Recognize a colleague – employee recognitions for 2022
Employees at VCU are encouraged to fill out the employee registration form anytime a colleague has gone above and beyond. Review the latest recognitions here to see what employees across the university have been doing to help out their colleagues.
Jerry Ware 12/05/2022 -- Nominated by Bob Burgess
I have a large surplus and move that I was hoping to get completed prior to Winter Break. Jerry met me for an initial walk-down this morning. After seeing the complexity of the job, he made a phone call and within a few minutes he had a contractor on-site to look at the job and get me put on their schedule. What would have taken me days to coordinate, Jerry was able make happen in under an hour. I respect his knowledge and the relationships he has built at VCU, and as always, appreciate his help!
Scott Stech 12/05/2022 -- Nominated by Jenna Lenhardt
Scott has been a tireless partner in supporting initiatives that support recruitment, even in challenging financial times. He brings his finance and human resources expertise to the table to solve operational issues. He is empathetic and a great listener when trying to work through a challenge. One of many examples is his willingness to think outside the box when we started hiring new FWS students (we hired over 38 this fall!), and pulled in his staff and helped create a process that worked for everyone- with the student's experience at the center of the discussion. In the past this process would take over two months to finalize, and with Scott's leadership and support, all students were hired within a week of when their paperwork was received, if not sooner. I appreciate his initiative, respect and support of colleagues. He is an incredible resource and SOE is lucky to have him.
Erica Boisseau Bratton 12/13/2022 -- Nominated by Danielle Cadua
Erica did a great job transporting the patient to Mri from Gumenick Suites. The patient let Erica know that she had muscle spasms and was sensitive to bumps during transport. Erica took extra caution when going through the halls and communicated to the patient that there may be bumps coming up during transport.
Eric Higgs-Page 12/13/2022 -- Nominated by Danielle Cadua
Eric did a great job transporting the patient to Gumenick Suites to MRI. The patient let Eric know that she had muscle spasms and was sensitive to bumps during transport. Eric took extra caution when going through the halls and communicated to the patient that there may be bumps coming up during transport.
Jacqueline Roark 12/14/2022 -- Nominated by Karen Sharrock
Respect and Responsiveness - Jacqueline took my call today on the Banner helpdesk. She was so polite, and patient with me. I was touched by her empathy, as I'm new to VCU and learning the Banner language. She took the time to explain to me several fields in Banner Production, and answered all of my questions. Her calmness, poise, and equanimity in the face of my many questions, caused me to feel special, that she had time to dedicate to my learning (even though I'm sure she had other callers in queue). I truly felt valued, as if I was her only priority at that point in time. This is admirable, and something I seek to emulate.
Maureen Olmsted 12/16/2022 -- Nominated by Debbie DiazGranados
I just had the most wonderful interaction with Maureen. I was dealing with issues related to clinicaltrials.gov with my previous job. I was extremely anxious and did not know where to even start dealing with the problem. Mareen answered my email last night immediately and we had a Zoom call today. She explained in detail the process, she will help me deal with my previous job and how to resolve the issues. Thank you so much for having such a great employee. She was fantastic!!!!
James Dye 12/16/2022 -- Nominated by Robert Houghtaling
Working as the university-wide Talent@VCU administrator, James Dye provides ongoing excellent service to a variety of stakeholders. In the weeks leading up to the December 1st VCU staff bonus, he had to develop a way to ensure all staff eligible would receive their payment. This involved tracking down staff and managers without annual goals in the Talent system and resolving this barrier to maximize eligibility for VCU staff. His innovative work to always get things right helped not only HR, but in this case his work supported all VCU staff in receiving their well-deserved bonus prior to the holiday season.
Erica Brody, 11/04/2022 -- Nominated by Roy Brown
Erica is a great colleague who is always willing to pitch in when needed. I want to thank her for her willingness over the last couple of weeks to provide her feedback and volunteer her time to provide feedback and insight to the RED intern. Her thoughts helped to improve his instructional approach and, in turn, the webinar he was about to teach. I value Erica as a colleague and hope to be able to return the favor at some point.
