Smiles and applause resounded at the NUS Admin Excellence Awards 2024 held on 23 October 2024, as over 150 attendees gathered onsite at the University Hall Atrium, along with a livestream audience, to celebrate the remarkable contributions and achievements of administrators and their teams at the University. This annual event, now in its second year, marks NUS’ commitment to honour the recipients whose efforts have brought significant positive impact to the University’s operations, and the wider NUS community as well.
Recognising 11 teams across two award categories — the Unit of the Year and the President's Project of the Year — the awards sought to honour the most impactful and innovative projects introduced at NUS this year.
The Unit of the Year award, assessed based on the Organisational Excellence (OE) Benefits Tracking Exercise, recognises the unit that introduced initiatives with exemplary efficiency, effectiveness, and achieved the highest impact hours. The NUS Office of Finance, Office of Human Resources, and Central Procurement Office took home the honours for the awards for Highest Savings, Highest Efficiency, and Highest Impact respectively.
The NUS Office of Risk Management and Compliance and NUS IT took home the honours for President's Project of the Year.
The President's Project of the Year award spotlights innovative projects and initiatives that have made a difference within the University. Selected from 38 submissions, the Office of Risk Management and Compliance and NUS Information Technology (NUS IT) were awarded the top prize for their collaborative project, Project SCRIBE. Now known as ‘Minute Mate’ to the NUS community, this AI-assisted note-taking application was designed to revolutionise how meeting notes are captured.
The ‘Chope@NUS’ feature in the uNivUS mobile application, developed by NUS IT and NUS Libraries, received the honourable mention for this award category. Named for the colloquial term to ‘reserve a space’, ‘Chope@NUS’ is an innovative feature offering an efficient solution for students to reserve study spaces on campus.
NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye lauded the winners for raising the bar for administrative excellence at the university.
Congratulating the winners in his opening address, NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye noted a significant number of projects related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in this year’s submissions, and lauded the innovative and forward-thinking spirit of the university’s administrators. Prof Tan said, “In today's rapidly evolving world, administrators must seek to innovate and drive continuous improvement, to ensure that the services delivered meet the needs of NUS as a leading global university.”
“We also need to be more exacting and agile in our approach to resource management – resources must be optimised, adapted and suitably channelled to enhance the quality of research and education at NUS,” Prof Tan added.
During the event, attendees also networked and shared insights about various ground-up initiatives, fostering a sense of community and collaboration. It was also a platform for staff members to showcase their dedication, inspiring others and setting a high standard for organisational excellence.
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Full list of award winners:
Unit of the Year:
- Highest Cost Savings
- Unit of the Year – Office of Finance
- Honourable Mention – University Campus Infrastructure
- Honourable Mention – School of Computing
- Highest Efficiency
- Unit of the Year – Office of Human Resources
- Honourable Mention – Office of Risk Management and Compliance (ORMC)
- Honourable Mention – Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music
- Highest Impact
- Unit of the Year – Central Procurement Office
- Honourable Mention – NUS Information Technology (NUS IT)
- Honourable Mention – Faculty of Science
President's Innovative Project Awards:
- ORMC and NUS IT − “Project SCRIBE”,
- NUS Libraries and NUS IT − “Chope@NUS”
By NUS Agility Office
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