Employee milestones, contributions celebrated

‘FIU employees are masters at turning the impossible into the inevitable,’ says President Mark B. Rosenberg.

By Karen Cochrane

The Graham Center Ballroom was alive with the sounds of music, conversation and laughter as nearly 500 staff and faculty reconnected with colleagues and friends at the university’s Employee Service and Recognition Awards Ceremony Oct. 27.

Employees marking service milestones of 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 25 years, 30 years and 35 years were honored for their contributions to university life, as were employees who retired during the previous calendar year. Below is an “I Am FIU” video that was shown at the event. The video  includes some of this year’s service honorees.

I AM FIU from FIU Broadcast Video on Vimeo.

This year the Division of Human Resources received a record 244 nominations for the university’s recognition awards: FIU Achievement Award, FIU Sustainability Award, FIU Knowledge Award, FIU Opportunity Award, FIU Torch Award, FIU Community Award, President’s Access & Equity Award, and the Presidential Excellence Award. Below is a list of 2009 winners as well as a video that captures some moments from the event.

FIU Achievement Award: Presented to a full-time temporary employee who has demonstrated FIU’s philosophy of innovative and creative thinking. Winner: Mario Lam, media assistant in Media Equipment Services, BBC. Lam, an FIU junior majoring in computer science, goes the extra mile in providing effective, efficient service to FIU professors and students. In addition to fixing media equipment quickly and inexpensively, he is known for his ability to “informally teach” professors and students how to get the most out of software programs.

FIU Sustainability Award: Presented to an eligible employee who promoted FIU’s respect for the environment, modeled ways to achieve climate preservation, and capitalized on the economic opportunities of the solutions developed. Winner: Jennifer Grimm, environmental coordinator in the Office of the Provost, BBC. Grimm has interacted with students from K-12 on educational initiatives, engaged FIU freshmen in projects dealing with sustainable landscaping and gardens, initiated a major ecological restoration project with the state’s Department of Environmental Resources, and revived a campus campaign for recycling.

FIU Knowledge Award: Presented to a full-time staff employee, or group of full-time staff employees, who served as a role model for the pursuit, generation, dissemination and application of knowledge through professional development, mentorship and/or peer development. Winner: Public Administration and Criminal Justice Departments (Stephanie Miller, Lina Perdomo, Celina Ravelo) This team of dedicated employees have served as role models through their devotion for providing professional development and serving as mentors to students and peers alike.

FIU Opportunity Award: Presented to an administrative employee or group of administrative employees who promoted FIU’s vision of being a top student-centered, urban, public research university by contributing outstanding service to the university or community. Winner: University Consultation Team (Sharon Aaron, Karen Dlhosh, Bill King, Larry Lunsford, Elizabeth Marston, Cheryl Nowell, Ronald Thompson). The team has worked collaboratively and seamlessly across the university by proactively identifying cases of potential disruptive behavior, with the goal of ensuring campus safety.

FIU Torch Award: Presented to an eligible employee who exemplifies FIU’s institutional values of honesty, integrity and truth by exhibiting the highest standards of character and ethical behavior. Winner: Dania Rivero, director of Annual Giving. Rivero, described as the “epitome of service,” has worked tirelessly to raise the level of customer service shown to our donors. Known for her attention to detail, she holds herself and her team to the highest standards and goes above and beyond the call of duty in her efforts.

FIU Community Award: Presented to eligible faculty, administrative, full-time staff or group of employees who fostered innovation through work on a project or program that advanced the university or community during the past year. Winner: News@FIU team (Elizabeth “Sissi” Aguila, Madeline Baro, Pedro Botta, Elena Cheung, Karen Cochrane, Julieth Dabdoub, Trudy Fernandez, Martin Haro, Matthew Herzberger, Lissette Lanza, Eddie Merille, Andre Oliveira, Suzanne Onorato, Jean-Paul Renaud, Maydel Santana-Bravo, Elaine Vega-Alvarez, Beverly Welber). These individuals have worked collaboratively to create and provide content for the university news site, newsarchives.fiu.edu (formerly News@FIU). Since its debut mid-January, the site has received more than 175,434 unique visitors and more than 519,577 page views.

President’s Access & Equity Award: Presented to a full-time employee who has consistently gone above and beyond his or her job responsibilities to promote and ensure diversity and inclusiveness. Winner: Jeffrey Knapp, director of the Academy for the Art of Teaching. Knapp’s achievements include co-creating FIU’s First Year Interest Groups Program, co-writing a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institutions grant that was later funded by the U.S. Department of Education, collaborating with colleagues on minority-serving institution projects to help first-generation students improve success in gateway math courses and active service on FIU’s Access and Equity Committee since 2003.

FIU Presidential Excellence Award: Presented to a full-time employee, or group of employees, who supported institutional, strategic and operational excellence. 1st Finalist: Office of Alumni Relations (Alina Alfonso, Vanessa Baldomero, Elena Balsinde, Dianne Cordova, Bill Draughon, Silvia Infante, Cristina Jaramillo, A.J. Meyer, Robert Perez, LaShonda Unseld); 2nd Finalist: Performance Excellence Process Team (Martha Castiello, Joann Cuesta Gomez, Sandra Fernandez, Kathryn Fisk, Shanequa Fleming, Roberto Garcia, Nancy Hershoff, Sky Jarrett, Allison McComb, James Mickle, Dania Rivero, Rolda Serieux, Diana Taveras-Larrosa, Elaine Vega-Alvarez, Karen Williams); 3rd Finalist: Center for Leadership and Service Team (Bronwen Bares, Mariela Campuzano, Beverly Dalrymple, Argel Garcia, Patricia Lopez Guerrero); 4th Finalist: Barbara Manzano, director of Finance and Operations, College of Arts and Sciences. 5th Finalist: Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine Office of Student Affairs Team (Scarlett Aldana, Robert Benjamin, Laura Boudon, Pemra Cetin, Robert Dollinger, Dominic Duran, Andria Garcia, Ana Lopez, Delia Monfort, Odalys Penichet, Charlotte Rhine, Judith Rivera, Barbra Roller, Guillian Villasenor, Heidi von Harscher, Ellen Zwingli). And the 2009 winner of the FIU President Excellence Award: Barbara Manzano. Manzano handles broad and complex responsibilities for the university’s largest college. She has instituted new tracking systems and identified other system innovations that make everything from payroll to the financials processes timelier and more efficient for all. She has a reputation for responding effectively to crises and is proactive in implementing change so that the situation does not recur. She does this all with good cheer despite the long hours and a 24/7 approach to the job.