OTM Submission
OTMs are due by 11:59 PM on the 7th of each month for the previous month's outstanding person, group, or program.
OTM's are a way to recognize and honor an outstanding person, group and program that make a meaningful impact on residence life. Awards are presented at the campus (Georgia Tech), regional (SAACURH), and national (NACURH) levels. Recognition is a wonderful way to show appreciation and support to your Hall, Resident Assistants, Communities, Students, and Advisors for their hard work. Making people feel appreciated and supported will encourage them to continue going above-and-beyond, and will inspire them to do even more in the future. Lack of recognition can lead to negative leadership in the future by making people feel unappreciated and not supported. Recognition will help the quality of leadership grow with no boundaries.
Nominate a Person or Program
Start an OTM by choosing your nominee. Think about the past month and reminisce about what went extraordinarily well and who went above-and-beyond. Next, choose the appropriate type of OTM and the category it fits into. Follow the category guidelines carefully so that your OTM is judged in the correct category. When writing the OTM in a certain category, stress how that person, group, or program is extraordinary. Did they go above-and-beyond their job requirements? What is so super cool about this group? What made the program so amazing?
Determine the OTM Type
General OTMs
The General OTM recognizes a specific person or group of people. There are 7 categories of General OTM’s.
Advisor
Advisors do an extraordinary amount of work that goes unseen. This award applies to all Residence Hall Advisors and Hall Directors, as well as Advisors of campus organizations. Did your advisor help you with something super important?
Community
A “Community” OTM can be written about a hall, an area, a specific floor, a club or organization, and any residence hall group that has worked together during the month to do something totally amazing.
Executive Board Member
E-Board members are amazing leaders in the residence halls. They work hard to keep the halls a fun place to live. This award applies to RHA executive board members, not hall council executive board members.
Resident Assistant
Resident Assistants work very hard in creating a community, a home away from home, within the residence halls. Did your RA or a fellow staff do something extra special and totally amazing? Did they do something above-and-beyond?
Spotlight
Candidates in this category can include a maintenance worker, a food service worker, a professor, a student body Senator, a housing employee, or anyone who does not fit within the other categories. They must have clear contact with or influence in the residence halls
Student
Students within the residence halls include any resident and Hall Council executive board members. Be sure to include all activities and positions this person may have, along with their academics and other extra efforts within the residence halls.
Program OTMs
The Program OTM’s recognize an amazing Program or Event. There are 4 categories of Program OTM’s.
- Social
- Educational
- Community Service
- Diversity
Write the OTM
There are not many limitations on OTM’s. Let your creativity run wild. Go the extra mile for the person or group that already went there. In a general OTM, you have 600 words to use. It is recommended that you have an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction should give a complete background about the person, group, or program that is being written about, and why they are so amazing. The body will give all the details. Make sure you are thorough. The conclusion should summarize the body, cap things off, and leave the reader with a lasting impression of why he/she/they are so amazing.
Most importantly, make your OTM month specific. What is month-specific? Month-specific is writing the OTM with events that happened within that certain month. For example, if you are writing about how super your RA was during October, make sure to include only those things that happened in October, and not things that happened the month or year before. An OTM, a.k.a. Of the Month, needs to be only about the month it is written for.