DSL Infinite Mile Award Categories



 

Here for Students Award (formerly the Student Life Award)

The Division of Student Life makes community possible at MIT and supports and enhances the educational mission of the Institute. Our goal is to make the experience of MIT as safe, healthy, fulfilling, and complete as possible for every student who comes here to learn. To do so is to embrace a spirit of service and excellence in all our interactions with the students who rely on us. 
 

This award is for teams and/or individuals who:

  • Epitomize the spirit of the Division of Student Life

  • Are committed to excellence and to enriching the MIT experience for all our students

  • Demonstrate a passion for helping students develop intellectually, socially, physically, emotionally, and culturally

  • Go the extra mile to meet student needs and to be aware, accessible, and accountable

  • Strive to tackle every task and any difficult situations in a way that produces the best possible outcome for the students, the Division, and MIT

Meeting the Need (formerly the Servicing the Client Award)

Working in the Division of Student Life is all about interacting with students, faculty, staff, and outside vendors. Whether they are anticipating needs, improving the efficiency of services they provide, or modeling positive and productive relationships, these individuals are always looking to take their interactions to the next level.

This award is for teams and/or individuals who:

  • Take the initiative to improve the value and efficiency of the services they provide;

  • Maintain a consistently high-quality service to Institute customers including students, faculty, staff, alumni, and external stakeholders;

  • Anticipate others’ needs and potential problems before they arise;

  • Create new, cost-effective, and/or innovative methods for performing day-to-day operations;

  • Serve as educators and role models to others through positive and productive student and colleague relationships.

Bringing Out the Best Award

Some people have a special ability to make everyone around them more positive, more effective, and happier contributors. Whether it is through specific actions or their outlook and attitude, these individuals make the Division a better place.

 

This award is for teams and/or individuals who: 

  • Inspire excellence in everyone around them through their attitude, effort, and collaborative spirit

  • Foster a sense of purpose, vision, and mission for their coworkers and staff

  • Develop trust and credibility with open, respectful communication; an unselfish approach; and a clear sense of responsibility for their obligations and actions

  • Continually work to build consensus and promote teamwork when partnering with others

  • Manage and champion change effectively through formal or informal leadership

  • Help others develop by investing time and effort in coaching and/or mentoring

Outstanding Contributor Award

The Division of Student Life touches nearly every person at MIT. From housing and dining to the Campus Activities Complex and Enterprise Services, our reach extends to professor, student, and staff member. Often, however, many exemplary efforts and top-notch performances take place behind the scenes and do not get the recognition they deserve.

 

This award is for teams and/or individuals who: 

  • Make MIT a better place through their work

  • Consistently go above and beyond without fanfare

  • Fill in when and wherever needed and always perform at a high level

  • Solve problems and make improvements without being prompted

  • Demonstrate reliability, perseverance, and focus

The Innovation Award

The world looks to MIT for creative solutions to difficult issues. The same skills that MIT prizes in its students, faculty, and alumni are as important to the Division of Student Life: entrepreneurial spirit, imaginative thinking, problem solving, and a passion for experimentation and innovation.

 

This award is for teams and/or individuals who: 

  • Continually strive to improve the way the Division gets its work done

  • Actively seek new methods and approaches to fulfill their responsibilities and to support the mission of the Division

  • Break down boundaries, rethink possibilities, and set new or expanded goals for themselves, their teams, and the Division

  • Act as responsible and effective stewards of MIT’s resources by finding ways to save money, time, and energy

  • Balance creative thinking with sound judgment and effective stewardship of the Division’s responsibilities

Building Community Awards

There are two awards in this category because fostering community has several important meanings for the Division of Student Life. 

 

One of the most critical meanings is to make sure that every member of the community is welcome to join and participate in the life of the Institute. In this sense, building community means to open up and welcome in—striving to include people of all races, religions, sexual orientations, and backgrounds.

 

As important, building community also means helping to knit together the various strands that make up the fabric of MIT. Through its various offices, units, and services, the Division has an opportunity to touch every other division, school, and office at MIT. In this sense, building community means to reach out—striving to establish strong relationships and effective collaborations with students, faculty, and staff throughout the Institute and beyond. 

 

Building Community Award: Inclusion and Diversity

This award is for teams and/or individuals who: 

  • Work to make the Division of Student Life—and MIT—a place that welcomes people regardless of gender, nationality, orientation, and religion

  • Actively raise awareness of and educate others about diversity and inclusion

  • Respect and value differences and promote fairness and equity

  • Demonstrate formal or informal leadership by embracing inclusion through positive interactions

  • Actively seeks to create and promote a diverse workforce

 

Building Community Award: Outreach and Collaboration

 

This award is for teams and/or individuals who: 

  • Collaborate with others at the Institute and within the greater MIT 

  • Amplify the effectiveness of the Division of Student Life by reaching out to form strong partnerships with staff, faculty, alumni, students, and/or parents

  • Fosters a collegial and cohesive environment within DSL by sharing resources, ideas, and successes with other departments inside the Division

  • Finds and works with the right people to address issues, get results, and solve problems