Hoos Making an Impact Winners
Hoos Making an Impact
UVA staff have the opportunity to make a significant impact at UVA through our annual “Hoos Making an Impact” competition. Each year, staff can submit innovative ideas that will help streamline or improve a process at UVA. The competition is hosted by the Staff Senate in partnership with the President's Office to cultivate staff success across UVA Grounds in alignment with the University’s 2030 Strategic Plan.
2024-2025 Winners
A celebratory lunch brought the winners together with UVA leaders.
Andrea Trimble, Holly Robertson & Lisa Jevack (Office of Sustainability, UVA Libraries & Fralin Museum)
Art@Work is inspired by evidence that workspaces with art in them improve employee wellbeing. This project will purchase art from local artists for display in workplaces around Grounds, energizing creativity, providing space to reflect and connect, and deepening UVA’s connection to the surrounding community.
Career Navigation Team (HR)
Career Navigations team submitted a proposal to accelerate the rollout of their Career Champions initiative. The Career Champions Program is a strategic initiative to grow a culture of continuous career development by equipping managers with tools, resources, and recognition to promote team-wide career growth.
2023-2024 Winners
A celebratory lunch brought the winners together with UVA leaders and their projects were featured in UVA Today.
Leslie Booren (The School of Education & Human Development)
Create a multi-faceted program that primarily focuses on the retention and professional development of restricted research staff at UVA, enabling new ways for staff to move seamlessly from research project to project, lowering turnover costs and building continual support with institutional knowledge for faculty leaders.
Melissa Goldman (School of Architecture)
Create a Staff Mentoring Program to build bridges across Grounds, to celebrate and spread the word of Staff successes, and to share critical knowledge, support, and development across the variety of expertise at UVA.
2022-2023 Winners
The 2022-2023 competition focused on innovations designed to achieve progress toward the University's sustainability goals. A celebratory lunch brought the winners together with UVA leaders and their projects were featured in UVA Today.
Ethan Heil & Patrick Clark (Facilities Management & Parking and Transportation)
Create a Wahoo Commute Incentive Program that promotes alternative forms of commuting, and includes incentives such as financial support, points accrual, bonus-reward parking spots, reserved parking for members, shared parking spots, and more.
Rachel Sligar & Kendyl Bilenkij (Information Technology Services)
Increase use of the DocuSign/Document Imaging integration process with advertising/promoting and teaching tools, to make processes more efficient while also reducing paper waste. This reduction in paper waste (and paper production) leads to reduced carbon emissions, water use, wood use, and waste.