Behind the Scenes
Dawn Pichette, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dawn’s nominator says: Dawn joined Electrical and Computer Engineering in July 2023 as a UAW Administrative Aide 8,and at the time, had been with the University in various positions for approximately 15 years. It didn’t take Dawn long to capture the hearts of everyone in ECE. “Where did you find her?” I hear to this day. “She’s a gem,” said several faculty members. “Don’t sign her retirement paperwork!” joked Chair Jin Choi. Recently Dawn was out with illness, and the office was eerily quiet. Dawn carries a positive, loving, caring, cooperative, hard-working spirit, and when she is away, the emptiness is felt.
The common theme in this letter of nomination is BRAVE. Dawn is brave. Brave to start over in ECE, brave to show up every day and face new challenges, brace to face the past and move on, brave to put forth her new (and sometimes radical) ideas, brave to show up and speak up in meetings, brave to tackle projects no one dared touch in the past - like arranging to clean the reference room which was filled with decades worth of obsolete books, equipment, reference material and miscellaneous artifacts. Dawn got the right people together, ordered lunch as an incentive, and within four meetings turned a reference-turned-junk room into a welcoming, clean place to relax and collaborate with colleagues.
Innovation Award
Jennifer (Jung) Lucas, Advancement and Alumni Engagement
Jennifer’s nominator says: Jen responds very well under pressure. She never loses her cool no matter what disaster comes up. The Rosza stage breaks five hours before we are hosting an upscale alumni awards dinner for 100 people? No problem! Amidst the rest of us panicking, Jen was the first to say, “Let’s go figure this out,” while I whisked her away in a golf cart to the scene of the crime. Upon arrival, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work to change the entire layout and schematics of the event. And when I say rolled up her sleeves, I mean literally—she was right there moving chairs with the rest of us. The air conditioning breaks in the Library when we are planning to host an Archives event for 100 people in 80 degree weather, but the exhibits can’t be exposed to the heat? No problem! Jen pivots, moves the event outside, and changes the entire scope of the event to transform into an outdoor bocce ball watch party, while also throwing in free lunch. She engages the alumni both registered for the event and those that just happen to be walking by, and even converts a few into bocce ball players.
Legacy Award
Vicky Roy, College of Computing
Vicky's nominator says: The College of Computing is the newest academic unit on campus, and also is fastest growing. Since the College of Computing was founded in 2019, computing enrollment has increased 13.4% more than that of the entire university. As a result, our only constant is change. The impacts of that change have fallen on all of us, but especially our administrative staff. This is particularly true for Vicky, our Director of Administration; it is her responsibility to ensure that we maintain administrative excellence throughout our growth and change. For example, I depend on Vicky to operationalize and oversee all of our evolving processes and efforts, both within the dean’s office and throughout the college. Truth be told, I actually consider my job of developing our growth strategies as being far easier than hers – putting these ideas into practice is far more difficult than anyone realizes, requiring a detailed understanding of all aspects of the college and an ability to coordinate across many individuals and units.
One of the first things that I say to new staff is that my biggest goal for them is that they grow the position. That is, I expect them to do their job well as defined, but I simultaneously hope that they will expand the types of things that they do to increase impact and support our evolving structures. Not everyone can do this, which is okay. However, some do, and as such they leave an impact that lasts far longer than their time in the role. Vicky has done this as well as anyone that I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. Her job now is significantly different than four years ago, which was already significantly different from when she started. And those changes are critical to the College of Computing’s long-term success, which is why I can think of no one more deserving of this recognition.
Outstanding Leader
Danielle Meirow, Student Leadership and Involvement
Danielle’s nominator says: Danielle always puts her staff and students first. She prioritizes getting to know each person on her team (and all students and staff who she encounters). She makes time to have genuine connections and gives support that is unique to each member of the team. For example, each fall she shares a Google form (with students and staff) that asks questions about how each member of the team likes to be rewarded, our favorite snacks and beverages, and our most-liked places to patronize. Just sharing the form makes us all feel loved. When she rewards us or just checks in, she does it in a way that we want to be recognized.
