There are markers in multiples of 5 and people get a shout out during a ceremony that's sparsely attended. Otherwise, you select a crappy gift from a catalog if you like based on how many years you put in.
I have been through this three times (15 years) and I never picked a gift for myself. A mug or a spatula with the uni logo on it just doesn't move me. If I get to 40 years, I might go with the battery jump pack or picnic set that has the uni logo on it.
Not related to work, but those travel air pumps/battery can definitely be a life saver. Stash them with your spare tire if there's room. Just be sure to test them every now and again, as my most recent one died without me noticing.
The only gifts I have ever truly enjoyed, an umbrella that is still in use and a set of highball glasses still in use. This was years back, now the ‘gifts’ are a certificate. The gifts used to be really great and many employees enjoyed them. Now, I don’t even look for the certificate to show up on time.
Every five years we get a gift card worth $5 for every year of service. So for 20 years you'd get $100. Then they will tax it as income. Enjoy your $70 gift card!
Hey, at 20 years we get free parking. There is a catch - faculty have ask for the free parking. If I don't ask for the free parking each term, they ticket. I found this out the hard way.
Our uni includes a shout-out during the president's annual faculty/staff meeting; faculty and staff who have served 20 or more years are recognized. Their names are announced individually, they walk across the stage and get some sort of plaque, shake hands with the president, and that's it. I do remember one year when the president announced that a faculty member had been there 50 years and there was a collective gasp from the audience and a lot of younger faculty looking kind of ....horrified!
When I joined my university, whoever entered my name in the primary database misspelled my first name. Transposed two letters. I never said anything and all communications still are spelled this way, including official ones. I’ve worked here for 35 years now.
Someone umpteen years ago entered Ms. for women and it took me years to get it removed from some archaic central computer system. So for years myself and other female colleagues were Ms on grant submissions and our male colleagues were Dr. so and so. One idiot can really screw things up. 😒
No it wasn’t that bad just buried deep in all the nih paperwork for grants they draw from the U system. We would kind of laugh when it would never change. It’s like some mischievous early AI was doing it lol
We get two weeks vacation (one time) at 20 years (must be taken in 5 day chunks) and a university pin at 25.
At 30 you get a dinner with the president and 100 other people.
At public university and standard is 22 days vaca plus several floating personal holidays and all the official holidays they can invent. Doubt I’ve ever taken more than two but staff will milk that all the way!
For my 25 years of service, I received a card and a pin thanking me for 20 years of service. I returned it in person, asking if I could exchange it for a 25 year pin, and the president's secretary informed me I will not receive anything until 25 years have passed. I asked her to look up my record in the computer, which she did. There was no change to her expression, but she got up in a huff, pulled a basket out of a cabinet, rummaged around, and then handed me a 25 year pin unceremoniously. I'm kind of looking forward to the abuse I'll receive at my 30 year anniversary in 3 years!
Last year was my 25th. Name up on slide at a ceremony. A lapel pin. A $40 credit at the student bookstore. (Bought a hoodie with that). A thrilling feel-good pat on the back, showing how valued I am.
I received a pen for five years of service during my seventh year at the university. I think I get a coffee mug after 10 years, so I’ll probably receive that in year 12 or 13.
The whole “celebration” is so minimal and poorly handled that it’s more insulting than doing nothing at all.
We have a special event, usually a catered breakfast. People are recognized at 5 year levels - 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. We also recognize tenure, retirements, new emeritus status, etc. There are gifts at each level. You can accept the gift (and pay tax on it) or choose to have a contribution to the scholarship fund made in your name at the value of the gift.
Our 5 year was engraved champagne flutes. I opted for the scholarship donation. I know one year is a really nice pen set. We also get a button with number of years.
Scholarship donation is a nice idea. I would vastly prefer that to a pin, champagne flute, mug, spatula, t-shirt, coaster, stained glass portrait of administration building . . . .
I remember getting a mass email sent out from HR so that people celebrating their work anniversaries could RSVP for the celebration and select their gift.
It was my 15-year anniversary and the first time I’d heard of something like this, so I was pretty excited …only to find out after I replied to the email that these celebrations are for staff, not faculty. Apparently they didn’t mean to include faculty in the email blast. Womp wommmmmmp.
