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March 7, 2013

6 staff win chancellor’s awards

Six staff members have been named recipients of the 2013 chancellor’s service awards. The annual Chancellor’s Award for Staff for Excellence in Service to the University and Chancellor’s Award for Staff for Excellence in Service to the Community are the highest honors the University bestows on staff.

Five staffers received the 2013 Chancellor’s Award for Staff for Excellence in Service to the University: Kenyon R. Bonner, Sherry Miller Brown, Gina L. Huggins, Nick Mihailoff III and Cheryl A. Paul.

Charles N. Staresinic was the sole winner of the 2013 Chancellor’s Award for Staff for Excellence in Service to the Community.

Up to five awards for service to the University and five for service to the community are made each year. Winners each receive $2,500 and their names are added to a permanent plaque that hangs in the William Pitt Union.

An awards committee selects the winners from nominations, which may be made by any member of the University community. In addition to a committee chairperson named by the chancellor, voting members are the president of the Staff Association Council (or his/her designee); a member from the prior year’s committee; a prior year’s award recipient; a regional campus representative; an Office of Human Resources representative, and up to four at-large members chosen by the chancellor to reflect the diverse population of the University staff. In addition, the associate vice chancellor for Human Resources serves as a non-voting committee member.

Full details on the awards are posted at www.hr.pitt.edu/chancellors-award-nominate.

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University service award

The Chancellor’s Award for Staff for Excellence in Service to the University recognizes staff whose performance consistently exceeds the standards and expectations set for their position and whose commitment and performance has made a significant impact on the University.

Full- and part-time classified and union staff members who have been employed at the University for a minimum of five years are eligible.

Nominees must be in good standing with no adverse employment actions within the last 12 months and their annual review and continued performance must meet or exceed acceptable standards. Past winners are not eligible.

Nominees are considered based on letters of recommendation from those who have utilized their services and on the supporting information based on their contributions toward the effectiveness and efficiency in the workplace, innovative approaches that impact productivity, development of cost-saving plans that enhance operation, consistently excellent customer service, consistently positive interpersonal skills that support the diversity of the University community and service to the University outside of the normal work environment.

Contributions in committee service and work on special projects also are considered, as are nominees’ contributions to a supportive, team-oriented environment in the workplace, efforts to recognize excellence in others and taking advantage of opportunities to improve their own work-related skills and abilities and/or encouraging others to do likewise.

Kenyon R. Bonner

bonnerBonner, associate dean of students and director of student life, also is program director for the RISE mentoring program. In his congratulatory letter, Nordenberg cited Bonner’s dedication to the University and to colleagues, adding, “The committee was particularly impressed by your dedication to our students, your leadership skills, your ability to engage students and staff and your contributions to improvements in our student-life programs.”

The chancellor cited a letter of support from Vice Provost Juan Manfredi, who wrote, “Kenyon has been key to what amounts to be an extraordinary improvement in our Student Life operations. …The results of his efforts are reflected in improved rankings, higher retention rates and an overall substantial improvement of the life of our students on campus.”

Sherry Miller Brown

MillerBrownBrown, director of the College of General Studies’ McCarl Center for Nontraditional Student Success, was commended for her commitment to the University community. “The committee observed that while your position requires commitment to our non-traditional students, you consistently exceed the requirements of your job with respect to the amount of time, degree of enthusiasm, magnitude of involvement and depth of personal connection you bring to your role here at Pitt,” the chancellor wrote, citing Brown’s own path as a non-traditional student, earning her PhD over 18 years, as an inspiration to prospective and enrolled students alike.

Gina L. Huggins

HugginsHuggins, program administrator in the School of Law’s Center for International Legal Education, was commended for her commitment to students.

In his letter, the chancellor said that the committee took note of the personal attention Huggins provides to students, adding that many students stated that they chose to come to Pitt because of the way she treated them during their initial contact with the law school.

