To be eligible, a potential nominee must meet the following criteria.

1. The nominee must be a member of the faculty or staff who has worked at the university for at least three years. Nominations should be for single individuals, not teams of individuals.
2. Previous recipients of the Award will not be eligible; however, nomination packages of the nominees who were not selected will be carried over for reconsideration for two additional years though packets will be stronger if they are updated annually.

Broad examples of how institutional data might be leveraged to create a positive impact across the University of Maryland community include, but are not at all limited to:

• Using qualitative or quantitative data (including those data from surveys and focus groups) to gain a pulse on a given topic and proposing actionable improvements based on data.
• Improving the ways that data are shared and presented so that they can provide insights or inform decisions.
• Conducting research to assess a specific topic and/or make an improvement (e.g, to a business process, student experience, academic pedagogy, campus environment, campus climate).
• Creating cross-disciplinary or cross-functional data-sharing initiatives that foster collaboration between units.
• Demonstrating a history of infusing the use of data into the decision making processes of a department or division, thereby creating a "culture of evidence."
• Leading initiatives to improve data literacy across the University and promote a culture of responsible, accessible, and ethical use of institutional data.

A packet (in PDF or MS Word format) should be submitted to the La Voy Data Impact Award Committee (via email to mappel@umd.edu) no later than March 31, 2025, containing the following materials:

1. Nomination cover sheet, using the template (click to download).
2. A nomination letter (1-2 pages) detailing how the nominee has utilized or effectively communicated institutional data in a way that has resulted in a positive impact for our campus or community;
• the source(s) and type(s) of institutional data used;
• how those data were analyzed, compiled, or utilized; and
• the impact of the work for the campus community overall or a specific population/unit within the campus.
3. A letter of endorsement from the unit head.
4. One additional letter of support (optional) - please provide no more than one; a letter is strongest when it includes clear examples of the ways in which the nominee's work impacted the unit or the University.
5. Supporting material (optional) - you may submit additional material, such as examples of reports, that illuminate the work cited in the letter, but please limit to no more than 5 pages.

Selection of the award recipient will be made by the Award Committee.

1. The Award Committee is appointed by the Provost or designee. The committee has a broad composition that includes representation from across the divisions and is convened and chaired by the Assistant Vice President and Chief Data Officer.
2. The committee will submit their recommendation for the Sharon A. La Voy Data Impact Award to the Provost by July 30, 2025. This recommendation should include a list of the committee members, the number of nominations and the rationale for the selection. The Provost will notify the winner. The committee chair is responsible for notifying other candidates.
3. The committee will review the nominations and make a selection based on a rubric that includes: impact (on a specific topic or a more general change to the data environment in a unit or at the University) and integration of data and/or assessment for improvement of a unit, process, or the University.