Tyrone Jones, 11/10/2022 -- Nominated by Delroy Marston
Congratulation on your first 60 days, you have shown great progress and are willing to learn more in order to further your career while working at Rec Well.
Alexis Bussey, 11/10/2022 -- Nominated by Delroy Marston
Congratulation on your first 30 days as RecWell Housekeeper, your contribution play a critical part of the daily operations in providing positive attitude in all interactions with patrons.
Lacey Seaton, 10/03/2022 -- Nominated by Jenna Lenhardt
Lacey is overseeing five different programs, and she is coordinating between content experts and organizing a complex program, sharing updates, being proactive and thoughtful in her support of students. The different audiences in her five programs is incredibly complex, yet Lacey is positive, and is open to ideas and suggestions on how to support student success. I appreciate her partnership, willingness to partner, and responsiveness to questions even when she has a number of competing priorities. It is a joy to work with Lacey.
Corey Martin 10/13/2022 -- Nominated by Caroline Cobb
Whenever I ask for help or advice Corey is always available and willing to make time for me. He is such a incredible person and asset in our department. So grateful for him!
Amanda Kain 10/13/2022 -- Nominated by Felicia Harris
Amanda is strong asset to IDAS' Business Office Team. She has been instrumental in resolving many procurement issues that come up in our department. She takes the initiative following up on many situations before conflicts arise. In particular, Amanda followed up on a contract with two outstanding requisitions because of an upcoming deadline. Amanda has also been heavily instrumental in sorting out our department's VCU Health System invoices so that valid, correct invoices are paid. Amanda is a true self starter, strong communicator and leader. She is highly dependable and is comfortable stepping up and leading when I'm out of the office. She is extremely pleasant to work with and I'm confident her colleagues feel the same way. Keep up the great work, Amanda!! Thanks for all that you do!!!
Matthew Martin 10/13/2022 -- Nominated by Greg Eskridge
As part of the Banner Cloud Migration project, a 3rd-party integration vendor (AdAstra) set up a site for end user testing. Technical work was necessary on VCU's end to ensure that SSO worked properly with that new test site. I reached out to Matt Martin, who helped me to troubleshoot, helped to provide further information that was needed for the AdAstra representative, and ultimately got SSO working with the new AdAstra test site. He was quick to get this completed, which allowed end users to begin testing the site within 24 hours of my first contact with Matt.
Wes Seals 10/18/2022 -- Nominated by Desiree Dabney
I am sending a special thanks to Wes Seals for guiding me in my new position at VCU I am very thankful and grateful for the guidance through out this amazing process.
Leslie Bobb 10/21/2022 -- Nominated by Elizabeth Fortune
Our admin group recently took over an on-going project, Virginia Opioid Addiction ECHO, a virtual network of health care experts and providers tackling the opioid crisis across Virginia. This required our team, led by Leslie Bobb, to learn the processes and technologies involved in successfully managing the ECHO program while ensuring the continuity of operations. We held our first ECHO session of the new grant year today (10/21/2022), which was moderated by Ms. Bobb. By all accounts, she did an excellent job of getting up to speed on program needs, organizing the agenda and calendar for the rest of 2022, working with the key stakeholders in advance of the today's session - all of which resulted in a successful ECHO session.
Lillie Lattimore 10/21/2022 -- Nominated by Elizabeth Fortune
Our admin group recently took over an on-going project, Virginia Opioid Addiction ECHO, a virtual network of health care experts and providers tackling the opioid crisis across Virginia. This required our team, of which Lillie Lattimore played a key role, to learn the processes and technologies involved in successfully managing the ECHO program while ensuring the continuity of operations. We held our first ECHO session of the new grant year today (10/21/2022). Because of her behind the scenes work, particularly with communications and continuing education, our first ECHO session was a great success. I am grateful to have Ms. Lattimore as part of team!
