Northwestern Information Technology Project Team Excellence Award

Northwestern IT offers an annual Project Team Excellence Award (PTEA) to recognize project teams that are comprised of cross-unit participation and are highly successful in implementing a significant project during the calendar year.

Submit a Nomination

About the Award

The PTEA award recognizes Northwestern IT project teams that have been highly successful based on several criteria, including:

Collaboration—The team worked with units inside Northwestern IT, outside Northwestern IT, and/or outside Northwestern University.
Impact—The project results should display a significant impact on the Northwestern community.
Fulfillment—The project should achieve a high level of satisfaction amongst the project team members and customers/business partners.
Product/Service—The project should introduce or enhance a secure, reliable, and highly effective product or service.
Scoring—Projects are judged using a scoring system—any project that scores above the 7.75 threshold is eligible for the Annual Project Team Excellence Award.

Eligibility Criteria

The criteria below are intended to help identify qualified projects and determine who functioned as a key team member in those projects.

A team representative—preferably the project manager or University business partner responsible for the project—must submit a project nomination within 60 days of the project’s end date or before December 15 of the current calendar year.
Key project team members are defined as those who have made a significant contribution or gone above and beyond their typical duties.
Key team member names must be provided to the committee, and the list must be vetted by the project’s Associate Vice President (AVP) or Senior Director before the submission is accepted.
If a manager or above is nominated as part of the key team member list, that individual’s role as a team member should receive an additional evaluation by the AVP or Senior Director to ensure they have made a significant contribution or gone above and beyond their organic daily tasks.

Nomination and Review Process

Project managers submit their projects for consideration by completing the nomination form available on the Northwestern IT website.
The PTEA Committee chair receives the submission and connects with the Associate Vice President or Senior Director to vet the project and key team member list.
The PTEA Committee chair sends a survey to team members and business partners and schedules a question-and-answer presentation with the project manager.
The project manager and lead, as well as others who may be invited at the discretion of the PTEA Committee chair, will present the project presentation.
The committee gathers to discuss and score the team using the prescribed matrix, which evaluates the work based on several factors. Winning teams must earn a score of at least 7.75 to be eligible for the annual award. If the committee decides to award the nominated team, the decision is brought to the Senior Leadership Team for their review and approval before the team is notified.
1. If a project receives a score below 7.75, the PTEA Committee chair will notify the individual who submitted the original nomination.
Upon receiving approval from the Senior Leadership Team, the PTEA Committee chair will notify the individual who submitted the original nomination that the project received a score above 7.75 and is eligible for the annual PTEA award. 
Projects achieving 7.75 or above will be featured in a Take 5 or Inside IT article during the year.

Annual Award Selection Process

Approximately six weeks before the first Extended Staff Meeting of the calendar year, the PTEA Committee chair and liaison to the Senior Leadership Team gather the award nominations that scored above 7.75 from the previous calendar year for presentation to the Senior Leadership Team.
The PTEA Committee liaison presents the eligible projects to the Senior Leadership Team for determination of which project is awarded the annual PTEA.
The liaison notifies the PTEA chair, but this information is kept confidential, and no notices go out to the nominated teams to inform them of the annual winner.
During the award presentation at the Extended Staff Meeting, each nominated project team is recognized, with the Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, or another member of the Senior Leadership Team, ultimately revealing the winning team.
In general, only one annual award will be given at the first Extended Staff Meeting of the calendar year. If the PTEA Committee feels an exception should be made, and an additional nomination is worthy of an award, the committee may present the nominations and request counsel from the Northwestern IT Senior Leadership Team.

Annual Award Announcement

The Annual Project Team Excellence Award is announced at the first Extended Staff Meeting of the calendar year; runners-up will also be recognized. Members of the winning team receive:

Northwestern IT Project Team Excellence Award certificate
Team lunch with the Vice President and Chief Information Officer, and the director and/or associate director related to the project
One day off to be taken by staff within two months of the award

Past Winners

2024 - eProcurement Punchout and Catalog Management Application Replacement
2022 - Action for COVID-19 Response
2021 - Advising System Replacement
2021 - Zoom Implementation
2020 - KIS Data Center Transition Project
2019 - Quest Scheduler Transition
2018 - Research Portal Upgrade

Award Committee

A rotating committee of Northwestern IT staff, excluding VPs, AVPs, Directors, and Associate Directors, will review all nominated projects. The committee should represent a cross section of IT units. Members should appreciate and support Northwestern Behaviors (as defined in Performance Excellence guidelines) and they should have a good understanding of the University beyond Northwestern IT.

Members will have a two-year term, and the committee will elect a chair (or co-chairs) every two years. For continuity purposes, if the outgoing chair is leaving the committee, the outgoing chair will sit in on deliberations for the first nomination of the new year in an advisory capacity.

PTEA Committee Members

Current PTEA committee members
Name	Term Expiration Date
Karl Kooistra	December 1, 2025
Marq Mercado	December 1, 2025
Damon Taylor (Chair)	January 1, 2026
Milen Ivanov	February 1, 2026
Jose Loera	November 1, 2026
Tobin Magle	January 1, 2027