

Helen Faith, Brenda Gonzalez, Nancy Lynch, Kristen McRoberts, Edward Stevens, Karla Weber Wandel, and Alex White; 2024 award recipient 

The Office of Student Financial Aid developed an eForm within the MyUW Student Center to streamline and expedite the application process for affordable off-campus housing. The Reduced Cost Housing eForm integrates data from the Student Information System (SIS) and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to improve the service provided to eligible students. The initiative served 222 students in Fall 2023.  

Campus Cloud Infrastructure Team (DoIT)  

Rhonda Davis, Drew Denson, Michael Hopwood, Mark Nessel; 2023 award recipient 

In response to customer feedback regarding cost and efficiency, members of the DoIT Systems Engineering and Operations team reimagined and re-engineered UW–Madison’s cloud infrastructure service. The cloud allows UW–Madison to store, access, and manage data through the internet rather than on a computer or server, which can be costly to maintain. The updated software increased capacity and performance and decreased costs by 45% for university customers. The cloud services are designed to serve the university’s teaching, research, and public service mission. 

All current employees, including student employees, are eligible for the award and can be nominated as an individual or a team. Anyone associated with UW–Madison may submit a nomination. Nominated projects do not need a formal charter.

Teams that receive an award will be provided $10,000 in funding support to continue their project if there are additional phases, based on approval of the review committee. Individual award recipients will receive a $2,000 lump sum in their payroll.

An Administrative Improvement Award Review Committee will review nominations. Committee members include previous winners, administrators, and subject matter experts in improvement and innovation efforts.

More information about the awards, nomination process, and celebration ceremony can be found at finadmin.wisc.edu/aia.

Questions about the Administrative Improvement Award can be sent to adminimprove@vc.wisc.edu.