Celebrating the Power of Collaboration at YCP
Innovation at York College of Pennsylvania rarely happens in a vacuum. The most impactful breakthroughs often occur when different perspectives intersect. To honor these synergistic efforts, the Graham Center for Collaborative Innovation (GCCI) is thrilled to announce the call for nominations for the GCCI Awards for Collaborative Innovation. These new awards are designed to recognize and celebrate the programs, projects, and services developed by teams representing different disciplines and college offices/units.
For this inaugural award year, we are seeking nominations for three distinct categories: the Faculty Award, the Staff Award, and the Undergraduate Student Award.
The Faculty Award will recognize a cross-disciplinary team whose achievements promote research or teaching excellence through joint projects, new pedagogical approaches, or artistic endeavors. Similarly, the Staff Award celebrates cross-unit teamwork that drives institutional excellence, whether by working across offices to streamline administrative tasks, engaging in a community project, or establishing new initiatives to improve employee or student experiences. Finally, the Undergraduate Students Award highlights the promise of the next generation, honoring students from different majors who join forces for research, business ventures, or student-led programming.
The primary goal of these awards is to highlight "uniqueness" in partnership. Priority will be given to teams composed of individuals from programs, disciplines, or units that do not typically work together. The focus is on how the collaboration leverages different skills and perspectives to support the YCP mission and the broader landscape of higher education.
“One of York College’s greatest strengths is bringing people together—faculty, staff, students, and industry partners—to create opportunity and solve challenges,” says Jeffrey Vermeulen, Chief of Staff & Vice President for Community Engagement. “These awards celebrate teams whose collaboration demonstrates the power of partnership in action.”
Nominations will be accepted through April 1, 2026, and we encourage deans, chairs, unit heads, faculty, colleagues, and students to submit entries; self-nominations are also welcome. Interested parties should prepare a nomination document of no more than two pages that describes the initiative, the need it addresses, and the uniqueness of the team and/or approach. Submissions are encouraged to include at least one piece of supporting material, such as photos, syllabi, or project documents.
Selected teams will receive $1500 to support the external promotion or sharing of their innovation/collaboration. This funding can be used for open-access publications, presenting at professional conferences, or hosting a community event or workshop. Additionally, all winners will be invited to showcase their achievements as a poster presentation at the upcoming April 16th Celebration of Collaboration event, hosted by the CCE and GCCI.
Click on the links below for more information and to access the nomination form.
