GEM Award – Going the Extra Mile Award
The Award recognizes and rewards outstanding service by administrative, support, and technical staff employees in the College of Engineering.
Eligibility
- All staff who do not hold faculty status and who work at least two-thirds time are eligible.
- Past recipients are not eligible for a period of five years after receiving the award.
Qualifications
- Performed above and beyond normal expectations
- Gone above and beyond their regular assignment in specific and recognizable ways
- Volunteered to take on responsibilities not specifically required by their supervisor and take those on with a positive and willing spirit
- Demonstrated leadership or an ability to motivate others in pursuit of excellence
- Considered situations and problems from novel and diverse perspectives; addressed challenges in an innovative manner
- Questioned existing assumptions and beliefs; encouraged people to think of alternative ways of doing things
- Considered constraints that limited innovation; worked within constraints to create novel approaches; found ways to make the most out of existing resources; swiftly moved from ideas to implementation
Candidates should have performed in a manner that substantially exceeds the normal expectation for a staff member.
Selection
The Staff Initiative Committee will select award recipients.
Nomination Process
Nominations may be initiated by College of Engineering staff, faculty, and/or administrators. Each nominator, however, may nominate only one employee for this award each year. Once the nomination process has concluded, the respective department chair for each faculty nominee or manager for each staff nominee will be contacted to complete a Recommendation Form before all materials are sent to the appropriate Awards Committee for evaluation.
The nomination packet should consist of ONE pdf file submitted through the Nomination Form below (multiple submissions for the same nomination will not be accepted) containing the following:
- a maximum of three letters of support from current or former students and/or College/University colleagues.
Nomination Form
If you have any questions, please email fac-staff-awards@coe.neu.edu.
Past Recipients
| 2025 | Laura Kenney | Academic Advising |
| 2025 | Saige McGinnis | BioE |
| 2024 | Esther Cohen | BioE |
| 2024 | Robert Eagan | ChE |
| 2024 | Krystal Ristaino | Academic Advising |
| 2023 | Tiffany Lam | CenSSIS |
| 2023 | Gina O’Brien-McLelland | Dean’s Office |
| 2022 | Elizabeth Creamer | Academic Advising |
| 2022 | David Louis | Computer Center |
| 2022 | Krista Robinette | ChE |
| 2021 | Edward Kelly | ECE |
| 2021 | Lisa Lehane | ARC |
| 2021 | Sarah Batista-Pereira | Development |
| 2020 | Thomas Simers | MIE Co-op |
| 2020 | Eddie Tyrance | ECE |
| 2019 | Jacqueline Josselyn | ECE Co-op |
| 2019 | Juan Carlos Hincapie | ARC |
| 2018 | Eve Young | Academic Advising |
| 2017 | Margaret Grimes | MIE Co-op |
| 2016 | Melanie Smith | Gordon-CenSSIS |
| 2015 | Robert Eagan | ChE |
| 2014 | Andrew Lawrence | ARC |