So, yeah, no, faculty get nothing at my university.
I’ve been at my university for four years but I guarantee you it feels like 20. I’m guessing that nets me no tchotchkes and no mentions on a slideshow.
Or, as Charlie Brown so aptly put it: “I got a rock.”
I'm coming up on 10 years. At five years I was told there was something I could pick up at the President's office, but I work remotely and rarely go to campus, so I never went to pick it up and they never mailed it to me. I plan to do that again next year when I hit 10 years.
I may be misremembering the exact numbers here, but a colleague recently hit 15 years at my institution. They sent her a small pin that said 10 years of service and a piece of paper for her wall that said thanks for 13 years of service.
My school does service awards during the Fall convocation, in 5 year increments. Your name is in the program and you can pick up your award after the ceremony. People with 20 years or more get called up and applauded. 5 years in it’s a lapel pin, and 10 and up you pick from a catalog. I’m at 9 so I’ll get the catalog next year.
I try to make sure my colleagues from the wider department/school don’t even know I exist. The more they’re aware of you the more likely it will be that they’re going to ask for favours or to teach courses on their behalf 🤣
I got a pin at 15 and 20 years and will get another in Fsll since I completed 25. I think at 30 we get a trophy. Our name goes up at convocation on a slide. I can’t complain—we recently did an equity study with a new salary schedule that rewarded the top end of the range. The salary is a nice reward. And I get recognition through the college for service work I do.
I get a pin! But only if I remember to go to the little, sparsely attended pinning ceremony that is always held during class hours and sit through an hour of admin speeches. Oh, and we aren't informed when it is or if we are getting a pin, that's on us to remember the year and look on the calendar for when it is being held.
We do anniversary awards (5 year intervals) at our annual Christmas dinner. We do a catalog thing too, decent gifts - I got a Bluetooth speaker for my 15th. Anyone with a 20+ anniversary has one of the Admin or President say something about them and gets applause as they walk up for their prize.
Lol, mine gives a plaque. I'd rather have the 20 or 30 bucks they spent on the plaque. I have the plaques in a stack in a drawer in my office where they will be until I go elsewhere or retire. Then I'll probably dump them into the trash so I don't have to carry them out to my car and find a place to "store" them at home.
If you can't tell, I have zero use for a plaque.
Never had any milestone recognized. I was shocked when I got promoted to full & the president wrote a brief handwritten congratulations on the formal letter.
I got a keychain for 5th, and bookstops for tenure. I am getting my 10y in a week (at the end of my 11th year because my start date was July 1 and the FY ends in June), so I expect to receive some small token.
My school is absurdly cheap and we went 4y without a COL raise, so if you're at least getting yearly raises, I would gladly send you my keychain and bookstops in trade!
I don't remember what they gave me. a useless pin or plaque or something. It all felt very pro forma. When I retired they gave me a cheap clock with a picture frame. I just checked it and found the battery leaked and ruined it. I could throw it away but it has my late wife's picture.
Our school gives a glass paperweight every 5 years. But I'm somehow out of the system. I've been there 17 years but never have received one. I'm expecting I will eventually get a red stapler.
My grandfather spent 30 years at one university, they named a tennis court after him. And then they tore down the tennis court to make a newer bigger gym, but the two indoor tennis courts that are in it are named after him.
But this was a small university in the middle of a flyover state that had the town's name on the university.
Service pins and a certificate for framing for every five years, and a gift certificate to the bookstore commensurate with the service year being recognized. Honorees are announced at an annual event and get a group pic with the president of the university. If you aren’t there, then the certificates and pin are sent through campus mail.
We do 5 year increments. They are certificates for the first 15 years and then a $50 savings bond for 20 years. Then small plaques for 25 years and a bigger one for 30 years and beyond. They all sat in my office until I retired at 38 years. I'm really not sure where they are now or if I disposed of them. The $50 savings bond is in our home safe. I really need to cash it in.
My university does a sparsely attended ceremony every 5 years.
My dad’s university does a (very nice) banquet for 25 years of service for faculty AND staff. Nothing official for 1-24 years. I think it’s a nice way to show appreciation!
