At one of my former institutions, I was part of the Office of Grants and
Research (OGR).  We hosted an event called the OGRe awards, and gave
prizes to applicants for humorous happenings.  For instance - the
Provost, Assistant VP and Dean had driven at breakneck pace to deliver
their proposal to the post office to meet a deadline.  At the OGRes,
they each received a miniature sports car to commemorate their efforts
at driving while colleagues  were collating in the back seat.
We did two or three of these awards, with humorous commentary,
describing the surrounding events.  All attendees (anyone who had
submitted a proposal) enjoyed it, and we were able to poke fun at
ourselves at the same time.
We served cheese, fruit & beverages.  What takes the most time is
deciding on the recipients (we picked some of our grumpiest), writing
copy, and selecting the gifts.
Enjoy your event, whatever it is.
Betty Farbman
Teachers College

> ----------
> From:         William Campbell[SMTP:xxxxxx@UWRF.EDU]
> Reply To:     Research Administration Discussion List
> Sent:         Thursday, June 04, 1998 10:56 AM
> To:   xxxxxx@hrinet.org
> Subject:      recognition devices
>
> To the list--
>
> I'm looking for suggestions on ways to recognize faculty/staff for
> seeking
> external funding.  In the past we have hosted a luncheon for anyone
> who has
> submitted a grant proposal on our annual Research and Scholarly
> Activity Day
> (where faculty, students, and staff display the results of their
> research/scholarly activity on posters).  That works okay, but I'd
> like to
> consider other possibilities.  What do other offices do?
>
> We're a small school (FTE approximately 5,000) with a small grants
> office (FTE
> 1.4) in a small town, so elaborate and/or expensive events are out of
> the
> question.
>
> Please respond to the list, others may well be interested.
>
> Regards, Bill Campbell
> Director, Grants & Research
> University of Wisconsin-River Falls
>