UChicago Recognition Hub Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
All benefits-eligible staff employees can send and receive recognition using the UChicago Recognition Hub. Non-benefits-eligible staff, academic, faculty, student, postdoc, and seasonal/temporary employees do not have access.
For access to the UChicago Recognition Hub, visit intranet.uchicago.edu/recognition and click on the “LOG IN” button. Enter your UChicago CNetID and password.
Benefits-eligible staff celebrating milestone work anniversaries starting at 5 years of service (and in 5-year increments thereafter) receive points that they can redeem through the platform for UChicago branded merchandise or items of their choosing from a curated Amazon store.
Please see University Policy 1002: Staff Employee Recognition for additional details about the University’s policies related to staff employee recognition.
Any time! The UChicago Recognition Hub is one way to foster community and create a positive work environment. We recommend utilizing this platform to thank colleagues for contributing to challenging projects, going above and beyond, helping you solve a problem, collaborating on assignments, or any time you want to express your appreciation.
After logging in to the UChicago Recognition Hub, click on “Recognize” in the upper left corner and search for the name of the colleague you wish to recognize.
Add your reason/message for the recognition and select whether to make the recognition public or private:
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By selecting public, others will be able to see it on their feed and add a “comment” or “reaction” to it.
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By selecting private, it only displays on the feed of the person you are recognizing. Please note that even if you mark the recognition as private, your colleague’s manager may be able to see your recognition message. Managers will receive a notification email when someone on their team is recognized if they choose to turn on this setting.
Click “Recognize” to submit your recognition. In addition to displaying on their feed, your colleague will receive an email notifying them of your recognition.
You will receive an email from recognition@uchicago.awardo.com with a subject line, "[NAME OF COLLEAGUE] has recognized you!” It will include the exact message of the recognition and link to visit the feed.
Emails are sent to your official UChicago “@uchicago.edu” email address listed in Workday. If you use a different primary work email address (i.e., BSD, Booth, or Lab Schools, etc.), please make sure you have your email forwarding turned on in order to receive these notification messages. To setup email forwarding, please follow these step-by-step instructions.
If the person recognizing you marks the recognition as public, it is viewable to anyone on the feed. This will allow anyone to add a “comment” or “reaction” to it. If the person recognizing you marks the recognition as private, it will only display on your feed and no one can add a “comment” or “reaction” to it.
Please note that even if the recognition is marked as private, your manager may be able to see your recognition message. Managers will receive a notification email when someone on their team is recognized if they choose to turn on this setting.
In your profile, you can select to have all the recognitions you receive set as private so they only display on your feed and no one else can add a “comment” or “reaction” to it.
If you would like to set your recognitions to private, log in to the UChicago Recognition Hub and click on “My Account” under your name in the upper right corner. As you scroll down that page, you will see an option to mark your recognitions as private. Click “Save.”
Please note that even if the recognition is marked as private, your manager may be able to see your recognition message. Managers will receive a notification email when someone on their team is recognized if they choose to turn on this setting.
“My Circle” is intended to provide a list of the colleagues you work with most often. Depending on the set up of your department (i.e., Supervisory Organization in Workday), this may already be pre-populated with your colleagues and your direct reports if you are a manager. You can update or add to this list by clicking on “My Circle” under your name in the upper right corner of the UChicago Recognition Hub.
On the right side of the screen, you will see “Add People to My Circle.” You can search for and add any benefits-eligible staff member to your “My Circle.”
The feed is the part of the UChicago Recognition Hub that shows all work anniversaries, public recognitions of your colleagues, and any private recognitions you receive. You can comment or add a reaction to any public recognitions.
We recommend you filter the feed based on your “My Circle” of colleagues that you work with most often. Once on the Feed, click “My Circle” under the “Saved View” options on the left side of the screen. If you click on the three dots next to “My Circle” under “Saved View “options, you can select “Set as default view.”
In addition, on the left side of the Feed under “Apply Filters” you can apply and save different filters including by “Supervisory Organization-Code” or “Supervisory Organization.” You can find the name of your assigned “Supervisory Organization” by logging into Workday and clicking “View Profile” under your name in the upper right corner.
Finally, within the UChicago Recognition Hub, you can set notifications to alert you when members of your “My Circle” receive public recognition. To do this, click on your name in the upper right corner of the UChicago Recognition Hub. Then click “My Account.” On the left side of the screen, click “Notifications.” You can select notifications for members of “My Circle.” You will then receive email notification of any public recognition received by the colleagues you added to “My Circle.” From that email, you can access the recognition on the feed to add a comment.
On your birthday, you will receive an email from recognition@uchicago.awardco.com. You will see the recognition on your feed, but no one else will be able to view, comment or add a rection on your birthday recognition post. In addition, no one will receive any notification of your birthday regardless of the notification settings they have set up.
If you prefer not to receive an email from the University on your birthday you can opt out. To do so, log in to the UChicago Recognition Hub, click your name in the top right corner of the screen and then click on “My Account.” On your profile page, scroll down to the “Exclude me from birthday celebrations” check box. If checked, your birthdate will be removed from the system, and you won't be recognized for your birthday. Select "Save" to save this change.