Justina Winston 10/28/2022 -- Nominated by Delroy Marston
Justina went above and beyond in her onboarding with our two new housekeeping staff and that's why I want to recognize her continued effort in helping our staff.
Ayana Clayton-Brooks, 09/01/2022 -- Nominated by Felicia Harris
Since Ayana has been with IDAS, she has been a joy to work with. She stays on top of her workload and has developed her own system with keeping the petty cash balanced daily and replenished in a timely manner. She thoroughly assists the research teams in our department, ensuring retention of research study participants. Ayana has no problem asking questions and lets me know as soon as possible if anything is out of sync, resolving issues BEFORE they become bigger problems. She is a strong team player and is a true asset to the IDAS Business Office Team. I appreciate you, Ayana!
Joey Noble, 09/01/2022 -- Nominated by Dana Lapato
I do not want to imagine trying to work at VCU without Joey Noble as part of the team. He is a selfless team member who consistently goes above and beyond to ensure that everyone--faculty, staff, and students--receives exceptional technology support. He has worked tirelessly to connect new students with essential software and hardware as well as facilitating the return to in-person work. Yesterday morning alone, I saw him go from troubleshooting a software issue to providing training on using conference equipment to reconfiguring multiple laptops and cataloguing hardware needs and upcoming software updates.
Joey is not only responsive, but also proactive. Everyone at VIPBG has benefited from his willingness to take initiative. For example, I needed to connect my new laptop to the institute printers. When I went to the VIPBG IT wiki, I saw that Joey had revamped the help pages to contain the most recent information so that anyone needing to connect to the printers had the best experience possible.Aimée Walters, 09/09/2022 -- Nominated by Edward Howard
Aimée's work on recent noncredit events has been indefatigable. With very short lead times, she worked tirelessly to create a very extensive multi-level conference website and related resources. Although she always goes the extra mile, these past few engagements were particularly demanding (in complexity, timing) and she rose to the challenge with positivity, leadership and exceptional detail. She worked very late on many evenings and weekends to get this done. I can speak for myself and VCU Online and Continuing and Professional Education to say, we appreciate you very much Aimée!
Travis Greene, 09/15/2022 -- Nominated by Houston Griffith
Travis helped me quickly solve an issue with an MECM task sequence I was having trouble with. His PowerShell script was easily adaptable to my situation and pretty much instantly solved my issues. This was while he was already dealing with a major MECM issue and helping the Endpoint Computing team troubleshoot task sequence issues that were impacting all of VCU. Truthfully, I owe him many more of these recognitions for the many times he has helped me personally with MECM related issues. He is truly an asset to VCU! Thank you Travis for all of your amazing work (and your immense PowerShell expertise)!
Matthew Chatham, 08/02/2022 -- Nominated by Curtis Diessellhorst
Officer Chatham, while working to handle a potential threat outside of the VCU Health ER, due to gun shot victim arriving, assisted me while I was trying to navigate parking after my partner having just been involved in a bad car accident and arrived by ambulance. I was in a bit of a panic. He assisted by getting some sort of "pass" to allow my car to remain parked where it was so I could get into the ER and see my partner, after I had moved it multiple times only to have the Passport app tell me the spot was not available. He was very busy, yet remained calm, his demeanor helped me stay calm, and his assistance allowed me to get to my family quickly. This really meant a very lot to me at that moment, and he should be recognized for his dedicated service. I too am a VCU employee, and he exemplifies the customer service and community support that we all should strive to provide and be. I'm very grateful that he is part of our team here at VCU.
Brandon Burneson, 08/10/2022 -- Nominated by Roy Brown
I wanted to take a moment to recognize and thank Brandon for his contribution to the Research and Education Department of the Health Sciences Library. Over the last several weeks, as he has been preparing to transition to leave VCU, he has taken the time to ensure that all his projects are in a good place. This extra effort is particularly true regarding the work he has been doing with the intern in our department. I know this has been an additional task that he has taken on, and I want to recognize the exceptional effort he has undertaken to ensure the intern's annual report project is successful. This effort on his part is just indicative of all the great work he has done while a member of VCU Libraries. So again, thank you, Brandon, for your responsiveness when asked, not just in the last couple of weeks, but any time I have called upon you. You will be missed when you leave, and thanks for everything.