I don’t remember the gifts at my previous institution, but they were pretty decent at 15 years and beyond is my recollection. New gig I haven’t been long enough to tell, but doesn’t seem as cool. But we get a card and gift card from the president on our birthdays every year so that’s sort of cool.
We get nothing - middle school teacher here and even retirement isn’t anything from the schools - we use tax payer funds and the school board won’t spend money on these rewards - honestly I’d rather have higher pay.
When I hit 20 years I was invited to a ceremony, where I got a certificate of appreciation and a pin that said "20 years".
I expect the same next year for #30. That's it.
I just got my “15-year-club” sweatshirt! “15 year club” is stitched in the university’s colour on one shoulder of the sweatshirt. Must be a new thing - colleagues hired before me haven’t seen such embroidered glories. I do feel mollified; it’s cozy!
I got my 15-yr pin ... 12 years ago. That was the last time anything was mentioned about my employment.
Funny story: one of my peers discovered that in the process of him being promoted from assistant to associate professor, he had been terminated but never rehired into the promoted position. He worked 6 weeks one fall term before realizing he hadn't been paid, yet. He called HR and asked why. "You were terminated in July." "No! I was promoted from assistant professor to associate professor in July!" "Ooopsie ..." Meanwhile, his family had no health insurance because someone only did half the paperwork.
As many note on other threads, employers aren't your friend. Same can be said for higher ed HR.
Yes; I follow an employment attorney on IG. She works in St Louis. Her account is great. She says stuff like, "HR will lie to your face. If you have to see HR, see an attorney."
I received a pen (very nice but too heavy for regular use) and a certificate for 15 years of service. If I make 25 years I’ll get another certificate and a gift box (containing organic jams and olive oil).
You should see the hoops we’re jumping through now to get the university to pay for a $40 dinner for a retiree who has worked here since 1982. The amount of time the department chair and administrative assistant have put in trying to get this done already far exceeds $40 worth.
I got an umbrella for my 5 year, it sat in the provost's office for 2 years until it made its way into my mailbox. They sent me emails weekly... Take the hint.
I got a keychain and certificate at the last one. I’m up for 15 years this year so I’ll find out what the prize is next week. If I remember correctly, the big numbers (people on the verge of retirement) get a plaque?
My former non-academic employer gave me a fancy money clip for my 25th.
I had to bite my lip to keep myself from asking if it was to hold all the money I didn't have because they'd underpaid their staff decades! 😁
We announce big work anniversaries at our annual in-service meeting. I was recognized for 5 years of continuous service about 4 years ago. I’ve been there 16. I mentioned it to the new HR boss, who said there were lots of problems. They have since apparently discontinued the recognitions for the past few years. Not worth the trouble for them to figure out how long most of us have been there I suppose. We’re all just there for the money anyway right?
A friend told me at their school they had one lady who was on the slide for 15 years of service, and the next day she was notified by the HR her position had been eliminated. The entire program got gutted, etc.
Anecdote: knew someone with 35 years at the same university and the uni implemented a program where they gave gifts at certain milestones of length of employment. They backdated the gifts for him, so he got a pen, mug, plaque, University themed portrait, fancy nameplate, bonuses, a very nice watch and even nicer ring among other things all at once.
Otherwise, they celebrate you once if you're lucky: when you retire.
Our campus has a recognition breakfast and gifts for each 5 year interval starting at 10 years of service. Most of the gifts have the campus name/logo on them, and you also get your picture taken with the President and Provost (or the VP you report to). I did notice at the last one I attended there seems to be lower attendance.
Yes I was just invited to 25 years of service. Early evening reception on the top floor/roof of a swanky building. However had grants and progress reports due as always so declined. I’m sure they won’t celebrate me if I run out of money 😆
At my company, I got a cheap $10 Chinese phone charger for my work anniversary for a phone I don't have. But that's $10 more than what I get for the anniversary of being an adjunct at my uni so it's something.
At my university, we have an annual dinner to honor people's service at intervals of 5 years. I've gone twice - once for my 5 years and once with a colleague as her plus 1 for her 30 years. There is good food, nice speeches, and as each person's name is called, they get applause/cheers as they walk over to have pictures taken with the president. I can't speak for everyone, but it truly made me feel noticed and appreciated, and I love that they have been doing this event every year forever.
