CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Eight civil service staff employees will be honored with the Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award at a May 1 banquet. The award recognizes exceptional performance.
Each recipient receives $1,000 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 Chancellor Robert Jones.
Terry Free is an office administrator in the Office of the Registrar. “He is always eager to help staff with whatever they need, ranging from finding a location for a last-minute and very important dean's and department head meeting to tracking down squatters in a classroom who have left a classroom damaged or in disarray,” said his nominators, Donna Huls, an administrative aide in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Derek Fultz, LAS facilities director. “He is very protective of and takes pride in our newly renovated Lincoln Hall, as well as many additional spaces.”
Free also served on an energy conservation committee. “Terry was instrumental in a massive rescheduling of summer classes to save tens of thousands of energy dollars,” his nominators said. “He coordinated with the departments and moved classes, consolidating the number of buildings occupied for summer sessions. He took it one step further by advising what the time of the last class in buildings was, so heating/cooling schedules could be adjusted to result in energy savings.”
Jodi Gritten is an office manager of the NSF Engineering Research Center in the department of mechanical science and engineering. Her nominator, professor Andrew Alleyne, said Gritten does her various day-to-day duties “with a high degree of professionalism and accuracy. What is impressive is that there is never a situation that I've seen, or heard of from others, where her response has been anything other than ‘I can take care of that. No problem,’ irrespective of whether the task is part of her assigned duties.”
Gritten’s service approach extends to special projects like the preparation of the research center’s annual reports and the large multiple-day site visits from its sponsors. “She'll stick around late into the evening working with the rest of the team and won't leave until she's certain there's nothing more that she can do,” Alleyne said. “Then she's back in the next morning, usually ahead of everyone else to set up for the upcoming day.”
Clint Harper is a research facility attendant in the department of electrical and computer engineering. “Clint's job could be exclusively labor: set up, tear down, pick up, check out, log,” said his nominator, Julia Sullivan, ECE’s assistant director of communications. “Instead, he has elevated his role, becoming a vital part of the success of every event that happens in the department. He uses his knowledge, experience, and collaborative effort to create incredible experiences for every visitor, student, faculty member, staff member and guest.”
Sullivan said the first “Hacklllinois” event in the new ECE building in 2014 was an example of Harper’s “attitude in action,” as more than 700 students took up residence there for more than three days. “They had an incredible experience only because of Clint's willingness to go above and beyond, solve problems quickly and focus the students’ success. From tracking down food orders to keeping rooms secure (or open), Clint singlehandedly orchestrated a chaotic situation and set the foundation for success.”
Casey Hicks is a steam and power plant operator at Abbott Power Plant. As a lead operator, Hicks demonstrates a superior technical competence and is a reliable resource of information for his peers and for other power plant employees, said Russell Reynolds, the chief utility plant operating engineer and Hicks’ nominator for the award.
“In a power plant, there are situations where leaders are under unusually high levels of stress, where employee and equipment safety as well as environmental compliance are at risk, and these situations may occur during periods of extended work,” Reynolds said. “During these situations, Casey displays the composure, confidence and control noted in supervisors of greater experience and maturity.”
Cipriano Martinez Jr. is the security supervisor at Spurlock Museum. “Cipriano has made his position much more than just the enforcing of rules and regulations,” said his nominator, Spurlock collection manager Christa Deacy-Quinn. “From the time he became supervisor, he took upon himself the mission to make the museum more welcoming to its visitors without sacrificing safety, either for the visitor or the artifacts.”
Deacy-Quinn said Martinez’s leadership abilities have developed during his time in his current role, to the benefit of the guards and the rest of the museum staff. “He transformed the morale of the security team both by giving them a clear sense of their purpose and goals at the museum. He also developed a rapport with the rest of the museum staff unlike anything we had experienced before.”
Dennis Phillips is a laborer electrician in Facilities and Services, responsible for lighting in almost all of the College of Engineering buildings north of Springfield Avenue. Greg Moen, the supervisor of building craftsmen for F&S and Phillips’ nominator, says organization is the key to covering a 26-building service territory. “Being self-managed, Dennis has a detailed schedule he follows so he can routinely and effectively service the lighting on his route. More importantly, his campus customers know his schedule and can depend on him to touch base with them upon his arrival, allowing facility managers the opportunity to report any repairs that surfaced since his previous visit.”
Moen said Phillips embodies two of the F&S guiding principles: operational excellence and customer focus. “Whether Dennis is working in a grad student's office or the dean's suite, they are going to be met with a friendly smile and a pleasant greeting. Dennis will let the customer know what he is there for, efficiently complete the task and ask them if there is anything else he can do meet their needs.”
Anne Stites is an administrative assistant in the Office of the Academic Programs in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.
“With all the changes of staffing, organizational, space, office relocation and budget restructuring of an office of this size, Anne Stites remains the most quiet, congenial and cheerful team player,” said Prasanta Kalita, the associate dean for academic programs, who nominated Stites. “She leads by example and has earned the respect of all personnel she supervises, her co-workers, students and other clients within and beyond campus.”
In 27 years on the job, Stites has helped the college and the academic programs office to implement extensive change, including the consolidation of 15 units into seven academic departments and revisions to the associate dean's position. “She has worked effectively with new staff as well as continuing employees,” Kalita said. “Her institutional memory has been most valuable and essential to the office and the associate dean for planning and for implementing tasks for efficient operation.”
Gary Williamson is a customer service specialist in the parking department. While his primary assignment is dispatcher, he serves in a utility role: he helps lead a team of meter mechanics and enforcement officers; he backs up and assists the customer service team, including resolving complaints; he provides the occasional and timely technical assistance; and he assists the management team with a variety of other tasks.
“Gary's customer service skills are exemplary. He is one of the friendliest people I know and he always arrives with a happy greeting for his coworkers,” said Michelle Wahl, the director of parking and Williamson's nominator. "Gary is patient and kind and will walk anyone step-by-step through how to pay a citation, purchase a permit, sign up for payroll deduction, appeal a citation or find parking on campus.”