Scott Stech, 08/19/2022 -- Nominated by Kathleen Rudasill
Scott Stech is unbelievably responsive to the many requests he gets from folks across the SOE, especially related to HR where he has been working without a full staff for months. Yet he maintains a positive, kind, and patient demeanor when juggling multiple demands. I am so grateful to have Scott on the SOE team! I want him to know how much he is valued.
Sanjur (Sandy) Brooks, 08/22/2022 -- Nominated by Lisa Ballance
Dr. Brooks (Sandy) has had many legacy issues to uncover and address since joining VCU in the midst of the pandemic last year. She has been fair, thoughtful, and working under highly unusual circumstances and during already stressful times. Nevertheless, is always eager to share background information to teach and guide. Sandy's professionalism and character shine through the business of the day!
Julie Norman, 08/23/2022 -- Nominated by Sandra Mazzoli
Julie's timely response for a late Fall 2022 admissions decision has greatly helped our new student. This student needs the coursework and ultimately the degree to maintain employment. Thank Julie for all you do!
Rani Sisavath, 08/26/2022 -- Nominated by Jen Elswick
Rani took over the management of the humanitiescenter.vcu.edu website this year and has done fabulously in this role. This is an especially difficult site to manage - probably the hardest in CHS - because of the way some of the elements are engineered. Frankly I have been shocked by how quickly Rani has figured out its complexities and gone off and running with its management. She has an especially well-developed analytical sense along with keen attention to detail and a good eye for layout and design. If she were so inclined and keeps building her skills in this domain, she could definitely make a wonderful web developer one day. Keep up the great work, Rani!
Kevin Kim, 08/30/2022 -- Nominated by Felicia Harris
I am recognizing Kevin Kim for being an awesome grant accountant. He is always responsive and extremely thorough. Any questions that I have regarding the grants in my department are quickly answered and if Kevin doesn't happen to know the answer, he has no issue finding out. My interactions with Kevin are always pleasant and he is always willing and ready to help. He is an excellent team player and is truly an asset in the G&C department. I'm taking this time to recognize his hard work. I appreciate you, Kevin!
Kathy Thomas, 07/08/2022 -- Nominated by Dana Rajczewski
Not just today, but every day - Kathy is such an incredible asset to the health system! She is incredibly responsive to scheduling requests of all types, and she manages calendars for people with complex schedules. Additionally, she is really helpful as a resource for so many different admin tasks; I suspect lots of people ask her advice when they have an admin problem to solve - I know I have! Thank you, Kathy, for being an awesome colleague!
Karen Lamb, 07/13/2022 -- Nominated by Camilo Medina
I'd like to recognize Karen for how helpful and responsive she is. On countless occasions I've reached out to her with a complex question and she's gotten me what I need, and then some, within the same day. I admire her willingness to help and commitment to helping VCU succeed. Thank you Karen!
Cecilia Scott, 07/26/2022 -- Nominated by Jen Elswick
The launch of a new website is a fraught time for a webmaster. Of the many things that can go wrong, though, it is such a relief to know that the biggest part - getting the development site transitioned to a live site with its many associated tasks - will always go right when Cecilia is steering the ship. Her attention to detail is impeccable and she conducts all the tasks flawlessly. Further, I always appreciate that she reaches out directly to me to let me know as it's happening and to provide direct contact and support during the transition. This is very reassuring and helpful to me and demonstrates her commitment to service excellence. VCU is fortunate to have such a caring, thorough, and attentive steward of its CMS. Thank you, Cecilia!