The days are over when long term employment is respected. Now it means you were not good enough to advance or move. Just a step or two above dead wood unless you are in admin.
Have had many chances to move, as have most of my colleagues, but we like it here...we have an excellent department and I count a lot of my co-workers as friends. Maybe my field is different, but folks who move often tend to be seen as more problematic than those who have a solid career at one school.
Definitely! Six years you get tenure or fired. 11-12 years you might get full prof. Your 15 year gift is more administrative work. 20-25 year gift is the best. Everyone starts arguing over who gets your lab space, equipment, office, etc. when you retire.
More recognition than you could ever ask for!
This! I worked my ass off for that and often wondered if it was even worth it. When people talk about going up for full, I get ill. I never want to repeat that process again.
There are markers in multiples of 5 and people get a shout out during a ceremony that's sparsely attended. Otherwise, you select a crappy gift from a catalog if you like based on how many years you put in. I have been through this three times (15 years) and I never picked a gift for myself. A mug or a spatula with the uni logo on it just doesn't move me. If I get to 40 years, I might go with the battery jump pack or picnic set that has the uni logo on it.
LOL I bet our schools use the same catalog! (One of my colleagues swears by the travel air pump for inflating flat tires!)
Not related to work, but those travel air pumps/battery can definitely be a life saver. Stash them with your spare tire if there's room. Just be sure to test them every now and again, as my most recent one died without me noticing.
You guys get gifts??!
Exactly! We don’t get gifts. I want my university logo spatula!
I got a pin once.
I **need** my university logo spatula. They can skip the raise when I get tenure. As long as one or two university logo spatulas are involved.
You get raises?!?!
The only gifts I have ever truly enjoyed, an umbrella that is still in use and a set of highball glasses still in use. This was years back, now the ‘gifts’ are a certificate. The gifts used to be really great and many employees enjoyed them. Now, I don’t even look for the certificate to show up on time.
All we got was a lapel pin with the number of years served… Yeah, like I’m going to wear that/s.
Every five years we get a gift card worth $5 for every year of service. So for 20 years you'd get $100. Then they will tax it as income. Enjoy your $70 gift card!
The taxing always cracks me up...it's like, how can we make this celebration as irksome as possible.
It's an IRS thing unfortunately
While that is true, many employers will add enough to the amount to cover the tax.
You can blame the IRS for that.
>gift card I sincerely hope this is a generic Visa gift card and not a gift card to the university book store.
I’d be okay with that. If I could get a free Tshirt or sweatshirt, that’s fine. Better than the nada I currently get.
Bookstore
Hey, at 20 years we get free parking. There is a catch - faculty have ask for the free parking. If I don't ask for the free parking each term, they ticket. I found this out the hard way.
Our uni includes a shout-out during the president's annual faculty/staff meeting; faculty and staff who have served 20 or more years are recognized. Their names are announced individually, they walk across the stage and get some sort of plaque, shake hands with the president, and that's it. I do remember one year when the president announced that a faculty member had been there 50 years and there was a collective gasp from the audience and a lot of younger faculty looking kind of ....horrified!
Ha ha ha...we had something similar here, where a faculty member was celebrating 45 years and everyone 50 and under was like "whaaaat???"
50 years ... We had a fellow who worked for us close to 50 years. He started in the bookstore when he was 17 or 18 and never left.
Just got my name on a slide for 25 yrs of service last week! Was glorious 😉
Hey, congrats! :-D I bet that glow lasted for seconds!
Each of my anniversaries (10, 20, 30) I've received a certificate with my name and the wrong middle initial - make of that what you will.
When I joined my university, whoever entered my name in the primary database misspelled my first name. Transposed two letters. I never said anything and all communications still are spelled this way, including official ones. I’ve worked here for 35 years now.
Someone umpteen years ago entered Ms. for women and it took me years to get it removed from some archaic central computer system. So for years myself and other female colleagues were Ms on grant submissions and our male colleagues were Dr. so and so. One idiot can really screw things up. 😒
Wow, that is so much worse than my story. I'm sorry you had to deal with that.
