Office of Human Resources and Risk Management |
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The reward of a thing well done is to have done it. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
WIT--Whatever It Takes--is a recognition program for the Susquehanna University employees who truly go above and beyond the regular duties associated with their jobs to make a difference. Signe Gates, Board of Trustees member and Class of '71, established the Signe S. Gates Appreciation Fund to recognize and celebrate the work of Susquehanna's most important asset--our people!
Simply fill out the form and return it to Maureen Pugh, Human Resources and Risk Management. You will find the nomination form online or at one of the following locations:
Whatever It Takes! Recipients Sheila Fisher, Periodicals/ILL Coordinator How award was presented: Library Staff Meeting Sheila Fisher has been an outstanding employee for 27 years. She consistently produces a large volume of high quality work. She works extremely hard and is always eager to take on any project that is suggested to her. In recent years, she has taken on new responsibilities. For example, she assists with cataloging gift collections that the library receives. She has approached each new responsibility with the same thoroughness, energy, and commitment to serving the University.
Dale Ovelman, Associate Director of Facilities How award was presented: Meeting in the President's Office Conference Room Dale Ovelman has done a great job as a member of our committee, helping to guide and transform our visions of grandeur into reality. An outward sign of his support and guidance was the SU 150 photo earlier this week. In between his routine responsibilities, he did the research and the mathematical calculations to develop the design for Smith Field, he staked out the territory, he took hold of the logistics, he consulted with the photographer…he worried and worried…and he did it all cheerfully and professionally. This has been par for the course since Dale first became involved with the sesquicentennial. While many others were more visible on the day of the shoot and may have enjoyed the spotlight, it was Dale’s knowledge, hard work and commitment that made us all look good!
Mark Radecke, Chaplain How award was presented: Everet Dining Hall It is my great pleasure to nominate Rev. Dr. Mark Radecke for a “Whatever It Takes” Award. Mark makes a huge difference on campus and beyond both in the course of his job as well as in going well beyond his job responsibilities. I have worked with Mark in a variety of ways for the five years I’ve been at SU. However, we worked on two projects in particular (SPLASH and SU CASA) that make me think he’s the worthiest of candidates for a WIT award. SPLASH and SU CASA are off-campus service-learning projects that also give students cross-cultural experiences. I had the pleasure of assisting him in leading the first SPLASH (Students Promoting Leadership and Awareness in Service the Homeless) group during the summer of 2005. This program in an intensive introduction to service-learning for twenty incoming first-year students conducted in Selinsgrove and Washington, DC. And I joined him for the two most recent SU CASA (Susquehanna University Central America Service Adventure) trips. In creating these (and other) service-learning opportunities for students, faculty, and staff, Mark has done whatever it takes to enable SU to offer a thorough and progressive education. Mark does whatever it takes to model for the SU community how to learn from service and how to employ one’s education in the quest for global justice. I join with so many faculty, staff, and students who praise Mark in hoping that your committee understands how much Mark deserves this award. We could not recommend him more enthusiastically.  Carolyn Yordy, Housekeeper, Facilities Management How award was presented: Degenstein Theatre Carolyn approaches her work with the utmost dedication and attention to detail, ensuring that our environment is clean, safe and aesthetically pleasing. Her efforts also ensure that prospective students and their families are impressed with our facilities. Since her arrival we have seen a marked improvement in the level of custodial quality for the areas under her care. Regardless of workload or time constraints, Carolyn is always cheerful and courteous. I’m confident her colleagues look up to her as a model employee. Carolyn takes extraordinary pride in her work as a custodial services expert.
Kimberly Councill, Assistant Professor of Music How award was presented: Prior to a Forum in Stretansky Concert Hall Dr. Kim Councill volunteered to serve as the Production Manager for the Music Department this past summer as the institution was moving the Carnegie Hall project forward. She felt honored to be nominated by her Department Head and colleagues and to be able to contribute in this way. Little did she or the others know the magnitude of this commitment! Dr. Councill went ‘above and beyond’ at each step and never faltered in her attention to an infinite number of details, willingness to accept new responsibilities, and, perhaps most valuably, the devotion of her time. This was all done above her normal high level of University Service contribution. Whether it was making trips to NYC to meet with Carnegie Hall staff and scout logistics for the event, to working with her colleagues in the Department in coordinating needs and serving as a liaison to the Planning Committee, to responding to a vast array of emails, phone calls, and inquiries from alumni, faculty, and students, to serving as the production point person for the full day of the event, Dr. Councill did an outstanding job! The success of the Carnegie Hall performance in honor of the University’s Sesquicentennial Kick-Off was due in no small measure to the contribution, patience, tenacity, and humor of Dr. Councill. She literally did “whatever it took” to make this a meaningful and successful event for the Department and the University. For the quality of her work and for the selfless contribution of her time and energy, we feel she is the ideal candidate worthy of a WIT Award!
