Three ways to celebrate your honoree on a milestone anniversary

    Milestone anniversaries are greatly anticipated by many Yale staff members. In addition to receiving recognition from the university, consider celebrating your honoree in one or more of the following ways:

    Create a Recognition Wall for your honoree

    To create a memorable experience for your honoree, start a Recognition Wall—a secure, customizable website— where you, friends, and colleagues can post your sentiments. Recognition Walls can be set up for colleagues celebrating milestone anniversaries beginning with 5 years of service.

    Building a Recognition Wall is quick and easy.

    • You will receive an email notification of your staff member’s upcoming anniversary 30 days prior to the anniversary. At that time, you will be invited to create a colorful e-card that will be held in a queue to be automatically delivered on the anniversary date.
    • At the same time, you can invite friends and colleagues of the honoree to post messages, too. View an example of the email that will be automatically generated when you invite friends and colleagues to post a message.

    To learn more about setting up a Recognition Wall, check out this handy user guide.

    Attend a tree planting event

    Beginning with 10 years of service to the university, staff members can elect to have a tree planted on campus in their honor in lieu of a traditional gift. If your honoree selects the tree planting, you will be invited to attend a tree planting event. Tree plantings are typically held twice a year, in the spring and fall. Consider attending the tree-planting event with your honoree or even helping to plant a tree. For more information, please send an email to internal.communications@yale.edu.

    Celebrate your Long-Service Recognition honorees

    Staff members celebrating milestone anniversaries beginning at 25 years of service are invited to attend the Long-Service Recognition Dinner.

    • Supervisors of staff members celebrating 45 years or greater of service to the university will receive an email invitation to the Long-Service Recognition Dinner in the springtime approximately one month before the event. Consider celebrating at the banquet with your staff member.
    • You can also use the service recognition slide templates to celebrate your honorees during a team meeting.