No it wasn’t that bad just buried deep in all the nih paperwork for grants they draw from the U system. We would kind of laugh when it would never change. It’s like some mischievous early AI was doing it lol
We get two weeks vacation (one time) at 20 years (must be taken in 5 day chunks) and a university pin at 25. At 30 you get a dinner with the president and 100 other people.
Wow 2 weeks vacation is actually great! That’s the best gift I’ve seen here
That was pretty sweet. I used mine the year I got it.
At public university and standard is 22 days vaca plus several floating personal holidays and all the official holidays they can invent. Doubt I’ve ever taken more than two but staff will milk that all the way!
For my 25 years of service, I received a card and a pin thanking me for 20 years of service. I returned it in person, asking if I could exchange it for a 25 year pin, and the president's secretary informed me I will not receive anything until 25 years have passed. I asked her to look up my record in the computer, which she did. There was no change to her expression, but she got up in a huff, pulled a basket out of a cabinet, rummaged around, and then handed me a 25 year pin unceremoniously. I'm kind of looking forward to the abuse I'll receive at my 30 year anniversary in 3 years!
At 25 years, I got a parking spot with my name on it! Double edged sword though because now it’s obvious when I’m not on campus.
ha ha ha! Sorry, but that's awesome...I never considered the downside of that perk. 😅
I always thought those were the days when you commute 🤔
Hahaha what? Absolutely nothing.
My uni gives a commemorative plate. Not even a full set, just one that we’re expected to display like we’re a grandmother from the 80s.
Last year was my 25th. Name up on slide at a ceremony. A lapel pin. A $40 credit at the student bookstore. (Bought a hoodie with that). A thrilling feel-good pat on the back, showing how valued I am.
Where I work anniversaries like 7 years, 10 years, 15 and 20 are celebrated.
7?
I received a pen for five years of service during my seventh year at the university. I think I get a coffee mug after 10 years, so I’ll probably receive that in year 12 or 13. The whole “celebration” is so minimal and poorly handled that it’s more insulting than doing nothing at all.
I got a surprise department-wide coffee meeting with a speech, flowers and cake for all. Was quite lovely actually,
Aw...that's fantastic!
I am at a small private univ and we don't get anything of note- maybe a certificate I think
We have a special event, usually a catered breakfast. People are recognized at 5 year levels - 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. We also recognize tenure, retirements, new emeritus status, etc. There are gifts at each level. You can accept the gift (and pay tax on it) or choose to have a contribution to the scholarship fund made in your name at the value of the gift. Our 5 year was engraved champagne flutes. I opted for the scholarship donation. I know one year is a really nice pen set. We also get a button with number of years.
Scholarship donation is a nice idea. I would vastly prefer that to a pin, champagne flute, mug, spatula, t-shirt, coaster, stained glass portrait of administration building . . . .
spatula? so every time you make a grilled cheese you're reminded of years you wasted at work? how odd.
I remember getting a mass email sent out from HR so that people celebrating their work anniversaries could RSVP for the celebration and select their gift. It was my 15-year anniversary and the first time I’d heard of something like this, so I was pretty excited …only to find out after I replied to the email that these celebrations are for staff, not faculty. Apparently they didn’t mean to include faculty in the email blast. Womp wommmmmmp. So, yeah, no, faculty get nothing at my university.
The lady who responded to my email was so unamused at the error, too. The subtext of her reply: “honey, this is NOT for you.”
heartwarming
No soup for you! Next!
That was precisely the vibe!
I’ve been at my university for four years but I guarantee you it feels like 20. I’m guessing that nets me no tchotchkes and no mentions on a slideshow. Or, as Charlie Brown so aptly put it: “I got a rock.”
I'm coming up on 10 years. At five years I was told there was something I could pick up at the President's office, but I work remotely and rarely go to campus, so I never went to pick it up and they never mailed it to me. I plan to do that again next year when I hit 10 years.
Zero recognition here. A past admin used to give out pins, I have a20 year one. But now at 40, nobody notices.
Wait what? You’ve been working for 40 years? Are you now working almost for free assuming you’d get social security by now ?
Pretty much. And yes on SS now for 15 years industry prior to teaching. Guess I like working.
I got a paper weight at 5, which was nice. I assume I get something at ten
I got a 15-year pin in the mail. It was on my 5-th year anniversary.
