Six civil service staff employees were honored with the Chancellor's Distinguished Staff Award at a banquet April 18. The award recognizes exceptional performance.
Each recipient receives $2,000 and a plaque. Recipients' names also are engraved on a plaque displayed in the Staff Human Resources Office. Past winners are online.
Permanent staff employees with at least two years of service or retired employees in status appointments during the calendar year may be nominated for the award. A committee recommends finalists, who are then approved by the chancellor.
As a police sergeant for University Police, Matthew J. Ballinger provides leadership to the officers under his supervision. He works the evening shift - 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. - and routinely supervises four to 14 officers on overlapping shift coverage and special detail assignment. He also responds to calls, patrols the campus district, monitors traffic, secures crime scenes, apprehends suspects and makes criminal arrests.
"I have worked with and supervised Matt Ballinger since his hire in 2004," said Lt. V.G. "Skip" Frost, patrol bureau commander, University Police. "Since that time, he has shown tireless dedication to his patrol duties. He is driven, conscientious and focused on safety and security of the campus community and students."
Letters of support also commended Ballinger's role as a trainer: "His role as a trainer, whether as a field training officer, control tactics instructor or team leader on the METRO (SWAT) team, is clearly his best effort to improve himself as well as others in the law enforcement profession," Frost said.
Urbana fire chief Mike Dilley commended Ballinger for his heroic actions last May when Ballinger was first on the scene of a house fire and entered the burning house to try to get the residents out safely. "There is no doubt that had it not been for the quick and heroic actions of Office Ballinger that day, that there would have been seven additional lives lost in that fire," Dilley said.
"Matthew doesn't engage in police work for glory or public recognition," said Lt. Todd Short, Office of Campus Emergency Planning in the Division of Public Safety, in his nomination of Ballinger. "He pursues law enforcement because he knows he can and will help others."
Donna L. Bosch is an office administrator in the Human Resources Office in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. "Her primary responsibilities are demanding, and the services she provides impact every unit in the college, including the network of UI Extension offices around the state," said Alison B. Schmulbach, executive assistant dean for administration in the college. "Despite her heavy workload, Donna is always the first to offer help when a new challenge arrives or when a colleague needs assistance."
"Donna's professional approach to her work and the office is exemplified by her solid grasp of HR policies and procedures and by her self-motivation to anticipate every need, her dependability and efficiency, and her consistent cheerful demeanor," said Kathryn I. Seybert, director of ACES Human Resources, in her letter of nomination.
Among the examples of Bosch's innovation was the creation of a tabbed notebook several years ago that served as a valuable HR reference tool for the many new extension county directors. Recently, she took it upon herself to update the information as 27 new county directors assumed new positions. This resource can now be accessed through the intranet of UI Extension.
Her expertise has proved invaluable in many situations, especially now as severe funding challenges have forced a 30 percent reduction in total staff for UI Extension.
"All existing academic professionals had to re-apply for positions in the restructured organization," said Marilyn Brengle, assistant to the director for extension field operations. "Donna has handled more than 550 applications in this process and remained positive as she has dealt with stressed staff members. The emotional energy and caring attitude she has exhibited during this past year has been remarkable."
Joseph M. Butsch has been an electrician at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts since 2004. He performs the electrical and electronic work related to building maintenance and theatrical activity at the center.
"Joe carries the title of electrician, but this does little to describe the incredible skills, knowledge, attitude and positive energy he brings to his work every day," said Rebecca McBride, senior associate director of Krannert Center. "While his knowledge of all things electrical is outstanding, his deep commitment to helping the center achieve its goals - despite challenges that would stop others from proceeding - combined with his calm and positive manner is what sets Joe apart."
One example of his dedication to the best interests of Krannert Center was his work on the lobby lighting project. Funded by the Student Sustainability program and an Illinois Clean Energy grant, the project facilitated the replacement of all lights in the center's lobby with energy efficient LED lighting.
"Joe helped secure funding for this program and also participated in the installation to ensure the project was completed within budget," said Mike Ross, the director of Krannert Center. "The result has been aesthetically pleasing lighting that produces remarkable energy savings for the campus."
Butsch also was commended for his high level of initiative and creativity when addressing unexpected problems. One example was when the second floor was flooded with water in 2009. "Joe came in at 2 a.m. and worked tirelessly throughout the night and day to solve the underlying problem and to avert more damage to the building," said Cynthia Howard, the director of business operations at Krannert Center.