Erica Brody, 07/27/2022 -- Nominated by Roy Brown
Over the last several weeks, Erica has taken extra steps to help me to provide a meaningful experience for the intern in the research and education department. This effort was not something she had to do but wanted to do. It was a huge help as I have been out of the office and had other things going on that did not allow me to focus on the internship experience as I wanted. I just wanted to thank her for her responsiveness and willingness to assist in helping the intern learn what is needed to be an effective future medical librarian. I value Erica as a colleague and look forward to returning the favor when she needs my help.
Modestine Carter, 06/27/2022 -- Nominated by Andrea Groat
I needed help figuring out why a flight charge did not hit our index. Modestine investigated it, explained what happened and gave detailed instructions on how to fix the problem so it would not happen again. (Traveler set up his profile incorrectly.). I appreciate her fast help during this busy time.
Krista McDonald, 06/22/2022 -- Nominated by Felicia Harris
I'm recognizing Krista for her poised and professional attitude during a petty cash review meeting with an internal auditor today. She handled herself very well, explaining the department's procedures and answering all questions accurately. I truly appreciate her example of integrity which is displayed on a daily basis. Keep up the good work, Krista!
Emma King, M.Ed., 06/17/2022 -- Nominated by Catherine Brown
I am the program coordinator for the Post-Bac Certificate in Clinical Research sponsored by the Office of Research and managed via the Wright Center CTR. The program launched in Fall 2020 and our first students completed May 2022. Being new to my role and managing a new program there has been much learned along the way. Use of DegreWorks, the degree audit process, submitting waivers and exceptions and monitoring student progression toward program completion and graduation procedures are all new. I reached out several times via email to Degree Audit group but realized I needed for one on one support. Emma has provided exceptional customer service and expertise via email communication and a scheduled one on one meeting. She was friendly, supportive and extremely knowledgeable. She met with me for over an hour on Friday, June 17. Here follow-up was immediate and specific on outstanding items. We covered a great deal of information. She addressed all my questions and made important connections for me along the way. I now have an understanding of the role of the office and a specific contact if needed in the future. Emma was and continues to be immensely helpful as I work through prep and audit of our first students graduating. Exceptional customer service!
Ryan Pander, 06/28/2022 -- Nominated by Pamela Hendrix
Ryan was able to quickly rectify my huge reservation mistake. I enjoy working with such a true professional!
Amber Peranski, 05/04/2022 -- Nominated by Shana Ryman
Amanda reached out to me to ensure I am set up for BEST practices with records management as I continue to development our VCU Remote Workers Community of Practice. Furthermore, she organized a meeting for us, shared resources, and offered to present at a future meeting. I feel supported with a colleague like Amanda to do my best work within compliance and wanted to take a moment to recognize her
Mark Ryan, 05/04/2022 -- Dana Rajczewski
While this example is from today specifically, it is applicable to every day working with Dr. Ryan! He anticipates potential questions/issues that may arise when we set up complicated meetings, and he is extremely patient and helpful with the ever-present scheduling challenges. He makes it easier to find solutions to difficult problems, and he does that with grace, humor, and understanding. Believe me, it is appreciated by many people, and we are so glad to be his colleagues!
Katie McColgan, 05/04/2022 -- Jenna Lenhardt
Katie has helped our central School of Education HR team as we have been down a team member. She has been responsive, kind, has followed-up, and has gone above and beyond to support the hiring and HR needs of our large Enrollment Management student team. She brings a process and human focused lens to the work, and communicates incredibly well. She is detailed and also understanding and helps explain complex processes or needs of hiring someone. Where a hire used to take 6-8 weeks, Katie has shortened that process to two weeks. Katie has been helping out for a while, and this is well beyond the call of duty. I have been thankful for her support and responsiveness and cannot thank her and the RRTC team, who allowed us to borrow some of Katie's time for so long. She should get a million gold stars and a huge kudos for all she has done for our School.