Cindy Frymoyer, Administrative Assistant, Health Center How award was presented: During a Student Life staff meeting Cindy has done so many things to keep the Health Center organized without being asked. From the moment Cindy started at the Health Center we have felt her positive impact. She is the first person the students see as they enter our doors. She offers warmth, compassion and organization to their time spent here. She has the ability to keep the Health and Counseling Centers working in collaboration to support the students. She has been immensely helpful in assisting me to coordinate the Health Fair, taking it from a mediocre event to a very successful, student-involved event. She has single-handedly accepted the challenge of working with the insurance, shortening the process and turning a nightmare into a very structured process. She saved us over $1,000 with our phone service. She does whatever it takes to keep us on task with projects, meetings, and presentations so that we can all serve the student better, meeting their needs more completely.
Anne Claus, Academic Assistant, Departments of Anthropology/Sociology; Economics; History; Political Science How award was presented: "Computer crisis" for a faculty member that only Anne could fix! Anne is the Academic Assistant in Steele, providing support to over 20 full-time faculty members (and numerous adjuncts) in four different departments covering all three schools. This is a demanding task in itself, but is made even more challenging if you factor in all our different personalities and styles! She performs a myriad of tasks with seeming ease, and never turns down a request for help. And she does all of this with a great sense of humor that is, as one faculty member notes, “always much appreciated.” There are many times when we don’t even need to ask for help for she is often the one who reminds us of what needs to be done when! She is the kind of co-worker who makes you wonder how she gets it all done in a day. But then if you’ve ever come into Steele early in the morning you’ll know how…Anne is almost always at work well ahead of time so that she can be sure that things are prepared for the faculty when classes begin at 8:00 am. She is likely to be found staying at the end of the day beyond her scheduled time as well if there is a project that one of us needs to have completed. And more than once we’ve sent e-mail requests to her at night or on weekends, only to discover that she has responded even when she is not in the office. Perhaps this is how Anne manages to complete so much --- she does “Whatever It Takes.” This is only a sampling of all that Anne does to make Steele Hall more than an academic building…she makes it a community. She is, without a doubt, the kind of staff person for whom the WIT Award was created.
Stephanie James, Senior Administrative Assistant, Treasurer's Office How award was presented: Presented in Shearer Dining Room, Degenstein Campus Center during the WIT luncheon We recently found a training opportunity for clerical staff in a product called Element K. Had we hired Element K to roll out this online training product, it would have cost the institution thousands of dollars. Instead, Stephanie James volunteered to roll out the product which involved setting up the Web site, sending out promotional materials and leading a training session. Stephanie’s work in this instance was an example of a valued employee doing whatever it takes to move the institution forward.
Jodie Stauffer, Administrative Assistant, Center for Career Services and Office of Multicultural Affairs How award was presented: Presented in Shearer Dining Room, Degenstein Campus Center On December 12, Jodie returned from lunch a few minutes early and explained that she would be right back. She hung up her coat, went down the hall, returned with paper towels in her hands and began cleaning up a full cup of coffee that was spilled in the hallway outside of the computer lab doorway. Jodie regularly assists students using the Degenstein computer lab. When students inform her that they are out of materials, Jodie contacts the IT Office to replace supplies. She was supportive of students again during finals week. Jodie often goes above and beyond to help students, faculty and staff, and these are just two small examples that occurred in one day.
Rhelda Brown, Mailroom Manager How award was presented: Presented in Campus Mail Room General Services implemented a new mailbox system for students that required reassigning all mailboxes by year vs. alpha order. Rhelda has worked much overtime as well as every Saturday since August 15. Normal Saturday hours for Rhelda are 9 – 11:30 every other Saturday but there were two weekends that she worked a minimum of 8 hours and an additional 8 hours on Sunday, August 26. Although the mailbox system was changed for the benefit of the students, it has created an increased work load for Rhelda. Faculty and Staff continue to send campus mail to students in alpha order; this requires Rhelda to search for student mailbox numbers for each piece of mail that is not marked accordingly. This truly is an example of “It’s all about the Student”, even though it has created hardship throughout campus. Some systems on campus make it almost impossible for Departments to add a student’s mailbox number or graduating year to their mailings. This will be an ongoing effort on Rhelda’s part. Rhelda is a very loyal employee to SU and our students.
