CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Eight civil service staff employees were honored with the Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award at a banquet April 20. 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. The names of past winners are 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 the chancellor.
Stuart L. Albert is a senior library specialist at the University Library working in the Literatures and Languages Library, one of the university’s many departmental libraries. The LLL's primary staff member, Albert runs its busy circulation desk; hires, trains and supervises about 10 student assistants at the circulation desk; provides front-line services to faculty and students; watches over two substantial public library spaces; and manages and maintains the LLL's circulating and reference collections of roughly 88,000 books and 300 print serials.
“When patrons enter the LLL, Stuart quickly approaches them and in a very friendly and engaging manner enquires about their needs,” said Paula Mae Carns, the head of LLL. “No one gets by Stuart without a warm welcome and brief interview.”
When it was announced the LLL would merge with the Classics Library, Albert eagerly took on greater responsibility and helped plan and execute the transition.
“His care and concern for his fellow staff members really made the transition so much easier and more bearable, and the unit would not have fared nearly so well without him,” Carns said.
Emmett A. Catlin is a building attendant at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.
He cleans and maintains the building and sets up tables, chairs, risers and other equipment for events. His route includes the lobby, Foellinger Great Hall upper foyer, costume shop, ticket office, front-of-house office and promenade – all high-profile spaces.
Whenever he is approached by staff, students and patrons, Catlin is cordial and strives to assure their questions are answered or direct them to the personnel who can help them. When visitors need help locating rooms, he will walk them to their destination with a smile, instead of just pointing.
“Emmett Catlin is a shining example of everything we look for in a Krannert Center employee,” said Cynthia Howard, the associate director of finances and operations at Krannert Center and Catlin’s nominator. “He has a genuine passion for the center and gives maximum effort every day to ensure the success of its operations.”
Jeri A. Cochran is the graduate program secretary and office secretary for the department of astronomy. She is one of the first to meet and greet new students, faculty members and visitors, providing a positive impression of the department and university.
“Jeri is the graduate student coordinator and interacts with potential incoming students to the department,” said Judy L. Whittington, an administrative aide in the department and Cochran’s nominator. “Over the years, I cannot tell you how many students have told me the reason they decided to come to the University of Illinois was because of Jeri.”
Cochran is particularly focused on students: whether it's bringing them something to eat, knowing that they were too busy to have lunch; driving them to the grocery store; offering them a place to stay when visiting; or just talking to them to find out how everything is going.
“Jeri also started a knitting club with the students,” Whittington said. “If you didn't knit when you started in astronomy, chances are you will before you graduate.”
Raymond K. Ligocki is the maintenance inspector for the Student Dining and Residential Programs facility and Nugent Hall. SDRP is the largest dining hall on campus. Nugent Hall also has the Beckwith Residences, which includes 26 rooms for students with disabilities.
“Ray is very proficient at the equipment and systems in his building,” said Dennis Watson, the assistant director of housing maintenance operations and Ligocki’s nominator. “He is sort of a ‘building whisperer’ for SDRP and Nugent. He knows how the buildings should feel and sound, and takes appropriate action when they are not.”
Ligocki has shown initiative in several areas: evaluating air filters for value, not just initial cost; paying attention to energy conservation in temperature- and lighting-control systems; and suggesting improvements in the maintenance management system.
Dorothy Maduzia is an office support specialist who serves as a liaison between the Office of the Dean of Students and faculty members, students, staff and community representatives.
“Dorothy is sensitive to the diverse needs of our students and colleagues alike, and treats them with the dignity they deserve,” said Gina Lee-Olukoya, an associate dean of students who nominated Maduzia. “An incredible listener, Dorothy has excellent nonverbal skills that convey that she is interested in people, cares about their lives both in and outside of work, and genuinely wants to serve others in any way she can.”
Maduzia initiated a project to restructure the Help Dean email account, which faculty members, students and staff use to make requests. The restructure significantly improved the office’s ability to track and follow up on responses. She also led a conversion of the student check-in process to an electronic one, affording the opportunity to collect information critical to case management and crisis support.
Shannon D. Maxey is an office support specialist in the department of animal sciences.
“Shannon's attention to detail is nothing short of miraculous,” said Keith Kelley, a professor emeritus of immunophysiology and Shannon’s nominator.
In addition to managing more than $1 million in expenditures each year, Maxey supports seven professors, a half-dozen research technicians, a dozen post-docs and two dozen graduate students. She helps organize committee meetings, schedule seminars, plan itineraries of visiting speakers, and submit manuscripts and grant applications to federal agencies.
“Her competence in facilitating management of multimillion dollar research budgets, exemplary service to an internationally recognized scientific journal, ability to seamlessly facilitate communication between numerous campus units, commitment to self-improvement, and loyalty to promoting the people she serves make the University of Illinois a better place,” Kelley said.
Lori C. Melchi is an administrative aide who provides executive support in the School of Music.
“Lori carries out all of her responsibilities with a remarkable grace under pressure and a readiness to respond to requests at almost all hours of the day and night, including weekends,” said Jeffrey Magee, the director of the School of Music and Melchi’s nominator.
Melchi also demonstrated ingenuity during a difficult retention negotiation. When a faculty member reported a much higher salary from an overseas institution, she conducted a cost-of-living study that revealed the salary to be effectively much lower than the faculty member was making here. That faculty member remains at Illinois.
Outside of her job, Melchi has garnered recognition for her various roles in support of the American Cancer Society. She also established a deferred gift to the University of Illinois, the Melchi Family Scholarship fund for underrepresented female students demonstrating a financial need.
Gregory S. Milner is the research laboratory shop supervisor in the aerospace engineering department. He leads by example and encourages the staff he supervises to grow more efficient and become more diverse in their profession.
A working supervisor, Milner successfully machined a tiny, high-temperature nozzle insert made of tungsten – one of the hardest materials known to man – with a whisker-sized electrode he fabricated for a plunger-type electrical-discharge machine. The process was extremely delicate and painstaking, but was ultimately successful.
Milner has worked to improve the safety of the operations and facilities around the machine shop. Over the past year, he took on the additional responsibility for safety in the entire department and led some critical safety inspection efforts across the many AE research and educational labs.
“Since joining the AE Research Laboratory Shop that he now supervises, Greg Milner has displayed every day the highest level of competence, professionalism and dedication,” said Philippe H. Geubelle, the department head.
