DU adopts university-wide You Rock! Program

The University of Denver (DU) is launching a new University-wide You Rock! Award. The You Rock! program honors faculty and staff for their accomplishments large and small, and is based on a similar initiative from the Morgridge College of Education. Members of the DU community can nominate a colleague for their good work, and recipients will receive a certificate with the details of the submission and be celebrated in monthly University communications.

With the cooperation of the Morgridge College of Education, Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs, Kate Willink borrowed an idea born of the unit’s Inclusive Excellence Committee. You Rock! started as a popular recognition program out of the dean’s office and has grown over the years into an important part of the college’s culture. Morgridge faculty and staff keep a stack of You Rock! slips close at hand. When they see something worthy of appreciation, they write up a You Rock! form, including the person to receive the recognition, a little bit about what they did and which of the college’s values best fit the deed. These forms end up in a jar in the dean’s office. Every other week, a name is drawn to win a prize and all the forms are distributed to the recipients. Dean Karen Riley notes that many people save their You Rock! forms, proudly displaying them pinned to bulletin boards and taped to the walls of their offices.