2018 Recogitions

Jessica Presley, 11/19/18 -- Nominated by Caroline Cobb

For picking up on REDCap coding skills so quickly and getting all of those CPT measures entered, updated and working. Your dedication to this tedious and meticulous task is much appreciated!

Lauren Mortensen, 11/13/18 -- Nominated by Nora Alder

Always prepared and professional.

Dawn Scott, 11/12/18 -- Nominated by Molly Dellinger-Wray

Dawn is always responsive, respectful, has integrity and displays initiative. She makes things easy for us with grace and a sense of humor.

Karen Mullins, 11/12/18 -- Nominated by Nora Alder

Always quick and helpful.

Sharon Jones, 11/9/18 -- Nominated by Jackie Neidle

Sharon's deveotion to getting the word out on how to use assistive technology led to the implementation of an AT Supports for Literacy Conference that was attended by over 100 educators and related service providers. Her knowledge and perseverance should be recognized and congratulated.

Kimberly Stevens, 11/3/18 -- Nominated by Molly Dellinger-Wray

I had quite a fiasco trying to order donuts for an early morning Saturday workshop with families. Kim went to Krispy Kreme in the wee hours of the dark, cold morning in the rain to pre-pay for the order. She really takes care of the details everyday, not just this one.

Lauren Mortensen, 10/31/18 -- Nominated by Colleen Thoma

Ms. Mortensen's role is helping faculty and department chairs navigate the course and program development process, particularly those approvals that need to go through to seek SCHEV approval. Recently, we have met with some challenges with searching for original approvals so that updates can be made. Lauren has been diligent in searching for records, seeking clarification, and following up with a number of people at higher levels. Most recently, she was recognized as being a "problem-solver" extraordinaire. That is certainly an apt compliment, and epitomizes how she approaches every challenge that comes along. She is a pleasure to have on our team in the Dean's office.

Sandra Mazzoli, 10/31/18 -- Nominated by Colleen Thoma

Ms. Mazzoli was able to identify an admission process for a newly-identified cohort of students who are seeking admission to a certificate program in Spring, 2019. Despite the short turn-around time, she was able to work with faculty from the department to identify a process that could work for all, minimizing possible frustration for applicants and faculty. Her interactions during that meeting represented the highest level of customer service, problem-solving and balancing that with university policies.

Barbara Driver, 10/30/18 -- Nominated by Colleen Thoma

Dr. Driver was successful in negotiating a contract with Henrico County Public Schools to develop a cohort of students in the department's certificate program in administration and supervision. This is not part of her typical work responsibilities and came as a result of both her commitment to addressing the needs of our surrounding school divisions and her ability to listen to their needs and identify a solution that works.

Laura Domalik, 10/29/18 -- Nominated by Jodi Larson

I am recognizing Laura Domalik due to her continued respect of all colleagues and students. She goes above and beyond to help others each day. Her respectful comments of appreciation and encouragement to all employees including adjunct professors is always appreciated. She is always open to discussing any needs or answering questions about any guidance needed. Laura is a joy to work with.

Roy Brown, 10/16/18 -- Nominated by Nicole Evangelista

I contacted Roy in a panic when I had a major paper due with minimal research available. I hoped to get an appointment with him that day to complete my research, but his schedule was booked with other students' research questions. When our schedules didn't link up, Roy offered to use his own personal time that night to address my research questions. He asked me to email him the details and he would see what he could do. When he didn't hear from me in the next hour, Roy followed up with me to make sure I sent the info to the correct email address. Not only did Roy go above what was necessary to help me, he went beyond by following up with me when it only created extra work for him that night. This kindness made my once-panicked state more at ease. Roy's passion for what he does is inspiring.

Sabrina Lumpkin, 10/16/18 -- Nominated by Jose Alcaine

I would like to recognize and thank Sabrina for her continued help and support of projects and grants at the School of Education. During what I know are busy and hectic deadlines, she is always very helpful and responsive and tries to make our submissions the best they can be despite time constraints and challenging customers! This was the case in a recent deadline and I just wanted to say thanks for her efforts. My colleagues and I appreciate it very much.