The committee also cited Huggins’s initiative in finding ways to improve productivity in the center and the law school, as well as the amount of time she devotes to her job and to students, regardless of whether they are in the international program.

Nick Mihailoff III

MihailoffMihailoff, facilities manager at the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology (PLE), was recognized for his work “which has drastically improved all of the facilities and much of the equipment” there in cost-efficient ways as well as for his “customer-first approach” and going the extra mile for the faculty and staff who use the PLE.

The chancellor noted that the awards committee had especially enjoyed a recommendation from faculty member Walter Carson, who recounted how he had returned from a three-day ecology field class at PLE, part of the School of Arts and Sciences’s Department of Biological Sciences, to find that a woodchuck had damaged his car’s electrical system.

Not only did Mihailoff arrange for speedy car repairs so Carson could depart in time to meet a longstanding commitment, but he also live-trapped the woodchuck to prevent future damage.

The chancellor noted that Mihailoff’s gift for networking within the community and the University also had resulted in significant savings in construction costs and through the use of surplus equipment.

Cheryl A. Paul

PaulPaul, director of engineering student services in the Swanson School of Engineering, was recognized for “beyond-the-job dedication to students” including service as faculty adviser to the Delta Chi fraternity. In that role, the chancellor noted, Paul has “provided our students with academic guidance, opportunities for professional development, alcohol safety training, graduate school preparation, alumni involvement, skills development and academic improvement.”

In addition, the committee cited numerous letters of support from students as well as from the parent of a student who wrote, “Cheryl is the reason I tell parents that our experience at Pitt has been extraordinary. And although I realize Pitt offers excellent academics, any school is only as good as the people they are lucky enough to employ and hopefully recognize for their commitment, effort and excellence in going so far above and beyond what is expected.”

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Community service award

The Chancellor’s Award for Staff for Excellence in Service to the Community recognizes staff for their dedication and effort in making their community a better place to live and improving the quality of life for others. Awardees are those whose work in the community surpasses the expectations of the organizations for whom they serve and whose commitment and effort have made a significant impact on the community.

Full- and part-time classified and union staff members who have been employed at the University for a minimum of five years are eligible.

Nominees must be in good standing with no adverse employment actions within the last 12 months and their annual review and continued performance must meet or exceed acceptable standards.

If a nominee received the Chancellor’s Award for Staff for Excellence in Service to the Community or the Chancellor’s Award for Staff for Excellence in Service to the University within the past three years, he/she is not eligible.

Candidates for the award must demonstrate both “a consistent pattern of voluntary services of significant importance to the University community, the local community and/or professional organizations internally, locally, regionally, nationally or internationally; and a consistent pattern of dedication to the University including contributions to the success of their unit/department, as well as working well with colleagues and the University community as a whole.”

Nominees are considered based on documentation that includes specific examples of their community service activities and impact on the community. Supporting information should include letters of recommendation from officials of community and/or professional organizations listing the services he/she has provided and any achievement awards received, as well as letters of recommendation from the University community regarding the nominee’s dedication to the University.

Charles N. Staresinic

StaresinicStaresinic, director of communications in Academic Affairs, Health Sciences, was recognized with the 2013 Chancellor’s Award for Staff for Excellence in Service to the Community for his volunteer work to save the Carnegie Library’s Lawrenceville branch.

In the chancellor’s letter to Staresinic, he wrote that the awards committee had taken note of Staresinic’s expanding role in the efforts to save the library. “You spearheaded the efforts that resulted in the rejuvenation of the Friends of the Lawrenceville Library, and were almost immediately nominated and elected to serve as that organization’s president. You drafted promotional materials, organized fundraisers and developed a campaign, ‘Our Library, Our Future,’ that was adapted by the entire library system. You directed an army of volunteers that collected more than 10,000 signatures, providing ample evidence of the valuable role our libraries play as center of community life.”

—Kimberly K. Barlow


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