The 11th annual Milestones in Service awards ceremony will be held on October 15, 2024 from 3-5 pm in the SUB ballrooms to honor and express appreciation to faculty and staff for their dedication and years of service to MSU. 

Each fall, we host an annual awards ceremony to recognize the new recipients who have reached a milestone year during the previous fiscal year.  Awards are provided in 5-year increments based on the date of service in eligible appointments.  This award program will recognize years of service milestones achieved by current faculty and staff.

The intent of the awards is to acknowledge cumulative (rather than continuous) years of service, during the prior fiscal year (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024) in which an employee achieves a milestone year (5, 10, 15, etc.). Certain eligibility requirements apply; please see list below.

Eligible service includes:

  • Classified: salaried, hourly, fixed term at 0.5 FTE or greater
  • Professional (including administrator, executive) at 0.5 FTE or greater
  • Faculty – tenure track
  • Non-tenure track faculty at 1.0 FTE for at least 9 months during a year
  • Eligible service does not need to be continuous, instead is calculated as cumulative years of service, during the prior fiscal year (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024) in which an employee achieves a milestone year (5, 10, 15, etc.).

Eligible service does not include:

  • Staff appointments at 0.49 FTE or less
  • Short term worker
  • Student or Graduate student
  • Professional hourly
  • NTT faculty at less than 1.0 FTE or who work less than 9 months in a year
  • Additional compensation
  • Stipend positions

Break in Service – for employees who worked in an eligible service capacity and had a break in service (terminated their employment from MSU and then later returned to MSU in an eligible service capacity), the time spent away will be subtracted from the cumulative years of service.

Between milestone years

Employees who are between 5 year increments this fiscal year will be recognized once they reach their next 5 year milestone.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact Heidi at erp@montana.edu or call 994-6600.