Mary Strawderman, 10/16/18 -- Nominated by Jose Alcaine

I would like to recognize and thank Mary for all the help and support she and her colleagues at OSP provide for the School of Education. We cannot do our projects and grants without the great help of folks like Mary. She is always very helpful and responsive even when we may prove to be challenging or are under a looming deadline. Such was the case in a recent submission for a new colleague here at VCU. Needless to say, my colleague and I were very thankful for Mary's help. Thank you, thank you!

Arnesha Avery, 10/02/18 -- Nominated by Dana Rajczewski

Arnesha has taken on several large tasks recently and has balanced the workload really well. She is a creative thinker when it comes to problem solving, and she always makes sure that all bases are covered in terms of details. She's a true team player, and she is someone I often look to for opinions on how to complete certain tasks. Thank you, Arnesha!!

Harris Middleton, 10/02/18 -- Nominated by Dana Rajczewski

Harris worked with a faculty member who is submitting a grant, and he figured out a solution that took a lot of deadline pressure off of the faculty member. He volunteered to help without a second thought, and he will likely serve as the department's resident expert about that particular topic. He was willing to do whatever it took to get the job done, and that freed up our faculty member to do other tasks under the deadline. Thank you, Harris!!

June Jones, 10/01/18 -- Nominated by Zakia Williams

I direct calls to June several times throughout the day. June is always receptive, poise, and professional. She never complains about the inundated calls. June simply says OK and puts forth her best effort to accommodate all callers. June's positive attitude makes the working environment a better place!

Ra'Meer Roberts, 09/14/18 -- Nominated by Greta Franklin

I am new to my position and started with vacant positions in my office. In addition, the Office Manager was going on leave for several weeks. Ra'Meer has been extremely helpful. He has assisted with several duties that the Office Manager is responsible for completing. He also has offered his assistance for any administrative processes. I truly appreciate his help and his positive attitude.

Rochelle Jordan, 09/07/18 -- Nominated by Jennifer Gay

I would like to recognize Shelley for her work helping the School of Dentistry transition to using DocuSign for Degree Candidacy. Shelley has been incredibly helpful, patient, and quick to respond to all our questions and issues. Thanks, Shelley!

Deborah Baines, 08/27/18 -- Nominated by Sara Kohout

I submitted a double IT systems request to Deborah to update multiple student records in Banner under a time crunch. As her supervisor was on vacation, I reached out to her directly and she took on the request herself and helped guide me through the process. She was quick to reach out with thoughtful questions and even found an error in the document I gave her. She pushed the project through in record time and was positive and easy to work with. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Deborah and am incredibly appreciative of her hard work on this project for me. She even completed it before Tuesday's deadline.

Shane Conner, 08/23/18 -- Nominated by Shelley Jordan

I wanted to take a minute to let you know what an outstanding employee you have in Shane Conner. He exemplifies professionalism and expertise whenever we communicate. I can call with the most convoluted question and he will take the time to explain or guide me through the necessary steps to solve the issue at hand (even if it is not necessarily his job to help me).

Daniell Pearles, 08/08/18 -- Nominated by Sue McGinnis

I had a request very last minute to pull data from a system that is no longer in existence at the university. The data request was quite immediate - with no time for delay. Danielle was responsive, kind and helpful. She was able to quickly pull the information and save the day! My interactions with her have always been positive. You are very fortunate to have her on your team.

Gregory Kimbrell, 07/08/19 -- Nominated by Jose Alcaine

I want to recognize and thank Gregory for helping me and my VCU colleagues host a recent statewide conference (100+ in attendance) in the beautiful Cabell Library space. Gregory and his staff are always excellent, helpful, responsive, and friendly. Events are always a challenge to organize and coordinate. However, with Gregory, Emily, and others at Cabell, the mantra is always, "no problem," "we got it," and "all set!" I am so thankful to have such a great library and library colleagues. Thank you Gregory for making any meeting so easy and fun! Thank you Cabell for being such a wonderful asset to VCU. I appreciate it very much.

Learning Systems Team, 08/01/18 -- Nominated by Amber Peranski

The Learning Systems team worked with me for months on building my training modules! They were readily available to meet with me, provided several tutorials and arranged virtual meetings to accommodate my busy schedule. They were extremely knowledgeable of the applications and willing to go the extra mile to explore new ideas and processes!