Gabe DeMarco, Officer, Public Safety How award was presented: Presented in Student Life Suite On Monday, October 29, 2007, Public Safety Officer Gabe DeMarco was approached by the Director of Facilities Management Dave Henry with a dilemma. Mr. Frank Trembulak had gone to his vehicle outside of the DCC and found his vehicle had a flat tire. There was no one around from Facilities Management to change the tire and a tow truck would have taken a long time to arrive and adjust the situation. Although it is not in our policy, Officer DeMarco took it upon himself to change Mr. Trembulak’s tire so that he could get on the road before the heavy traffic of rush hour. Gabe went the extra mile to serve a member of our community and his actions are certainly worthy of a WIT Award.
Andrea Popp, Academic Assistant, SWSB How award was presented: Presented in Study Room in Apfelbaum Hall (Andrea thought she was preparing for Joy Forry's WIT award) We are nominating Andrea for the proactive leadership and management in Business Statistics and Global Business Perspectives. Both of these courses have faculty-produced binders for the students to use instead of textbooks. These binders, in the past, have required a tremendous effort in the organization and compilation process. Andrea applied her vast computer skills and strong work ethic in coordinating the copying and collating of the faculty developed materials to make the creation of the binders in a much simpler and less agonizing process. Andrea has done “whatever it takes” (on her own initiative) to expand the role of a typical faculty secretary and enhance the marketing and operations of key courses in Sigmund Weis School of Business curriculum.
Joy Forry, Senior Administrative Assistant to the Dean of the SWSB How award was presented: Presented in Study Room in Apfelbaum Hall (Joy thought she was preparing for Andrea Popp's WIT award) Joy inherited many administrative duties for the London Program. Lots of these duties have to do with gathering information from students regarding their passports, medical and health data, and so on. However, one of the most ill-defined and nightmarish duty had been that of preparing the applications for both the Program and each student for the discount passes on the London Underground. The paperwork and procedures have changed for every semester. But persistence and patience are Joy’s outstanding character traits. The time came to submit the applications and she was pretty much on her own because my wife and I had already left for Europe. The applications went into the on line database, but the British office rejected all of the payments. She tried and retried one credit card after another—using both USA bankcards and British bankcards. Telephone calls for clarification and email questions went unanswered. Finally, but still only a few days after the 1 st of September, Joy figured it out. Somehow she began to understand the British approach to Web sites and their application mentality—she got the system to accept our payments. This is not a trivial triumph over international bureaucracy. Getting our 35 students to qualify and receive their student “tube” passes saves our London Program about $5,000 per semester, money that we can use for other program purposes. Joy did it. She got it done. On time, meaning as soon as the technology and the bureaucracy allowed. She was determined and persistent, and she accomplished her goal. “Whatever it takes.”
Susan Rambo, Administrative Assistant, Office of Human Resources & Risk Management How award was presented: Presented in Office of Human Resources & Risk Management Susan has went beyond her “normal” administrative duties and really stepped up to the plate as a HR team player, coworker and friend during a recent incident. She displayed true caring and showed me how much she values her coworkers. She is a definite asset to the Human Resources Office and helps out whenever and wherever needed. No matter how busy or how much work she has on her desk, she’s always willing to take on more to help out the office. Susan is a great candidate for this award because she presents “WHATEVER IT TAKES” on a daily basis. I look forward each day to working with this truly amazing person.
Malcolm Derk, Assistant Director, SU Fund How award was presented: Meeting in Alumni House Malcolm Derk has become our “go to” man in University Relations. Whenever something needs to be done, he is typically the one to step up and say, “Sure, I’ll help out. Whatever you need me to do.” Even with that being said, his actions during Homecoming Reunion Weekend were truly remarkable. In his two years working at Susquehanna, Malcolm’s colleagues have been honored to know him and humbled that he goes to such lengths to respect people, making them feel comfortable, welcome and heard, no matter their status. It really is amazing what he has done and even more so to know that it is just because of who he is, not because anyone expects it of him. Malcolm Derk embodies the true Susquehanna spirit of community. We are all proud to call him part of our family.