Madrenna Horn, 05/10/2022 -- Elizabeth Seward
I have had several interactions with Madrenna Horn and each time I walk away feeling grateful for her assistance. Her response time is awesome and she always gives clear instructions on how to proceed. I feel confident knowing that if I have questions or need assistance she is here to help. A lot of times we only contact supervisors when there is a problem but I really wanted to let you know that she is doing a great job.
David Morefield, 05/12/2022 -- Jeny Beausoliel
I want to recognize David for a whole lot more than just initiative: yes to the other categories listed (initiative, integrity, respect) as well. David has helped me through troubleshooting the Zoom-with-Google slide coordination for graduation, with added music and video from our department head not able to attend the event. David is an unflappable treasure, helps calm me so I don't go screaming out of the building--this is just not my area of expertise, at all--and a true pleasure to work with. Working on graduation this year, without benefit of a graduate program coordinator in place, has been a real challenge. This is usually a three-plus person effort, and we have made due with two. David has certainly made an impact on our department, and I and we appreciate him
Dana Rajczewski, 05/13/2022 -- Jeny Beausoliel
I want to recognize Dana for a whole lot more than just initiative: yes to the other categories listed (integrity, respect, responsiveness) and also for myriad other ways that she goes above and beyond helpfulness as a colleague: she is creative, thoughtful, a wonderful problem-solver, always willing to help find workable solutions. She is an unflappable treasure and a true pleasure to work with. Working on graduation this year, without benefit of a graduate program coordinator in place, has been a real challenge. This is usually a three-plus person effort, and we have made due with two. Dana is nothing short of amazing, and I am here to sing her praises.
David Sparace, 05/24/2022 -- Julia Norman
I would like to formally and sincerely express my gratitude for the amazing work David accomplishes every day. He shows initiative, integrity, respect and responsiveness in every situation or issue that he working on. David’s willingness to jump in and help us with our data analysis directly contributes to our successes and demonstrates his dedication to his position and the university. His actions directly impact the university by being an active member of our team helping us with our daily needs with our Slate application/implementation. I would like David to know that I value the amount of effort he puts into his work and that he is appreciated as a part of this team.Once again, David, thank you for your hard work. I look forward to seeing your future achievements and successes!.
Lillie Lattimore, 05/24/2022 -- Lauren D. Harris
I would like to recognize Lillie Lattimore for her contributions to our upcoming research symposium. She has been a team player and very responsive in our weekly meetings, which has prevented avoidable project delays and mistakes. Had it not been for her, I wouldn't have gotten through the planning process. I appreciate her calm demeaner and the level of professionalism she has exuded to our presenters and moderators. I know our upcoming event will be a success, and its partially due to her.
Lori Landes, 05/26/2022 -- Dana Rajczewski
Not just today, but every day - Dr. Landes is so helpful with making things easier for others, and this has become increasingly evident and appreciated when we are working through administrative transitions. She's clear and concise when giving guidance and assistance, and she often goes above and beyond to help take things off of others' plates (though her plate is quite full too). She's a great team member and a huge asset to everyone in our department and beyond - thank you, Dr. Landes!
Joe Derrico, 05/26/2022 -- Dana Rajczewski
Joe has been a great source of information and guidance as we are working through administrative transitions in our department! He is with us in an interim role (as he is headquartered in another department) but you would never know it based on the level of service he provides. He is very helpful and encouraging and it is very much appreciated by his colleagues. Thank you, Joe!
Scott Strayer, 05/27/2022 -- Dana Rajczewski
Dr. Strayer has been extremely helpful with taking some things off of my admin plate (when he has an extremely full plate himself!) as we go through a substantial administrative transition, and it has not gone unnoticed! He is very understanding of the need for a work-life balance, and he's helped me with that quite a bit (including when illness has knocked me out unexpectedly). I really appreciate his kindness, guidance, and willingness to think creatively about coverage as needed. Thank you, Dr. Strayer!
Dana Rajczewski, 04/11/2022 -- Nominated by Jeanine Giles Larson
Dana helped me find information that was crucial to completing a faculty member's grant proposal. I would not have been able to complete this task and Dana helped me tremendously by pointing me in the right direction. Thanks, Dana!
