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Larissa Allen Employee Experience Staff Award

The Larissa Allen Employee Experience Staff Award is in recognition of Larissa Allen, former assistant vice-president, human resources. This award recognizes one individual who has improved employee wellbeing at TMU by engaging and supporting employees in ways that had a significant positive impact on the experience of staff and/or faculty.

The recipient receives a certificate and a one-time monetary award of $2,000 (subject to applicable deductions).

Key criteria: Employee wellbeing; people first

Nomination guidelines

  • Staff employees (e.g. Senior Administrator or Director, MAC, CUPE 233 or OPSEU) with at least two years of service as of the nomination deadline, employed on a career or term basis. 
  • TFA members and associate members are not eligible for these awards.
  • Nominees do not need to be formal leaders.
  • Individuals can only be nominated for one individual award per year; however the Selection Committee may choose to reassign a nomination to a different award category, based on best fit with the criteria.
  • Nominations are only valid for the year in which they are submitted and must be based on achievements within the past academic year.
  • Employees who receive this award may not receive the same award for the following two academic years (e.g. 2021-2022 recipients cannot receive the same award until 2042-2025. They are ineligible for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024).

Faculty, staff or students can submit nominations.

  • Please contact the award administrator if you have more than one nominator.
  • Students should contact the Dean or Senior Director’s Office for assistance in submitting a nomination.

The award recognizes extraordinary contributions in one or more of the following areas:

  • Employee involvement – creates opportunities for employees to share ideas, improve on existing processes or services, and provide feedback on new ideas, priorities or goals
  • Learning opportunities – provides employees with access to opportunities to develop new skills
  • Positive and healthy work environment – promotes workplace well-being and the importance of work-life balance; demonstrates and supports equity, diversity and inclusion for all employees; celebrates individual and team successes
  • Improved employee experience - goes “above and beyond” to improve services, operations, or projects that contribute toward a positive daily employee experience
  1. Obtain the nominee's consent.
  2. Complete the nomination package as described below.
  3. Submit the nomination package via the Online Nomination Portal on the Recognition Website.
  4. Nominee will receive a confirmation email with a link to provide online consent. This step must be completed before the deadline.

A completed nomination includes:

  • Citation (100 words maximum) – highlight why the nominee deserves this award and any notable achievements. This citation will be included in related university communications if the nominee or team is selected.
  •  (google doc) Nomination Form (external link)  (two pages maximum) - questions detailed on the form
    • Completed by the nominator;
    • Bullet points are strongly encouraged;
    • Please save the completed form as a PDF and upload to portal.
  •  (google doc) Support Form (external link)  (one-page maximum) - questions detailed on the form
    • Completed by an individual other than the nominator or members of the Executive or Selection Committee;
    • Bullet points are strongly encouraged;
    • Please save the completed form as a PDF and upload to portal.
  • Supporting Materials (three pages maximum) – include description of initiatives, examples of work or results, etc.

Visit Tips for Preparing a Strong Nomination Package for more assistance.

The selection committee’s mandate is to select high-quality candidates, whose achievements meet or exceed the award criteria and help advance TMU’s values. Members (or their delegates) include:

  • Vice-President, Administration and Operations (Co-Chair)
  • Chief Human Resources Officer (Co-Chair)
  • Provost and Vice-President, Academic
  • Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion
  • Vice-Provost, Students
  • Assistant Vice-President, University Relations

All nominations are reviewed, with priority consideration given to nominees who have not received a TMU award in the past. The committee also considers a diversity of recipients in making its determinations.

An award will not be given if the committee determines there is no suitable candidate.

Nomination deadline: November 5 at noon
Recipient notified by: January 28, 2025
Award presentation: Toronto Met Awards Gala

Recognition Team
recognition@torontomu.ca

Celebration details

This award is celebrated at the Toronto Met Awards Gala.