Curtis Sexton, 07/26/18 -- Nominated by Sue McGinnis

Curtis has been a great addition to the School of Nursing! He is always pleasant and helpful. He went out of his way to retrofit a laptop cart out of another piece of equipment for the IT team. We really appreciate his assistance and positive attitude! Thank you, Curtis!

Drew Barker, 07/24/18 -- Nominated by Mariusz Ostasz

I wanted to recognize Drew for constantly being a great leader.  He is checking with every single one of us on regular basis, making sure everything is going well, both on professional and personal levels. His interactions with us are not only limited to work related subjects. He can keep projects on track and speed things up when required, and in the same keep positive relationships with his employees. This is a very important quality in being good leader. Personally I would not mind to go "extra mile" for him, because I know he would do the same for me. He is respected and valuable coworker, and I wanted this to be known.

Jay Bolling, 07/20/18 -- Nominated by Kendra Jenkins

Jay is always a welcoming and creative force of energy in our department. He goes the extra mile in responding to his duties and strives for new ways to problem solve on the job. His compassion is a huge motivating force to his team, and coworkers daily. Jay is a kind and knowledgeable asset and supervisor for our department!

Claudia Street, 07/18/18 -- Nominated by Rachel Worthington

Claudia has gone above and beyond to provide a high level of customer service and professionalism for Academic Support. Our unit has gone through numerous space changes over the past few weeks. The quality of Claudia's work, along with her timeliness and strong communication, has helped our unit tremendously throughout the many changes. Please send my gratitude to Claudia, as her work has had a major and positive impact on Academic Support.

Bryan Rowland, 07/06/18 -- Nominated by Tarniki Boyd

During the time of transition in my department, Bryan took the initiative to lend his expertise with the billing system. Bryan was a GREAT HELP for me and my department at this time. Bryan willingly sat with me and others as I learned the program that is used to send out our monthly bills, not once did he show a sign of me irritating him or bothering him. I would like to just say thank you, for your generosity, dedication and your knowledge in a time of need.

David Gray, 06/29/18 -- Nominated by Steven George

There was a service request to fix our hot water problem. We have tried to resolve this issue several times. David came to me to get background information on the issue. He then informed me of his action plan after I formulated the history of the issue. David left to work on the issue and came back to me after 30 minutes with a very detailed explanation of the issue and how he resolved the issue. He also sent a detailed email as well. We now have hot water to properly sanitize. His professionalism, communication, and resolution of the issue is deserving of recognition!

Demmie Pennix, 05/22/18 -- Nominated by Sue McGinnis

Demmie is a fantastic employee. She smiles and she is so polite. You can always count on Demmie for assistance with just about anything. I am currently on several search committees and I really appreciate her responsiveness and kindness. She is wonderful.

Rachel Worthington, 05/10/18 -- Nominated by Maya Simpkins

I would like to recognize Rachel Worthington for her exceptional service, responsiveness, and ability to take initiative. She has helped trained at least half of the SEM and Student Success fiscal staff and brought to fruition a quarterly fiscal staff meeting which has proved to be very helpful and engaging. She always takes on new responsibilities and tasks with a smile and does so efficiently and effectively. On a daily basis she supports two divisions administratively, fiscally, and even some HR operations. In part, because of her work, students are able to enter the university and receive services and programming geared towards retaining students. She deserves a raise!

Danise Harmon, 04/26/18 -- Nominated by Jose G. Alcaine

I would like to recognize Ms. Danise Harmon for her responsiveness and willingness to help in any situation. In a sustained period of transition at our School, she is ALWAYS willing to help in a positive and timely manner. In fact, during this transition period, she has been doing quite a number of tasks in addition to her current position. Throughout all of this, and despite being pulled in many different directions, she is always responsive, kind, and respectful. For all of this, I would like to recognize Ms. Harmon to let her know that her responsiveness, positivity, and work is much appreciated. Thank you.

Taynya Smith, 04/23/19 -- Nominated by Angelica Bega

I am in a new position and have had to follow up on a number of issues retroactively. Tanya has been instrumental in helping me plow through! She is kind, attentive, responsive, and detail-oriented. I cannot thank her enough for her hard work!