Nancy Musser, Administrative Assistant, Chaplain's Office How award was presented: So many of the things Nancy does routinely are “above and beyond” the call of her specified duties. For example, working on numerous Saturdays, making sure all last-minute details are in place as SU CASA teams leave; working all day as hostess, registrar and goodwill ambassador at Lutheran Youth Day, another Saturday; coming in on Saturday before baccalaureate and other special Sunday services just to be sure all is as it should be. Most recently, Nancy helped to coordinate two back-to-back receptions on Sundays after chapel – one in honor of Susan Hegberg on her retirement, and one the students undertook to surprise me on the 10 th anniversary of my chaplaincy at SU. She does “whatever it takes” to enhance the programs and ministries of the Chaplain’s Office. She does it with grace, efficiency and humor, and students and the university are the ultimate beneficiaries.
Eric Knepp, Webmaster, Information Technology How award was presented: Prior to start of Student Life Meeting Residence Life: Eric was kind enough to build a system that automatically downloads the information that the students enter online into a spreadsheet that can simply be sent out via email to all those that need to see who will be in the residence halls during break. No more hand-entering needed. It is a system that evolved from being difficult, time-consuming and customer-unfriendly to being as simple as simple can be. But it’s the maintenance of that system that I want to highlight. As the form is part of our system, it’s our responsibility to update it. But nobody in our office has the web experience to do so. And so, time after time, despite my promises that this will be the last, I ask Eric if he will please update the form. Just one more time, Eric. And he always does. And he does it quickly and well. And he never complains. Center for Career Services: Eric always goes above and beyond to complete anything asked of him in a friendly and respectable manner. Eric has created an entire database management, resume collection and job posting system worth over $5,000 a year. The system is more sophisticated than any online mechanism we have found. The Center for Career Services has worked with him for 2 years to create this system, and we are implementing the third phase with alumni relations this next year. Center for Campus Activities: Eric was asked to help the office of Campus Activities create a reservation form to be used for all room, food service and technical service reservations. Eric gladly dove into the project, creating the on-line form, fielding edits from several people, and following through with the project in a timely fashion this summer.
Tim Weston, DBA/Technical Analyst, Information Technology How award was presented: Prior to start of Datatel Management Team Meeting With Tim’s help I have been able to create a refreshable report that Development can now update at any time. This creates efficiency and access to accurate, up-to-date information, each time it’s needed. Without Tim’s willingness to help tackle this project, his system knowledge, quick work, and creative solution to security issues, this would not have been possible. I had an idea and Tim was ready to help me make it work and provide a service to both Development and Financial Aid. I couldn’t have done it without him. This is just one example of the ways in which Tim is a team player.
Charity Cook, Academic Assistant, Bogar Hall (Departments of Modern Languages and Philosophy, Religion & Classical Studies) How award was presented: Presented in Modern Languages Department meeting in Bogar Hall Charity is particularly conscientious about anticipating ways that she could be helpful even before specific needs or wants arise. To put the matter another way, she consistently thinks about how her position, and the broad area of responsibilities to which she is assigned, can positively affect and facilitate the work of others, or the environment in which we all work, and then she offers to help. She is consistently thoughtful, cheerful, and helpful. It is not unusual to encounter persons with two of these characteristics. It is rare to find an individual with all three. In Charity, we are fortunate to have just such a colleague. Not only does Charity do everything required of her and more, she also anticipates the needs of the departments in the building and takes care of these need before being asked, and even sometimes before we are even aware that this is something that ought to be done.
Dana Kemberling, Outgoing Mailroom Manager , General Services How award was presented: Presented in Outgoing Mailroom Dana is such an amazing part of our SU team. If we need DVDs, CDs, overnight documents, gifts to donors, or a 10,000 piece mailing mailed at the last minute, Dana is always helpful, kind and willing to do whatever it takes to help you get the job done even if she has to work late. Dana's kindness and hard work has been the topic of many conversations in our office, and our entire department shares its high regard for her. Dana goes out of her way to make sure everything mailed is done the most cost efficient way according to its needs and she welcomes you with open arms.
Angelica Long, Administrative Assistant , Financial Aid How award was presented: Presented in Financial Aid Office Ange works hard to ensure that the students of the Susquehanna community come first and monitors the employment process closely for their benefit. She has been a wonderful assistant to me with the student employment process and I do think that the success of the Work-Study program on the Susquehanna campus is in part due to her continued dedication. She simply does “Whatever it Takes” to get the job done.
Robin Hart, Housekeeper, Steele Hall How award was presented: Presented in Steele Hall Robin not only does her job competently, but she does so with a smile on her face and a good word for everyone. We never have to worry about how things will look when Robin is the housekeeper in Steele. She clearly takes pride in her work, and we appreciate the result. Just as important, Robin does all this in a gracious manner, She is kind, friendly, and always has a good work for the student and faculty/staff in this building.
2006-2007 Recipients Original design and implementation by:
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