Directors Award Program

Revised: August 13, 2024

1. Governing Regulations

This guideline is governed by The Texas University A&M System (System) Regulation 31.01.10, Service Awards and Administrative Procedure 10.04, Employee Recognition Awards.

2. Purpose

The Director’s Awards recognize exceptional professionalism and service within the Texas A&M Forest Service. The Director’s Awards Committee reviews nominations and selects the employee most deserving of recognition by the Director.

3. Responsibilities

Agency employees nominate award candidates and the Director’s Awards Committee selects finalists for the Director’s approval. The Executive Assistant to the Director (EAD) serves as the Chair of the committee.

4. Procedures for Nominations

  1. Complete the Nomination Form (for all awards except Team Effort Awards) to nominate a qualified employee for an award. Complete the Nomination Form – Director’s Team Effort Award to nominate a qualified team of employees.
  2. Return the completed form by e-mail to the EAD.
  3. Any employee can nominate any other employee. For questions related to nominations, please contact the EAD.
  4. Submission deadline: September 15

5. Minimum Eligibility Criteria

  1. Nominee must currently be and must have been a full-time employee during the entire fiscal year preceding presentation of the award.
  2. Nominee cannot hold the title of Director, an Executive-level Leader or Department Head.
  3. Nominee cannot have received the same award in the previous year.

6. Award Categories

A. Directors Award for Support Staff

Recognizes individuals in support positions who demonstrate exceptional accomplishments in support of agency objectives. Nominee must serve in a support staff role. Award for each category of support staff consists of an engraved plaque and a $500 cash award.

B. Charles Krenek Award for Resource Specialists

Recognizes Resource Specialists who demonstrate exceptional activities in support of district objectives. Nominee must be a Resource Specialist. Award consists of an engraved plaque and a $500 cash award.

C. Bruce Mile’s Natural Resource Professional Award

Recognizes a natural resources professional who has excelled in delivering a complete program. Nominee must be a Forester, Woodland Ecologist or Biologist. Award consists of an engraved plaque and a $500 cash award.

D. D.A. “Andy” Anderson Outreach & Education Award

Recognizes employees who have done an outstanding job of helping Texans become more aware of and better informed about the importance of conserving Texas forest resources through wise use, protection and reforestation practices. Award consists of an engraved plaque and a $500 cash award.

E. Byron “Jeff” Durant Prescribed Fire Excellence Award

Recognizes employees who have done an outstanding job as a prescribed burn boss, as a staff member assisting in prescribed burn preparation and operations, and/or in efforts to promote and increase the safe and effective use of prescribed fire in Texas. The award consists of an engraved plaque and a $500 cash award. Also, the recipient’s name is engraved on a display drip torch retained at HQ.

F. Directors Team Effort Award

1. Best Interdivision Project

Recognizes the best interdivisional project. The project must have involved employees from at least two divisions (FER, FOP, FNRM, FIN, ADMN or the combined group of LE, PDD, C&M), with at least two employees from each division involved. All members must have actively contributed to the project. The maximum number of collaborators on the project is limited to 25 employees. The award consists of an engraved plaque and a $200 cash award for each collaborator.

Example of eligible project: A project to develop a new, innovative GIS application that was carried out by a group of five employees (two from FER and three from FNRM).

2. Best Unit for Interdivisional Activity

Recognizes the organizational unit that participated in the most interdivisional projects/activities. The projects/activities must have involved employees from at least two divisions (see para F.1.), with at least two employees from each division involved. All unit members must have contributed to some of the projects/activities but did not have to participate in all the projects/activities. The maximum unit size is limited to 15 employees. The award consists of an engraved plaque and $2,000 in local funds to support the unit’s activities and needs.

Examples of units: An agency office, region, district, task force, program, or small department.

Examples of interdivisional projects/activities may include:

  • Assisting with Smokey events
  • Conducting prescribed burns
  • Assisting local service
  • Making improvements to agency property
  • Conducting post fire assessments
  • Conducting pole barn at field office
  • Distributing seedlings at public events
  • Packaging/shipping large seedlings order from West Texas Nursery

3. Additional Team Effort Awards

The Director may opt to recognize a runner-up where beneficial, with lesser awards to distinguish the top unit from the runner-up.

G. Good Samaritan Award

Recognizes employees for noteworthy acts of rendering aid to someone in need of assistance. Reward consists of a $100.00 cash award.

Additional details for each award are provided in the information sheets on the Awards webpage.

7. Awards Committee Membership

  1. The EAD serves as the Chair, and the Employee Services (ES) office provides administrative support.
  2. Committee members are appointed annually by the Director.
    • The divisions nominate on even years, for two-year terms.
    • The Employee Advisory Council nominates on odd years, for two-year terms.
    • Employee Services provides a standing member that also represents Finance and Administration.
  3. Committee membership consists of the following:
DepartmentNumber of members
Director’s Office (EAD)1
Finance and Administration (ES staff member)1
Deputy Director Divisions and Separate Departments1
Field Operations Division1
Employee Advisory Council2

8. Responsibilities – Chair

  1. Collect and validate nominations.
  2. Obtain Director’s guidance on agency awards.
  3. Review nominations for appropriateness, completeness, and timeliness before submitting nominations to the committee.
  4. Submit committee recommendations for awards program or committee improvements to the Director.
  5. Maintain minutes of meetings and provide updates to the Director.
  6. Submit award finalist nominations to the Director for approval.
  7. Submit list of selected recipients to ES and to Payroll & Support Services for processing of awards.
  8. Coordinate scheduling of the awards with the personnel meeting program planning committee.

9. Responsibilities – Committee

  1. Review nominations and select award finalists. (except for Good Samaritan Awards)
  2. Develop recommendations for improving the awards program and committee.

10. Responsibilities – Employee Services

  1. Update the Director’s Awards guidelines as changes are approved by the Director and provided by the EAD.
  2. Assist the Chair with validating nominations, preparing nominations for review, maintaining committee files, and packaging the committee’s decisions.
  3. Purchase awards for recipients.
  4. Assist with the Director’s Awards program portion of the personnel meeting.

11. Reporting

The Director’s Awards Committee reports to the Director.

Contact

Get in touch with the Executive Assistant to the Director

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