Reward and Recognition

Faculty and staff can receive up to two gift cards per fiscal year.

Faculty, staff and non-student wage employees. Student-wage employees are eligible for gift cards in smaller denominations.

You can request as many as you like; however, please keep in mind that we will ask your department to cover the cost of requests for more than five gift cards or for frequent, smaller requests.

Yes, gift cards are considered income and all employees who receive a gift card will be taxed accordingly. The taxes are imputed on a quarterly basis (every April, July, October and December). Please keep this in mind when you request gift cards. Be sure to distribute them on a timely basis so that the recipient isn’t taxed before they receive their actual gift card.

Absolutely, and you are encouraged to do this since the Reward and Recognition is a peer-to-peer program as well as a tool for managers and supervisors.

It makes the supervisor aware of the great work that their employee is doing.

Once your request is received, it will be reviewed for eligibility and then processed. The typical turn-around time is a week to ten days for average requests. The Reward and Recognition office receives a large volume of requests at the end of each semester, so it will take a little longer to process requests received in December, April and May.

If you have a large request, please allow at least to two to three weeks for processing.

Awards are for job performance and are not to be used as gifts for holidays, birthdays, or other personal occasions.

That is not the purpose of this particular program. Gift cards, non-monetary gifts and other recognition is not provided for those soon retiring or leaving the University.

The Reward and Recognition program is for George Mason University faculty and staff only. The recipient of the reward must be employed by Mason to be eligible.

You are encouraged to review the website and see if anything is of particular interest to you. You can also contact the Reward and Recognition coordinator for ideas and suggestions at 703-993-2739 or via email at awards@gmu.edu.

The Outstanding Achievement Awards are held during the spring semester. You are welcome to submit a nomination any point throughout the year—your nomination will be held and added to the pool of nominees when it’s time for the ceremony.

Some departmental awards may have different nomination periods and deadlines. 

Yes, employees who have served George Mason University and/or the Commonwealth of Virginia from 5 through 50 years of service are recognized at the annual Green and Gold Day ceremonies in the fall semester. All eligible employees receive an email invitation to the ceremony.

Please contact the Reward & Recognition Coordinator at awards@gmu.edu or 703-993-2739 to share your ideas.