Harris Middleton, 04/11/2022 -- Nominated by Jeanine Giles Larson
Harris assisted with the references section of a proposal due this week. He was very gracious in offering his time out of his busy schedule. Harris, thanks for using your expertise in Endnote to help Dr. Bradner finalize her proposal. It takes a team to ensure faculty success and I am glad you are part of ours!
Jennifer Tennison, 04/27/2022 -- Nominated by Jenna Lenhardt
Jennifer has been a wealth of knowledge, support, and thoughtful feedback as we continue to update and revise programs to meet the needs of a changing future student demographic. She is responsive, respectful, and is always willing to go the extra mile to support her colleagues. Jennifer excels at anything she is tasked with, and comes into each situation with a can-do and positive attitude that is refreshing. I am thankful to have her as my colleague.
Jennifer Cousinis, 03/22/2022 -- Nominated by Nora Alder
She is always efficient, willing, friendly and patient.
Sandra Mazzoli, 03/23/2022 -- Nominated by Jenna Lenhardt
I work with Sandra daily and she is always ready and willing to go above and beyond to help students. Her knowledge of VCU is expansive and her positive attitude is contagious. Sandra is a genuine and kind person who is responsive, supportive, and teamwork focused in everything she does. I feel lucky to work with her every day.
Caimdyn Stewart, 03/17/2022 -- Nominated by Jenna Lenhardt
Caimdyn is always thinking about ways to improve our processes in order to maximize our time with students. She is student focused and her students LOVE her. She is approachable and collaborative. Recently she saw a need to connect different resources to students going into their experiential education phase of their program. She reached out to me and my colleague Jasmine to create resources and a presentation because she knew we both had a passion for career development. Caimdyn sees the full person andcolleague and openly shares her enthusiasm for teamwork and collaboration across our teams. I am inspired by her passion and how much she cares for our students.
Joanna Bell, 03/28/2022 -- Nominated by Lisa Abrams
Joanna is a highly dedicated colleague and has worked tirelessly to develop budgets, budgets layouts, and reporting systems to support faculty, staff and administrators in the School of Education. Her attention to detail and commitment to providing timely fiscal information and in formats that are easily accessible has helped to make the work of many of her colleagues much easier and more efficient. We are so fortunate to have Joanna as part of our SOE team and appreciate her and her contributions!
Carolina Wilson, 02/01/2022 -- Nominated by Sandra Mazzoli
Carolina is a highly valued member of the VCU Ramily and has always been able to help me find solutions to the unique situations presented by our students and advisors. Most recently, a student registered for the incorrect courses for Spring 2022. It was disclosed that the student had suffered an unexpected loss and unable to correct the registration error on their own. Carolina ensured that the Special Action request was processed in a very timely fashion thus alleviating the student's anxiousness and worry.
Stacey Wahl, 02/09/2022 -- Nominated by Roy Brown
Stacey is a valued member of the research and education team at the Health Science Library, and I have always enjoyed working with her. She has always been willing to help me out when asked. Over the last couple of weeks, she has helped me with two issues on short notice. Each time she did so without complaint. First, she helped me figure out the best way to address a problem with a citation tracking project and then made sure a VCU School of Nursing faculty member could have her questions addressed by meeting with her. Her assistance in both instances was a huge help. I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you and let her know that I value her as a colleague. Thank You!
Deidre Henley, 02/16/2022 -- Nominated by Dana Rajczewski
Deidre has been working to get a check to an external organization for months, and it's been a very long back-and- forth process to get it where it needed to go. She was persistentwith the external group and worked with VCU Procurement to find a solution. She was very responsive to follow-up request from me and from the external org, and she followed through until we got a resolution today. I knew it would be solved since it was in her hands, and that reassurance is most appreciated. Thank you, Deidre!!
