“We Are!” shoutouts are a recurring feature in Penn State Today that provides faculty, staff and students with a platform to give kudos to fellow Penn Staters for going the extra mile in the work they do for the University.
The “We Are!” series recognizes faculty, staff and students for Penn State-related work they’ve done that goes above and beyond their professional duties or responsibilities as students. That could include a University maintenance worker taking extra steps to make sure a project is completed, a student organizing a charitable event, an administrator going out of their way to do something special for their employees or a faculty member who goes above and beyond when advising students.
Following are the guidelines for the "We Are!" nomination and selection process and information on who is eligible for recognition:
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Each shoutout is limited to 300 characters in length.
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Nominators must provide their names so that, if needed, they can be contacted to confirm the information. Nominators also must provide the full name of the nominees, who will be contacted to confirm the nomination is in keeping with work they’ve done and to ensure the suitability of the recognition. This will also provide a nominee the opportunity to decline public recognition.
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Each shoutout should recognize a single individual for the Penn State-related work they've done that goes above and beyond their professional duties or responsibilities as students, rather than a group, team or unit. One name will be accepted per nomination form.
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Nominators should refrain from submitting multiple individual shoutouts for multiple people in the same college, campus, unit or department at the same time, in an effort to recognize a broad representation of individuals from across the institution. Multiple shoutouts submitted by a single nominator on the same day may not be considered for publication.
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In an effort to recognize as many Penn Staters as possible, multiple nominations from different nominators for the same individual that are received around the same time may be combined into a single shoutout. New nominations for an individual who has been recognized with a shoutout in the past 12 months are generally not published.
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"We Are!" shoutouts are intended to celebrate the accomplishments and achievements in day-to-day work and activities across the University, which often take place behind the scenes. Due to the volume of shoutouts we receive, priority publication will be given to shoutouts that spotlight those efforts.
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Those in top leadership positions at the University are not eligible for nomination, including: the University president, provost, campus chancellors and college deans; those who report directly to the University president or provost; interim appointments to those positions; members of the University Board of Trustees; leaders of official representative bodies for faculty, staff or students, when nominations are for contributions made in those capacities; and staff members in the Office of Strategic Communications. Nominations for other individuals in leadership positions whose work responsibilities have a broad reach across the University are generally not published.
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Shoutouts should not be reflective of personal favors or activities not related to the University.
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Nominations cannot be used to promote commercial products.
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The Penn State Today editorial staff has the final word when determining which submissions are suitable for publication, and reserves the right to edit for length, style and appropriateness.
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We receive a large volume of nominations recognizing Penn Staters for the great work that they do. While we aim to publish as many shoutouts as possible, and in a timely fashion, we cannot guarantee that every submission will result in publication.
To nominate someone for a "We Are!" please fill out this short online form.
Additional questions about "We Are!" and the nomination process can be sent to Jessica Hallman in the Office of Strategic Communications at jxh1643@psu.edu.