Student Leadership and Involvement has experienced several significant staffing gaps over the past two years, and with any other leader, the office would have struggled to provide necessary services and meet students’ expectations. Additionally, the shortage and lack of historical knowledge could have created turmoil and extra stress among the team. However, because Danielle exceeds under pressure, and knows how to effectively pivot and champion the mission in a way that gets results: our team is never lost, overly stressed, or has provided a lack of services for our students. We go into every situation knowing she has ‘our back’ and we will accomplish our goals without worry.
Rookie Award
Michael Reay, Vice President for Research - Research Integrity
Michael's nominator says: As Mike’s supervisor, it only took a few months to recognize his intuition to problem solving, tireless work ethic, and overall charm to start making a difference. Working closely with outside consultants, Mike was able to successfully navigate the complex portfolio of research projects compared to his prior experience. His attention to detail, timeliness, and organization would make any supervisor energized for the next meeting/update.
Mike was doing very well with Research Integrity Office and AVPRD tasks/operations, his most impressive achievement in a short period of time was the trust that he has built with researchers across campus. Moral was low these past few years, as submitting an IRB application can be a tiresome and difficult process. Mike helped turn that ship around through his professionalism and focus on helping researchers, yet not bending on the stringent regulations in place. He quickly learned the regulations and began building a network of other institutions and resources to support decisions where regulations fail to provide clear answers.
Serving Others
Amie Ledgerwood – Provost Office
Amie’s nominator says: Amie Ledgerwood has worked in the provost office for almost ten years as the assistant to the provost. Prior to this she had successful stints in the graduate school and in the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences (GMES). Amie does far more in her role than her title suggests. She demonstrates a strong commitment to serving others and is a worthy nominee for a Make a Difference Staff Award in this category. The range of work that Amie does spans from the day-to-day operations of the provost office such as managing calendars, working with the University Senate, and addressing the many questions that come through to her, to overseeing the academic affairs side of the Tenure, Promotion, and Reappointment process. She gives her time generously to support and help others beyond what would be expected of someone in her role. She also takes on other tasks that serve others that are not weekly, monthly or even annual undertakings.
Amie also serves others in her work that seeks to streamline administrative processes and she takes the initiative to think through ways that this can be achieved. She is always interested in making processes less time consuming for those involved while maintaining excellence in our operations. An example of this is the group that she led to reduce the number of touch points during the faculty hiring processes. This resulted in a reduction in the number of touch points to around 1/3 of the number that I have heard of from a colleague concerned about streamlining the process at another institution. This has been achieved while maintaining the rigor of the search process, and benefits the departments, search committees, and others involved in the hiring process.
Unsung Hero
Katy Ellenich, Humanities
Katy’s nominator says: She started as an Administrative Aide 7 in 2020 and was promoted to Administrative Aide 8 in less than a year. After a short time, Ms. Ellenich was promoted to the role of Department Coordinator where she currently serves our Humanities department. Since assuming the role, Ms. Ellenich has proven to be unmatched in experience, reliability, and proficiency. Her professionalism has created an atmosphere that reflects the values of this department, College, and University. Katy Ellenich performs well above her job descriptions, often acting as more of a Department Manager than simply Coordinator.
If all that Ms. Ellenich did for our department was reflected solely in my testimony above, I believe she would already be qualified to win the Unsung Hero award. But her contributions go much further than that. An office is represented by the person at the desk. The first person you encounter is the person that gives you an impression of the sort of department you are visiting. To that end, Ms. Ellenich is the face of the department, always welcoming visitors with a smile. She is never too busy to listen to the needs or concerns of faculty, students and staff alike. She is never too busy to engage in pleasant conversation, showing a genuine interest in people and their need to connect. It is easy for me to imagine developing a department known for communication and media because our Department Coordinator is the embodiment of communication. Her generosity and grace are precisely of the sort that promote the values of the Humanities.