Andrew Kollmer, 02/23/2022 -- Nominated by Jeff Smith
Andy came to me with a question about something he was hearing from alternate sources about how well he (and his group) were helping me with my technology needs. I really appreciate the fact that he simply cut out the noise and just came to talk to me directly so we could be on the same page and not have any conflicting perspectives. I am so thankful to have such an ethical perspective as it makes things so much easier.
Tabatha Dunlap, 01/13/2022 -- Nominated by Koshie France
Tabatha goes above and beyond to take the initiative to assist her colleagues when needed. She is beyond knowledgeable; willing and able to devote time to developing others, sharing expertise and skills without being asked. Tabatha values the opinions and initiatives of others while providing guidance and constructive feedback in a respectful manner. Ms. Dunlap is respected among colleagues of all levels and demonstrates a positive attitude. She is truly an asset to the team.
Dana Rajczewski, 01/18/2022 -- Nominated by Lauren Jackson
Dana is the quickest, most responsive employee I have maybe ever met. She never hesitates to jump in for scheduling needs and countless interviews and meetings would be put on the back-burner if it weren't for her and how quickly she's able to coordinate. Thank you for all that you do, Dana! You're a rockstar.
Julie Norman, 01/18/2022 -- Nominated by Sandra Mazzoli
Julie is always helpful! Recently we've had several students in the School of Education with unique admissions/readmissions situations and Julie has always been able to provide guidance and solutions. She is a positive and professional member of the team and highly valued colleague.
Christopher Gorbutt, 01/19/2022 -- Nominated by Isac Crouch
Chris and I work on the same team here in Technology Services. The main reason that is prompting me to recognize him is that he is ALWAYS willing to assist me (and others) when something is needed. An example of this is yesterday we received a last minute request from a customer and I was already on the road headed home. I called Chris and he assisted me with working on the issue and got the work done promptly and accurately. It is nice to work with someone with responsiveness like Chris Gorbutt.
Justin Woods, 01/20/2022 -- Nominated by Chuck Alexander
I'm currently working a staggered schedule while I finish out my paternity leave, so effective and efficient coordination with people that are on campus is extraordinarily important. Justin Woods stepped into that role with vim and vigor today. Coordinating a caregiver panel with multiple parties (and their knowledge, or lack thereof of the tech involved) for the entire SOM Class of 2024 in Studios 7 & 8 - including the ability to field questions with the faculty providers in the room - could not have gone smoother thanks to Justin's immense talents. There were no tech issues, no echoes, no audio problems... nothing. Justin nailed it and deserves to be recognized.
Felicia Harris, 01/21/2022 -- Nominated by James Bjork
Diligent admin work enabling successful repackaging and resubmission of grant application. Felicia took on a larger-scale grant application with only an effective 10-day lead time before School of Medicine would want to see the application. She worked late and diligently to get the application (to a novel federal agency unfamiliar to her) routed and prepared in time.
Caimdyn Stewart, 01/21/2022 -- Nominated by Samantha Ray
Caimdyn always goes above and beyond to assist students and colleagues. She is a pleasure to work with. Thank you for all you do!
Rami Hatoum, 01/21/2022 -- Nominated by Pam Hendrix
My laptop unexpectedly stopped working. Rami was able to replace it the same day and I had minimal disruption. He's true professional and asset to our team.
Lauren Harris, 01/28/2022 -- Nominated by Antonio Abbate
I would like to recognize Lauren Harris, MS, MEd, for all the Initiative, Integrity, Respect and Responsiveness that she has shown during the past two years. I chose however Initiative as the primary reason because at time of need, Lauren has shown leadership and the ability to fill in multiple roles. Lauren also does that with kindness and respect. Thank you for being an inspiration during these times of darkness.
Earlene Charity, 01/31/2022 -- Nominated by Elizabeth Seward
Ms. Charity provided excellent customer service. When I contacted her for assistance and clarity on different contracts, she went above and beyond to provided accurate information. When I contacted her with follow-up questions she again delivered exceptional service.