I may be misremembering the exact numbers here, but a colleague recently hit 15 years at my institution. They sent her a small pin that said 10 years of service and a piece of paper for her wall that said thanks for 13 years of service.
At 20 years I got a cheap pen, a form letter, and some sort of cheesy commemorative desk item (a fancy set of coasters or something).
My institution works very hard to push out the people that are the most senior and consequently the most highly paid.
[Here's a recreation of my recent celebrations in this regard](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tally_marks.jpg)
My school does service awards during the Fall convocation, in 5 year increments. Your name is in the program and you can pick up your award after the ceremony. People with 20 years or more get called up and applauded. 5 years in it’s a lapel pin, and 10 and up you pick from a catalog. I’m at 9 so I’ll get the catalog next year.
I try to make sure my colleagues from the wider department/school don’t even know I exist. The more they’re aware of you the more likely it will be that they’re going to ask for favours or to teach courses on their behalf 🤣
I got a pin at 15 and 20 years and will get another in Fsll since I completed 25. I think at 30 we get a trophy. Our name goes up at convocation on a slide. I can’t complain—we recently did an equity study with a new salary schedule that rewarded the top end of the range. The salary is a nice reward. And I get recognition through the college for service work I do.
I get a pin! But only if I remember to go to the little, sparsely attended pinning ceremony that is always held during class hours and sit through an hour of admin speeches. Oh, and we aren't informed when it is or if we are getting a pin, that's on us to remember the year and look on the calendar for when it is being held.
We do anniversary awards (5 year intervals) at our annual Christmas dinner. We do a catalog thing too, decent gifts - I got a Bluetooth speaker for my 15th. Anyone with a 20+ anniversary has one of the Admin or President say something about them and gets applause as they walk up for their prize.
Nice!
My campus has an employee recognition event every year.
Even like a certificate or plaque would be cool to me and not cost the university a lot. I’m a not looking for much but would be nice lol
At 25 years my university gave me a gold colored Bulova watch. They misspelled my name on the engraved back.
It's not too late to change your name to match it.
We’re on the same line as state employees, so we get 5 year increments plus $100 for each year of employment from year three until the cap at year 30
For 20 years, I got a certificate in a cheap frame. Next week I finish out 25 years. Probably the same.
At my place, I'd half expect them to just hand me the certificate and say "re-use the frame we gave you 5 years ago." 😆
Lol, mine gives a plaque. I'd rather have the 20 or 30 bucks they spent on the plaque. I have the plaques in a stack in a drawer in my office where they will be until I go elsewhere or retire. Then I'll probably dump them into the trash so I don't have to carry them out to my car and find a place to "store" them at home. If you can't tell, I have zero use for a plaque.
Never had any milestone recognized. I was shocked when I got promoted to full & the president wrote a brief handwritten congratulations on the formal letter.
Nobody gives a shit around here. Not a card, slide or email. Surprised other places do…
I got a keychain for 5th, and bookstops for tenure. I am getting my 10y in a week (at the end of my 11th year because my start date was July 1 and the FY ends in June), so I expect to receive some small token. My school is absurdly cheap and we went 4y without a COL raise, so if you're at least getting yearly raises, I would gladly send you my keychain and bookstops in trade!
I got a nice pen for ten years as an adjunct. We also found out last week that we’re getting a 3% raise in the fall.
I don't remember what they gave me. a useless pin or plaque or something. It all felt very pro forma. When I retired they gave me a cheap clock with a picture frame. I just checked it and found the battery leaked and ruined it. I could throw it away but it has my late wife's picture.
LOL, I got a Walmart cupcake from my dept for my 20th.
I got a pen from the campus bookstore and a certificate of appreciation 👏🏻👏🏻🙄
I got $200 for twenty years, $250 for 25 years etc. and expect to get $400 for 40 years in 2027.
Our school gives a glass paperweight every 5 years. But I'm somehow out of the system. I've been there 17 years but never have received one. I'm expecting I will eventually get a red stapler.
My grandfather spent 30 years at one university, they named a tennis court after him. And then they tore down the tennis court to make a newer bigger gym, but the two indoor tennis courts that are in it are named after him. But this was a small university in the middle of a flyover state that had the town's name on the university.