Blanca D. Marquez, 04/19/2018 -- Nominated by Harris Middleton

Blanca has been exceptionally helpful, and has gone above and beyond to assist our team here at the department of family medicine with our petty cash accounts. Any time we have questions or need assistance, Blanca is quick to respond, and will go out of her way to make sure we have everything we need, all while making sure we are also in accordance with all policies and procedures outlined by VCU. We really appreciate her hard work, positive attitude, and knowledgeable expertise - thank you so much, Blanca!

Ann-marie Taranto, 3/9/2018 -- Nominated by Paula Rafferty

Ann-marie is on top of everything and owns her job in such a magnificent way that she makes the lives of those of us that work with her better. I have had numerous problems using RealTime and she has always been there to help me fix those problems. She is very responsive to all requests for help and manages to handle complicated issues quickly, efficiently, confidentially. Her assistance with a pending FMLA leave has enabled me to continue working with confidence knowing that everything is in place and will be handled correctly. She has very capably helped us with the HR Redesign and efficiently answered questions so that we can make the best decisions for ourselves.  I also know that confidential issues are kept just that, confidential. Ann-marie exemplifies a great HR Administrator and employee.  We are so very fortunate to have her to work with and I greatly appreciate her since moving to the School of Medicine.

Samantha Ray, 03/08/2018 -- Nominated by Ashley Brown

The last few months Sam has been a great help in the office. She exemplifies the best customer service and is always professional and courteous. Her initiative to get any task done is something I am very appreciative of and I am glad to be able to work with her.

Marcus Mickle, 03/07/2018 -- Nominated by Deborah Baines

I want to send kudos to Marcus Mickle for taking the initiative to create a Banner 9 Admin Page task from scratch. His hard work and determination not only saved VCU financial resources, but he also acquired knowledge and skills that will be valuable to the Admin Systems team and our supported departments as we move forward with Banner 9. Our team can now provide even further customization to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the systems we support. Way to Make It Amazing, Marcus!

Kayla E. Watts, 2/27/18 -- Nominated by Dr. Debra Barksdale

Kayla developed a RedCap Training for all of OAP, OSS and the Associate Dean.

Amy Nugent, 02/22/2018 -- Nominated by Andrew Levin

Though I could only list one date of interaction with Mrs. Nugent, she has consistently be an incredible help to me in my work with ChromeRiver and Christopherson. Mrs. Nugent is incredibly knowledgeable, responsive, and friendly in everything she does and is an indispensable asset to VCU as a whole. That only she and Mr. Messenger process reimbursements for the entirety of the university is astounding and speaks even greater volumes to her diligence and work ethic. Competent and professional as well as amicable, Mrs. Nugent is undeniably deserving of recognition for her fantastic service to VCU.

Jacqueline Glover, 02/13/2018 - Nominated by Rosena Simpdson

Recognizing Jacqueline for initiative. 

Frank Pitchford, 2/2/18 -- Nominated by Brianne Morrison

Frank Pitchford has been consistently available and helpful long before Wilder School's Undergraduate Advising Office's move, but especially so after our move over winter break. He has worked long hours setting up our networking system, resolved issues quickly and has done so with a positive attitude and with great care. He has gone above and beyond to make our office move as easy as possible. He deserves recognition for a job well done and for doing it with such a cheerful disposition.

Demmie Pennix, 1/10/2018 -- Nominated by Beth Rodgers

I think responsiveness is the biggest umbrella to recognize Ms. Pennix for the incredible work she does at the School of Nursing. Ms. Pennix is the key person for travel, hiring, and adjunct contracts, and I interact with her a great deal in all these areas. In particular, we have initiated a new adjunct hiring process that has required a lot more work by her and for her to provide guidance to the rest of us to make sure we follow the procedures appropriately. She processes dozens of such contracts each semester. She is always, without fail, courteous, focused, detail oriented, helpful, follows-through well, never loses her patience even if I ask something I know I have asked her before or if I need a reminder, supports the faculty as they navigate new processes, ensures adjuncts have their contracts and they are done well and on time. She provides support for a lot of different people in different roles, and always treats everyone with the same degree of care and respect. She is one of those people without whom we could not function and I am incredibly grateful for the courteous and proficient way in which she approaches her work.