Please make sure you are checking your official UChicago “@uchicago.edu” email address. All birthday recognition emails from the UChicago Recognition Hub are sent to your official UChicago “@uchicago.edu” email address listed in Workday. If you use a different primary work email address (i.e., BSD, Booth, or Lab Schools, etc.), please make sure you have your email forwarding turned on in order to receive these notification messages. To setup email forwarding, please follow these step-by-step instructions.
If you did not receive an email on your birthday, please contact staffrecognition@uchicago.edu.
The University of Chicago recognizes your work anniversary based on the date you became eligible for benefits. This may be different than the date you began your employment at UChicago. You can confirm this date with your HR Partner.
Each year, on the anniversary of that date, you will receive an anniversary email from recognition@uchicago.awardco.com. You will also be recognized on the UChicago Recognition Hub public feed unless you have marked your recognitions private in your settings.
If you are celebrating a milestone work anniversary (every 5 years), you will also be awarded points that you are able to redeem on the UChicago Recognition Hub via Amazon or the UChicago Store for branded items. Instructions for redeeming points can be found further in this FAQ.
Please see University Policy 1002: Staff Employee Recognition for additional details about the University’s policies related to staff employee recognition.
If your manager is a benefits-eligible staff member, they will also receive an email notifying them of your upcoming anniversary 7 days in advance. If your manager is a faculty member, they will not receive notification as they currently do not have access to the UChicago Recognition Hub and therefore, will not receive email notifications of your anniversary.
Please make sure you are checking your official UChicago “@uchicago.edu” email address. All work anniversary recognition emails from the UChicago Recognition Hub are sent to your official UChicago “@uchicago.edu” email address listed in Workday. If you use a different primary work email address (i.e., BSD, Booth, or Lab Schools, etc.), please make sure you have your email forwarding turned on in order to receive these notification messages. To setup email forwarding, please follow these step-by-step instructions.
If you did not receive an email on your work anniversary, please contact staffrecognition@uchicago.edu.
After logging in to the UChicago Recognition Hub, click the “Spend Points” tab in the upper left where you will have the option to purchase select items through a curated Amazon catalogue or the UChicago Store.
Each point is equivalent to $1 USD and round up to the nearest point. Here are more instructions for spending points on Amazon including searching for items and tracking orders. Orders from the UChicago Store are printed on demand and typically shipped within 10-15 days.
Select the item(s) you wish to purchase with points and click on “Add to Cart”. Click “Checkout” and type in your shipping address before submitting your order.
If the item you want costs more points than you have, there is not an option to pay the difference or to add points to your balance. Please select different item(s).
For questions about order placing or tracking, please contact the Awardco Support team by emailing support@awardco.com or by clicking the blue “Support” button in the bottom right corner of every page in the UChicago Recognition Hub platform.
To initiate a return or cancellation for an item from Amazon, will then need to send in a support ticket to the Awardco support team. Items from the UChicago Store cannot be returned, but a refund or replacement can be issued if there is a manufacturing or shipping issue.
No, you cannot purchase additional points or supplement another form of payment to redeem a gift outside your point value. Any leftover points from a redemption will remain accessible for use in the future and will continue to accumulate if additional points are awarded in the future.
Points accumulate and do not expire until you separate from UChicago. Those leaving UChicago or retiring are strongly encouraged to spend their points prior to separation. Your points may be forfeit if you do not spend your balance before separation as you cannot access your account after separation from UChicago.
Central HR provides the funding for points distributed for milestone work anniversaries. In previous years, Central HR sent pre-selected awards to employees celebrating a milestone work anniversary. With the UChicago Recognition Hub, we are allowing employees to have much more choice in the awards or items they receive.
The only information shared with Amazon or the UChicago Store is what the employee enters in the shipping address when redeeming points including name, shipping address, phone number, and preferred email address.
Managers receive alerts for upcoming work anniversaries for their direct reports. This automated reminder is to help you remember to thank your team member on their anniversary. You can do this via the UChicago Recognition Hub or in any manner you choose. Managers and their direct reports are designated in Workday. If you receive a manager alert for someone who does not report to you, please contact your HR Partner to look at your organizational structure in Workday. They can support any changes that may need to be made.
As a manager, you can set notifications to alert you when one of your direct reports receives recognition. Your direct reports are any employees for whom you are listed as their manager in Workday.
To receive a notification, click on your name in the upper right corner of the UChicago Recognition Hub. Then click “My Account.” On the left side of the screen, click “Notifications.” You can select notifications for “Direct Reports.” You will then receive notifications by email of any recognition received by these employees. Similarly, if you add anyone (including your direct reports) to “My Circle,” you will receive email notifications when those people are recognized.
In addition, you can track engagement among your team by clicking on the “Admin” button on the right side of the screen on the UChicago Recognition Hub. Here you can see a dashboard of recognition given and received by members of your team. You can also see the users who report to you and run reports. For assistance with these reporting tools, please contact staffrecognition@uchicago.edu.
Please contact staffrecognition@uchicago.edu to discuss unit-level reporting options.