Employee recognition is an integral part of service quality improvement. A program, which recognizes employees and their contributions in a formal way before their peers, is an important motivator for team building in every organization. It helps establish an environment, which promotes high quality service. This is the basis for the Service Quality Awards -to promote service and a model of service for all Yale University employees to strive to achieve. To find out more about the awards, in areas such as eligibility, and criteria, click this link.

The Service Quality Improvement (SQI) Council exists to promote, monitor, and coordinate the continual improvement of the Yale University Library's services to readers. It reviews library wide service practices and policies and recommends and advocates changes as appropriate. It offers front-line service providers and managers guidance on providing services that maximize user satisfaction.

The SQI Council is not a controlling authority. Rather it contributes to the provision of quality services by assisting and enabling staff to understand reader expectations for excellent services, to monitor reader perceptions of the library's success in meeting or exceeding those expectations, and to diminish any gap between expectations for excellent services and the perception of their delivery. The Council provides a forum for reader-centric evaluation of the quality of the services the library system provides. The Council will actively shape the library's service quality agenda and set priorities for actions to improve it.

The Council will coordinate the focused work of several existing and to-be-formed service groups. The SQI Council reports to and is appointed by the Associate University Librarian for reader services. Membership reflects three important orientations: reader service programs, internal service support activities, and liaisons to other key activities across the library system.

The AUL for reader services will appoint persons to the Council who are responsible for the Library's service programs, either by job assignment or as chair of a working group or coordinating committee. The charter membership of the Council can be found at

Nominations for the Service Quality Awards may be submitted by any current library employee (and any library employee may nominate him/herself).

All nomination forms must include the name, department, and a supporting statement as to how the nominated team or individual meets the criteria for the award. The form must also be signed be the nominee's supervisor as acknowledgement that he/she has been made aware that the team has been nominated. All forms will be forwarded to the Human Resources Department.

Download the nomination form

A detailed look at past recipients of the Service Quality Award can be found below:

2001 Award Recipients
2000 Award Recipients

© 2001 Yale University Library.
Last modified 11 March 2002.
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This file is located at http://www.library.yale.edu/Administration/SQIC