Recipients of the annual staff recognition awards at Weinberg College were honored at a luncheon hosted by Dean Adrian Randolph on May 4. The winners were selected by the Weinberg Staff Advisory Board from a remarkable pool of nominees. Below are the winners and summaries of their nominations.
Dean’s Excellence Award Winner:
Kisa Kowal
Business Coordinator, Department of Statistics and Data Science
Our department has one Business Coordinator and one Assistant to serve 20 faculty (2 additional hiring ongoing), ~100 grads, and around 800 under major/minors. She constantly communicates with and serves faculty, students, speakers, candidates or other stakeholders. She supervises our Department Assistant, who’s new in his position. He comments “Even in the midst of a heavy workload and tremendous responsibility, Kisa has demonstrated a great deal of interest in making sure that I am both professionally satisfied and personally content with my position in the department, and she has encouraged my growth and development every step of the way.
Seminar speakers and faculty candidates repeatedly commented on how well organized their visits have been and how thankful they are for the clear, detailed communication about their visits, many noting how the quality was above what they usually received. She always strives for excellence in these visits and communications as she feels that she is helping represent the department and want to make sure the visitors have a favorable impression before, during, and after their visit.
Meteor Award Winners:
The Meteor Award for Excellence in a New Position recognizes an outstanding staff member, employed within the College for a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years, who has achieved excellence in their new position in a relatively short period of time. They possess excellent initiative, resourcefulness, adaptability, and coachability.
Sloane Moore
Business Analyst, Weinberg Information Technology Solutions
From her first day, Sloane approached challenges and projects with humor, resourcefulness, rigor, and incisiveness. She is a true collaborator who asks the perfect questions and who challenges the status quo.
Sloane is a great problem solver, good listener and logical thinker. She’s always quick to respond, never gets flustered and makes everything she does seem so simple and easy, even when it’s not.
Katie Shirilla
Program Assistant 3, Department of Sociology
I have been consistently impressed with her attitude, conscientiousness, and quick learning of new skills. She comes up with good solutions to problems as they happen, with little need for intervention on my part… …Ultimately, Katie just gets a lot done, quickly and well.
There’s a cliché used when something functions well: “it runs like a well-oiled machine.” If the department is the machine, Katie is the oil. One might not even notice that the machine has oil as it’s purring along, but if the oil is lost, watch out, because the machine will grind to a halt!
Community Excellence Award Winners:
The Community Excellence Award recognizes a staff member who positively represents their department or program by consistently displaying approachability and a welcoming demeanor to students, faculty, and staff. This person contributes to a positive work environment and a feeling of community in Weinberg College by demonstrating collegiality, energy and enthusiasm.
Feda Jarad
Program Coordinator, Department of Chemistry
Feda goes above and beyond to make every member of my lab feel supported, encouraged, and welcome. Despite her office being two buildings away from our lab, she makes weekly visits to check in, chat, and share food. During these visits, she reminds everyone that her office is open and encourages people to see her, whether to work out administrative logistics in person or just to talk about happenings in their lives.
Feda brings joy to the workplace, and we would love for her exceptional collegiality, energy, and kindness to be recognized. We appreciate her presence every single day, and we nominate her with the highest level of enthusiasm.
Terri Bartosiak
Program Assistant 3, Department of Neurobiology
Terri embodies Community Excellence. As the program assistant for a large undergraduate major, she excels as the first point of contact for hundreds of students by email and in person. Students waiting to see an adviser are engaged in bubbly, friendly conversation by Terri until the appointment begins. Her APPROACHABLE nature sets students at ease, evoking laughter and setting the stage for a positive meeting.
Beyond her professional skills, she exudes COMMUNITY ENTHUSIASM. I know no one with more purple in their wardrobe, including our major T-shirts, worn sincerely and proudly. She’s organized afternoon snack breaks and short games with other staff to foster a positive environment. A core of regular visitors to the offices know they will always find news, updates, and conversation, mainly due to her outgoing nature. This makes her a fantastic “grapevine” to keep all members of the community in touch and working on one another’s behalf.
Mentor of the Year Winner:
The Phil Waldenberg Weinberg College Staff Mentor of the Year Award recognizes a staff member who has shown outstanding leadership in coaching and mentoring other staff members. The winner receives an award of $2,000. All staff (exempt or non-exempt) are eligible to nominate or to be nominated for this award.
Ann Kelchner
Business Administrator 1, Department of Philosophy, Comparative Literature Studies and Critical Theory
Milestone Honoree:
Elzbieta Foeller-Pituch
Assistant Director, Nicholas D. Chabraja Center for Historical Studies (CCHS)
View photos from the luncheon ceremony:
