Staff Award Winners 2016

• Exceptional Customer Service Award

  George Johnson from Facilities and Building Services ($2,500)

  While every staff role on campus may have a very different focus and set of tasks, no staff position is without some aspect of internal and external customer service so a new award has been added to highlight exceptional customer service. We solicited names of staff who consistently and substantially demonstrate an ability and willingness to work positively, respectfully, and effectively with others.

  While working in one of the busiest locations on campus, George can be counted on to get things done in a timely manner and always with a smile, having a great attitude and being a pleasure to work with.  This staff member often takes care of items that are the responsibility of others but gets them done and moves on. He never does the bare minimum to get by but takes pride in the work. There is little thank you offered for the things that he does. Yet he just goes about doing these things humbly, no thanks expected, with the intention of helping provide the best environment possible for the students and visitors.

  

• Students' Appreciation Award

  Sterling Brown from Athletics Character Development ($1,500)

  Nominations for this award came specifically from our student body as they were asked to tell us about staff members who perform their job in such a way that it leaves a lasting impression which makes the student feel welcome and at home at KSU.

  The multiple students who nominated this year's winner described Sterling as an inspiring motivator, a great role model and person to look up to, and a mentor. He is described as always smiling and credited with helping students make wiser choices, be better students, and be more successful athletes.

  

• Outstanding Team Award

  Staff of the KSU Sports and Entertainment Park led by Ms. Marty Elliott to include David Bennett, Necie Brown, Kristin Evans, Margaret Gendernalik, and Zachary Kerns (shared $5,000)

  No staff member works in complete solitude. While some staff come together to work on specific projects for a finite time, others consistently work as a team to make KSU the successful place that it is. Regardless of the type of team, we want to recognize the effort it takes to keep all the pieces moving towards a like goal while incorporating the aspects of our other awards: customer service, innovation, leadership, and service as a team and for the benefit of the university. While this was a new concept to our staff recognition program, there was no shortage of understanding as we had many strong nominations.

  Letters of support for the KSU Sports and Entertainment Park team depict working in tandem as a unified team to foster an atmosphere that stimulates and invigorates involvement with an expectation for every member of the team to go above and beyond. Community members describe how this team represents the KSU Spirit of teamwork and comraderie. Based on these letters, it is clear that this team is successful at their diliberate objective of garnering regional and national attention for KSU. Additionally, they are cited as being an inspiration for how others would like to see their organizations act and interact.

  

• Excellence in Innovation Award

  James Kang from Enterprise Systems and Services ($1,500)

  This award is likewise directly focused on prevelant themes in KSU's strategic plan -effectiveness and innovation. We asked for nominations that exhibit tangible results that enhance KSU by increasing efficiency, generating cost savings and improving customer service.

  James Kang was instrumental in taking a paper process that was antiquated and time consuming and transformed it into a streamlined, efficient, and green workflow that results in increased accuracy, greater reporting capabilities, and most importantly easier use for a broad group of faculty and staff users. It would not have been possible without James who is described as having a knack for understanding and converting it to insights while having a measure of patience in dealing with changes that arise. This combination of skills are hard to find and cannot be taught.  His invaluable contributions made the automation of the TAP application and approval process possible.

  

• Outstanding Supervisor Award

  Mark Forehand from International Student and Scholar Services in the Division of Global Affairs ($2,000)

  Another new award for 2016 aims to recognize that we have many supervisors on this campus that work hard to build strong teams. Their impact may or may not stretch to multiple areas of campus but we appreciate nonetheless their efforts to provide candid feedback for purposes of holding staff accountable, giving credit and proper praise for a job well done, leading by example, and finding proper balance between delegation and working alongside the team when needed.

  Mark is described as knowledgeable, open-minded, and proactive.  He takes every opinion seriously with time put into researching suggestions to see if they will make a difference for the team or the department. This supervisor is not the type to sit in their office and call employees in but is often up and around making sure to understand the business and that we have the training on each function with the group. He has created trusted relationships with each of the employees to know their strength, weakness, and potential so that his team grows in their fields. One of his first tasks was to make sure that the KSU and Marietta campus worked together.  All of his employees very quickly saw how caring, devoted, and capable he was at this task.

  

• Service to the Community Award

  Cherie Miller from Interdisciplinary Studies ($1,500)

  Just as KSU’s strategic plan guides us to be student-centered, our vision also includes strong community engagement.  So we asked for nominations to honor staff whose activities outside of their work responsibilities are examples of positive community service which reinforce the reputation of KSU and the people who work within it.  

  In describing this year’s winner of the Service to the Community Award, staff, faculty, and community partners made statements describing Cherie Miller as routinely and cheerfully giving of her time, talents, and resources to the benefit of others, also speaking of tireless efforts, and being a shining light, with an attitide and work ethic that is something to behold.  It is not just her big heart, her caring, and her compassion which provide a model for others to emulate.  It is also her leadership.

  

• Outstanding Administrator Award
  Melisa Baldwin, Assistant Vice President for Development ($2,000)

  While an award for outstanding administrator has been given for a number of years, this year's process was the first to solicit nominations from the campus at large. We asked for examples of leadership and not only examples of achievement but also highlighted the importance of how it was achieved and efforts to unite others to see a positive impact.

  Letters of support for Melisa came from her supervisor, nearly all of her direct reports, and folks she impacts across campus and in the KSU community at large. Her nomination forms described her as tenacious, compassionate, and focused. She is a consummate mentor to every person on her team.  She is always thinking of the short, mid, and long-term success of the university as it relates to the strategic plan. She builds strong, positive relationships to strengthen communication between groups and, in turn, builds bridges. 

  

• Distinguished Staff Award

  Cynthia Elery from Wellstar School of Nursing ($5,000)

  The distinguished staff award represents a culmination of all aspects of performance. reliability, productivity, customer service, team work, initiative, and pride in the univeristy. making a decision was extremely difficult based on the abundance of submissions and the variety of functions and departments represented. Truly KSU has many staff members to be proud of.

  Our winner this year has been highly praised as an expert who is the ‘go to’ person for staff, faculty and students alike. While in a support role, Cynthia is known as a resource which extends far beyond the people and processes here on campus. Her supporters say a million things are brought to her office constantly and she does it all with pleasantness and humor. She will resolve problems with irate individuals and bring calm to the situation. A faculty member describes her as the point person for the department and that business decisions are rarely made without consulting with her for advice. She takes pride in her work and excels at managing other staff and the students. She is always available, never daunted by a situation, able to find solutions and all while performing her duties nearly flawlessly.