CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Eight civil service employees were recognized for exceptional performance by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Each recipient of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award receives $1,000 and a plaque. Recipients’ names also are engraved on a plaque displayed in the Illinois Human Resources Office. The names of past winners are available online.
Permanent staff members with at least two years of service and retired employees in status appointments during the calendar year may be nominated for the award. A committee recommends finalists, who are then approved by Chancellor Robert Jones.
The 2022 recipients, as described by their nominators:
Penny Ames, the admissions and records coordinator for the School of Information Sciences, is involved throughout the life cycle of iSchool students – from prospective to degree completion. She oversees the entire admissions process, which consists of engagement with prospective students, application processing, communication of admission decisions and enrollment in degree programs. Ames also oversees the management of all graduate degree-seeking student academic records within the iSchool, from the time of admissions through degree conferral.
Ames is an active partner with faculty members and other staff in ensuring that all students receive the support they need to be admitted, remain in their degree programs and graduate.
Her commitment to service is key to the retention and success of underrepresented students. “Even in the information age, people have anxiety asking questions about processes as they fear being met with disgruntled responses, misinformation and sometimes prejudice,” wrote a student who completed a master’s degree and a Ph.D. “Colloquially we call it ‘the runaround.’ Penny has made asking questions easy and I have always left our conversations with confidence and resolution.”
Sheree Denham, an office manager with University of Illinois Laboratory High School, demonstrates integrity and a strong commitment to the mission and values of the school. Her attention to ensuring things are done the right way is evident daily – whether it is a process, project or task she is directly involved in, or if she just happens to be in the room and sees the chance to help someone. Denham makes a genuine effort to provide the support needed. She is supportive and friendly to the variety of people she encounters on the job and brings a positive attitude to her interactions with everyone.
Denham documents Uni High’s professional development requests and is an excellent steward of those proposals. She often reminds the administrative team of requests that require discussion; once a request is approved, she communicates the decision to the teacher and helps them arrange the sometimes-complex aspects of development experiences – from international travel and lodging, to registration for the main event and secondary educational experiences during the same trip.
Tim Farren, a furniture restorer in University Housing Facilities Maintenance, is not in a position of authority or supervision, but others look up to him as a great worker, peer and colleague. His organizational skills are evident in his shop workspaces, service vehicle and furniture storage areas.
When COVID-19 became prevalent on campus and before masks were readily available for staff members, Farren began sewing masks out of bed linens and provided them to various staff members. He frequently suggests faster, more productive ways to perform work by researching new products, tools and techniques that can benefit the entire work group.
After Farren started in this position five years ago, he promptly worked through an extensive list of backlogged work orders, while continuing to keep up with new work requests. He also repaired numerous pieces of furniture that were in storage for more than 10 years. Then, he retooled the furniture repair shop, including a sewing machine that enabled him to work on small upholstery jobs that previously had been sent to an outside contractor.
Tim Lecher, the assistant director of facilities, operations and planning in agricultural and biological engineering, is responsible for the effective management and operation of the ABE Farm, Research and Training Center – a facility consisting of 24,000 square feet of office, shop and storage space situated on 80 acres of land in southern Urbana – and the Agricultural Engineering Sciences Building on campus. Utilizing his experiences in agriculture and farming practices, Lecher developed and implemented a plan to operate the farm efficiently and effectively, resulting in significant savings and increases in revenues. He has also written proposals and secured funds for facility updates.
Lecher has also led updates to AESB – a facility that houses about 150 faculty members, staff, postdoctoral researchers, adjunct faculty members and graduate students – renovating two classrooms, eight student offices, 33 faculty and staff offices, three lab spaces and all common areas; upgrading the courtyard area and machine shop; demolishing and removing an old experimental building in the courtyard area; and upgrading the hallways and stairwells.
Peter Lichtenberger, the park supervisor at Allerton Park and Retreat Center, often volunteers for odd shifts that support special events at the park and anticipates needs before he leaves for the day -- such as making sure all the lights are on for evening light walks. He knows how to do the tasks, when to do them and executes every time. He elevates the skills of employees, volunteer workers and student groups.
Lichtenberger's knowledge and expertise enable him to teach classes on gardening and horticulture online and in person for the Master Gardener Program, school groups, public workshops and Facebook videos. He took the initiative to research the native seed mix used at the solar field on the U. of I. campus so the same mix could be purchased and planted at Allerton Park's solar field.
During his employment at Allerton Park, Lichtenberger has become a certified arborist and a licensed pesticide applicator. He has also taken online horticulture classes through the U. of I. He often makes suggestions for professional development – both for himself and for staff.
Debra Tiedemann, the assistant director of business operations for the Graduate College, often meets with graduate students one-on-one to make sure they understand what their fellowship entails. She walks them through their student account, highlighting what they need to pay attention to, what they need to talk to the Office of Financial Aid about, and what they need to address with their department. She offers similarly detailed advice to students as they prepare to deposit their theses, guiding them through the impact of thesis deposit on their funding.
Most graduate students live month-to-month, which means that a graduate student’s not getting paid on time or in the amount expected can have a disastrous effect on that student’s finances. On one occasion, an employee left a department before processing appointments for about 50 students. Tiedemann quickly stepped in to process emergency pay for all of them. She also processed thousands of pandemic relief payments, day and night, on extremely tight deadlines, so that students could receive their grants on time.
She is a critical source of financial guidance for the entire college and serves as a trusted mentor for departmental contacts.
Jesse Widick, the office manager for academic affairs in the Graduate College, serves as the unit’s front-line customer service representative and works with all manner of Graduate College forms – efficiently triaging, routing and responding to various student requests.
Academic affairs had begun transitioning to a new petition system prior to the pandemic. The unit delayed the transition due to the pandemic, and Widick collaborated with others in the Graduate College to get the new system in place for a December 2021 rollout. She took on the role of point person for the new system, familiarizing herself with it to coach departmental contacts and students who called with questions.
Ultimately, the transition to the new system was highly successful, with minimal interruption to student services, thanks in no small part to Widick’s extraordinary efforts. Whether processing a petition, responding to a student inquiry, communicating with a departmental contact or learning yet another system, Widick continually pushes at the edges of her job description to ensure that the work of the unit gets done efficiently and accurately.
James Young, a building service worker in University Housing, is responsible for a large common area in the Illinois Street Residence Halls. His area is always freshly cleaned, setups are done correctly and on-time, and areas of concern are addressed with the appropriate staff so that issues can be fixed.
Young completes his work with a smile and often helps in other areas. Like many areas during the pandemic, the team has been short-staffed. He is always willing to put in 100%. Housing’s programs wouldn't be as great without him and his work ethic. He even will check to make sure staff members have what they need and just smile and wave, which truly builds community. The small things make all the difference and he's someone the university should be proud to have on staff.
The pride he takes in his work enhances the image of the department and the university, as there are often many visitors from across campus and prospective students and families doing tours in the building year-round.