"Joe takes time to ask questions and to view the problem from many perspectives in order to fully understand every situation," McBride said. "And he consistently delivers solutions that are creative, functional and better than anyone could have imagined."
Sherry L. Polson is an office manager in the College of Applied Health Sciences. Since coming to the college in 1999, she has become an invaluable member of the Office of the Dean.
Polson is credited with providing support to the assistant and associate dean for academic affairs and also for serving as the back-up assistant for the dean. As the college's primary COAR user (performing college admissions and records functions), she is responsible for updates to academic records, including grade changes, credit and course changes, dean's list determination and honors attributes. She also serves as the college's convocation coordinator and supports the college's Educational Policy Committee.
"Sherry handles it all with a graciousness, generosity of spirit and a level of commitment that cannot be overstated," said Tanya M. Gallagher, the dean of the college. "She often comments that convocation is one of the most important days for the students and their families and she wants it to be as positive an experience as possible. She quietly gets the job done and the outcome is always extremely professional and well-organized. "
"Sherry devotes significant attention to administrative support of the college's academic affairs staff," said Renique Kersh, assistant dean for academic affairs in the college. "Sherry holds together our academic affairs team through her institutional knowledge and commitment to the highest quality of work. ... She is as invested in helping us help students reach their goals as the advising staff is."
"Sherry is truly an amazing woman," Gallagher said. "She is kind, generous, organized and extremely committed. She goes above and beyond what is expected and serves as a warm and welcoming presence for students, staff, alumni, faculty and guests. She is constantly growing in her role and continually assessing the processes she uses to determine if there are more efficient ways to get the job done."
Marita E. Romine, an administrative assistant I in the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, has worked at the UI since 1978 and spent the last 24 years in the Foreign Languages Building. She serves as assistant to the director of the school, a unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences that contains 13 departments and programs.
Her duties include managing day-to-day operations of the administrative office; hiring and supervising civil service staff members; determining areas of responsibility and distribution of workloads; and facilitating training, development and staff performance evaluations.
Among some of her many accomplishments cited in letters of support: She coordinated the development of online tools to streamline the application and review process for those seeking funds for colloquia and conferences as well as graduate fellowships. She helped resurrect the Intensive Foreign Language Intersession Program, which was on the verge of being eliminated, and suggested that a January session be added to the program.
Douglas Kibbee, the first director of the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, recalls a request by the LAS dean in 2005. "I was asked to create a new administrative entity, that would become the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics," Kibbee said. "This would combine the staffs from 11 academic units, reduce the staff by almost half, with the expectation of providing enhanced service.
"Marita took on the challenge of reorganizing staff duties, finding the right jobs for the right people and clarifying everyone's responsibilities. ... Within two years the impossible had been accomplished: A drastically cut staff was providing better service than ever before."
Romine is credited with the success of the school's shared service model, which has been used as a model by other campus units.
"In essence, initiative and innovation are the hallmarks of Marita's work," said Elabbas Benmamoun, the director of the school. "She has a knack for identifying the talents of her staff and matching those talents to revised job descriptions, with an eye on the big picture."
Barbara Jo Vandeventer is an office administrator in the department of food science and human nutrition in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. She has worked in the college for more than 16 years.
"Barb oversees and carries out innumerable activities, projects and tasks each day that allow the department to function effectively and efficiently and that promote excellence in our instructional research and service missions," said Shelly J. Schmidt, a professor of food science and human nutrition.
Vandeventer also has been asked to serve on several campus committees and focus groups. She was a member of the Graduate College Administrative Advisory Group for three years and a member of three campus-level focus groups - departmental schedules, enhancement of advising and final exam schedulers.
Several of her ideas to streamline office operations have been implemented. Examples include automating the course wait list process, creating numerous electronic forms and databases to move toward a paperless office, development of an internal online supplemental grade report form and use of new graduate application software.
According to department head Faye M. Dong, Vandeventer's list of duties is lengthy and varied, but she handles all the tasks with "efficiency, professionalism and the highest of standards.
"For example, Barb expertly takes care of all aspects of the curriculum, such as the scheduling of all of our courses (undergraduate and graduate), and managing enrollments, room assignments, changes in course requirements and individual needs of students. She treats everyone the same with full respect, sincerity, the utmost courtesy and a brilliant smile, even under time constrains and during stressful moments."
Timothy A. Garrow, a professor and associate head for graduate programs, said: "Barb is definitely the student's advocate when they are dealing with university bureaucracy. She is the hub of the (department's) graduate education wheel."