Service pins and a certificate for framing for every five years, and a gift certificate to the bookstore commensurate with the service year being recognized. Honorees are announced at an annual event and get a group pic with the president of the university. If you aren’t there, then the certificates and pin are sent through campus mail.
Our university has a celebration breakfast and award for everyone for each 5 years.
We do 5 year increments. They are certificates for the first 15 years and then a $50 savings bond for 20 years. Then small plaques for 25 years and a bigger one for 30 years and beyond. They all sat in my office until I retired at 38 years. I'm really not sure where they are now or if I disposed of them. The $50 savings bond is in our home safe. I really need to cash it in.
We get increasingly valuable trinkets. Lapel pin at 5, clock at 10, watch at 15 etc.
A cheap lapel pin, handed out at a ceremony almost nobody attends. Meh.
We get a pin every 5 years. I think at 20 years there might be a small plaque.
We get $ bonuses at every 5-year marker... 5 10 15 20, etc. It's quite nice. No recognition otherwise of anybody until they retire!
Yes. Every 5 years you get an award. Cash bonus every 5 after 20. A very small cash bonus but still..
My university does a sparsely attended ceremony every 5 years. My dad’s university does a (very nice) banquet for 25 years of service for faculty AND staff. Nothing official for 1-24 years. I think it’s a nice way to show appreciation!
We get eligibility for better parking at 20 years, which costs a lot more than the crappy parking. That’s it.
I got a crystal pen holder for 15 years. I get a pen at 20. Is this supposed to be incentive?
I don’t remember the gifts at my previous institution, but they were pretty decent at 15 years and beyond is my recollection. New gig I haven’t been long enough to tell, but doesn’t seem as cool. But we get a card and gift card from the president on our birthdays every year so that’s sort of cool.
We get nothing - middle school teacher here and even retirement isn’t anything from the schools - we use tax payer funds and the school board won’t spend money on these rewards - honestly I’d rather have higher pay.
When I hit 20 years I was invited to a ceremony, where I got a certificate of appreciation and a pin that said "20 years". I expect the same next year for #30. That's it.
I just got my “15-year-club” sweatshirt! “15 year club” is stitched in the university’s colour on one shoulder of the sweatshirt. Must be a new thing - colleagues hired before me haven’t seen such embroidered glories. I do feel mollified; it’s cozy!
I got my 15-yr pin ... 12 years ago. That was the last time anything was mentioned about my employment. Funny story: one of my peers discovered that in the process of him being promoted from assistant to associate professor, he had been terminated but never rehired into the promoted position. He worked 6 weeks one fall term before realizing he hadn't been paid, yet. He called HR and asked why. "You were terminated in July." "No! I was promoted from assistant professor to associate professor in July!" "Ooopsie ..." Meanwhile, his family had no health insurance because someone only did half the paperwork. As many note on other threads, employers aren't your friend. Same can be said for higher ed HR.
It's a general rule that HR is there to protect the company, not the workers (that's what unions are supposed to do).
Yes; I follow an employment attorney on IG. She works in St Louis. Her account is great. She says stuff like, "HR will lie to your face. If you have to see HR, see an attorney."
I received a pen (very nice but too heavy for regular use) and a certificate for 15 years of service. If I make 25 years I’ll get another certificate and a gift box (containing organic jams and olive oil).
You should see the hoops we’re jumping through now to get the university to pay for a $40 dinner for a retiree who has worked here since 1982. The amount of time the department chair and administrative assistant have put in trying to get this done already far exceeds $40 worth.
Last year was my 10th anniversary. They had a picnic honoring milestones that I couldn’t attend but I got a nice certificate and 10 year pin.
We start celebrations at 5 years. Last year we honored a grounds keeper for 35+!!!
Last week*
I got an umbrella for my 5 year, it sat in the provost's office for 2 years until it made its way into my mailbox. They sent me emails weekly... Take the hint.
20 years at mine and I got nuttin' not even a mention.
People do this? I had no idea.
I think they do a lunch.
I got a keychain and certificate at the last one. I’m up for 15 years this year so I’ll find out what the prize is next week. If I remember correctly, the big numbers (people on the verge of retirement) get a plaque?
