On February 4, during the CU Boulder-Utah women's basketball game, Chancellor Philip DiStefano, Senior Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman's Administrator Ceal Barry, and Athletics Director Rick George, presented each Employee of the Year award recipient with a signed game ball, compliments of the Athletics Department and Boulder Campus Staff Council. The 2017 award recipients were Carol Bender, Vanessa Dunn and Ed von Bleichert.

The annual Chancellor’s Employee of the Year Award is presented to University of Colorado Boulder staff in recognition of and appreciation for exceptional job performance and remarkable contributions to the campus community. Recipients of this distinguished award join a rich heritage of past awardees who display outstanding performance, inspired leadership, extraordinary service to the campus and community and exceptional interpersonal skills.