IEA Guidelines and Eligibility Requirements

The selection team seeks nominations for the Inclusive Excellence Awards, or IEA, for exceptional and innovative contributions to advancing inclusion in teaching, research, programming, service, community outreach and organizational change.

Please review the following information to learn more about the IEA categories, nomination and selection process and timeline. After you have reviewed the requirements and guidelines, please review how to prepare a nomination packet.

If you have questions or need assistance, contact the Office for Inclusive Excellence and Impact, or IEI, at inclusion@msu.edu.

Nomination Review Process

All nominations will go through a review process by the IEI staff and will advance to the review of the committee if:

Submitted by the stated deadline.
Submitted via the correct application portal (unless a special case).
Packet’s formatting conforms to the guidelines included in this document (e.g., page limits, letterhead, etc.).
Meet the eligibility criteria.
Letters of support and nominations must be submitted.

When these criteria are in question, the IEI staff will discuss with the review committee for a decision.

The review committee will review all eligible nominations and select a subset of the nominations to advance to finalist interviews. When conducting these reviews, the committee will use the criteria noted in the following tables.

Nominee Eligibility Requirements

The selection committee will recognize work done by Michigan State University affiliated individuals, teams, organizations and units. These terms are explained below.

Individuals are current students or employees at Michigan State University and are eligible for the awards.

Students must be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at the time of their nomination. Guest students are not eligible.
Employees must be current Michigan State University individuals with a current appointment at the time of their nomination, and must include a resume/CV.

Teams include any group—including students, staff and faculty—who engage in a joint endeavor for which they are nominated, including research groups, learning communities, ad hoc committees, etc., who come together for short-term or focused work. Nominations for teams should describe the team’s history and purpose.

Organizations include any formal, ongoing group—including students, staff, and faculty—who engage in a joint endeavor for which they are nominated, such as standing committees, research labs and centers, registered student organizations, professional and employee resource groups, etc. Nominations for teams should describe the team’s history and purpose.

Units are formal groups recognized as an MAU at the institution—including departments, schools, colleges and administrative offices. A unit effort can consist of students, staff or faculty organizations recognized as being affiliated with the unit by the university. Nominations for units should describe how the unit’s efforts are exemplary and a departure from the standard work that occurs within peer offices.

Partners are individuals, organizations and communities—internal or external to MSU—with whom the nominee collaborates. Although external partners to MSU are not eligible for nomination for an award, they can nominate or support the work of MSU individuals, teams, organizations and units.

Lifetime Contribution Award

Selection Criteria

Contribution - Work encompasses a long-term emphasis on inclusive excellence while employed at Michigan State University.

Excellence - Work is innovative, exemplary and/or represents best practices and serves as a model for other individuals or groups.

Effort - Effort extends beyond the nominee’s job duties in terms of quality, scale and quantity.

Influence - Initiatives have resulted in change(s) for specific stakeholder(s) and have evidence of this change and related outcomes.

Strategic - Effort advanced and addressed MSU needs, priorities and/or strategic plans.

Inclusive Excellence Awards

Selection Criteria

Contribution - Work encompasses emerging or sustained focus on inclusive excellence related to specified award category(s).

Excellence - Work is innovative, exemplary, and/or represents best practices in the category for which it was nominated.

Effort - Effort extends beyond the nominee’s job duties in terms of scale and quantity of work.

Evidence - Outline evidence of results or change for specific stakeholders.

Strategic - Effort connects to inclusive excellence needs, priorities and/or strategic plans at MSU or with associated stakeholder(s).

Process Timeline

Announcements go out	July 2025
Nominations due to IEI for processing	Oct. 31, 2025
Nominations due to the selection committee	Oct. 31, 2025
Selection committee initial review	November 2025
Finalist interviews	December 2025
Awardees notified	January 2025
Award ceremony at Kellogg Center	February 2026

Finalist Interviews

After an initial review of the nomination packets, members of the selection committee will conduct 15-20 minute interviews with the nominees. For teams, organizations and units, the group should designate two or three individuals to represent it. The purpose of the interview is to hear directly from the nominee(s) about their activities and priorities related to inclusion. The committee will conduct the interviews in person unless an online interview is requested.

MSU’s Policy on Revocation of Honors and Awards provides that individuals may not be permitted to use an honorific award after they have been found to have committed misconduct, which includes violations of MSU’s RVSM policy. In such cases of misconduct, the Revocation of Honors and Awards Policy provides that an individual may no longer be allowed to identify themselves as having received an all-university award.