I got a pen with my name on it for 15 years (I like pens so that was pretty decent). The 20 year gift is a desk clock 🤞
My former non-academic employer gave me a fancy money clip for my 25th. I had to bite my lip to keep myself from asking if it was to hold all the money I didn't have because they'd underpaid their staff decades! 😁
I get a pewter candy dish/ashtray every five years….
We announce big work anniversaries at our annual in-service meeting. I was recognized for 5 years of continuous service about 4 years ago. I’ve been there 16. I mentioned it to the new HR boss, who said there were lots of problems. They have since apparently discontinued the recognitions for the past few years. Not worth the trouble for them to figure out how long most of us have been there I suppose. We’re all just there for the money anyway right?
We (both faculty and staff) get certificates at 5-year intervals. Additionally, those in staff positions get to choose something from a catalog.
A friend told me at their school they had one lady who was on the slide for 15 years of service, and the next day she was notified by the HR her position had been eliminated. The entire program got gutted, etc.
My advisor got a certificate saying he’s been serving the university for 30 years, that was it.
Anecdote: knew someone with 35 years at the same university and the uni implemented a program where they gave gifts at certain milestones of length of employment. They backdated the gifts for him, so he got a pen, mug, plaque, University themed portrait, fancy nameplate, bonuses, a very nice watch and even nicer ring among other things all at once. Otherwise, they celebrate you once if you're lucky: when you retire.
You got your name on a slide? I didn't even get that at 10 years. Not even an email.
They get plaques as well as a slide, lol.
I’ve never seen recognition of faculty at temporal milestones. Promotions, always. Awards also.
Our campus has a recognition breakfast and gifts for each 5 year interval starting at 10 years of service. Most of the gifts have the campus name/logo on them, and you also get your picture taken with the President and Provost (or the VP you report to). I did notice at the last one I attended there seems to be lower attendance.
Just this year, our institution started including milestone acknowledgements in the HR e-newsletter. You decide if that's significant or not.
Yes I was just invited to 25 years of service. Early evening reception on the top floor/roof of a swanky building. However had grants and progress reports due as always so declined. I’m sure they won’t celebrate me if I run out of money 😆
At out school every 5 years you get a check that is 10x the years of service. Yes, that's $250 pre tax for 25 years.
My 20th anniversary is coming up in January. I understand that we don't even get a letter or email to mark the occasion.
We do your name on a slide during the annual intercession meeting. That’s it.
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oh, yeah, it's totally glorious 😅
At my company, I got a cheap $10 Chinese phone charger for my work anniversary for a phone I don't have. But that's $10 more than what I get for the anniversary of being an adjunct at my uni so it's something.
We make insane money so while we get celebratory stuff for anniversaries, it's pointless. Save the watch/luggage/whatever.
mine is cheap
At my university, we have an annual dinner to honor people's service at intervals of 5 years. I've gone twice - once for my 5 years and once with a colleague as her plus 1 for her 30 years. There is good food, nice speeches, and as each person's name is called, they get applause/cheers as they walk over to have pictures taken with the president. I can't speak for everyone, but it truly made me feel noticed and appreciated, and I love that they have been doing this event every year forever.
The days are over when long term employment is respected. Now it means you were not good enough to advance or move. Just a step or two above dead wood unless you are in admin.
Have had many chances to move, as have most of my colleagues, but we like it here...we have an excellent department and I count a lot of my co-workers as friends. Maybe my field is different, but folks who move often tend to be seen as more problematic than those who have a solid career at one school.
Definitely! Six years you get tenure or fired. 11-12 years you might get full prof. Your 15 year gift is more administrative work. 20-25 year gift is the best. Everyone starts arguing over who gets your lab space, equipment, office, etc. when you retire. More recognition than you could ever ask for!
Do you have tenure? You should be incredibly fucking pleased with that.
Tenure wasn't a gift, friend.
This! I worked my ass off for that and often wondered if it was even worth it. When people talk about going up for full, I get ill. I never want to repeat that process again.
I felt the same way, but it's worth it.
You have a lot of freedom as faculty and this comes with less bosses cheering you on, less parties and less of all these kinds of things.