April 21 was Administrative Professionals’ Day and in keeping with recent tradition, a Staff Appreciation Luncheon was held, this year in the Memorial Union. Sixty staff and administrators attended the served luncheon which was generously sponsored by Nestlé Purina.
Dean Cyril Clarke thanked staff for all their efforts to keep the College running smoothly. “As faculty juggle their commitments to teaching, research, and service and as students focus on their learning, it is staff who provide the consistency of diagnostic and clinical service, caring compassionately for our animal patients, interacting with our clients, providing technical training for our students, and performing the diagnostic tests and research procedures with such precision and accuracy.” Dean Cyril Clarke said he had “the privilege of both recognizing and thanking staff for their excellent service.”
Each year the College recognizes two classified employees who have demonstrated excellence in their job performance and exhibit a helpful and caring attitude to the people with whom they are in contact. Selection is made through a vote of the faculty and professional faculty. The awardees last year were Janna Thorp and Lori Kennerly.
The recipients of this year’s Outstanding Classified Staff Awards are Sharon Wolf and Lindy Young. They receive certificates and a monetary award of $250, which will be presented at the College Awards Ceremony on June 9.
Sharon tending to a patient in the Large Animal Hospital
Sharon Wolf
Sharon started with OSU in April of 2002, and is a technician for the Large Animal Internal Medicine Service. Her duties include receiving and discharging patients, entering patient charges, monitoring patient care and treatments, managing the isolation facility and setting up for and assisting with patient procedures. She also oversees maintenance on the primary equipment used in the large animal hospital such as the endoscope, ultrasound and blood gas machine. Sharon has been involved with exercising horses on the treadmill and recently made the national news as the handler for the star of the show, the VTH horse, “Fancy”. Her supervisor, Becky Paasch says: “The medicine service, including Dr. Schlipf, answers to Sharon as she truly is the force that holds that service together. In a nutshell, she rocks!”
Lindy (center) receiving her award
Lindy Young
Working in lobby reception, Lindy Young has been with the College of Veterinary Medicine since Feb. 2008. As a friend to all, one couldn’t ask for a more kind or helpful person in that position. In addition to assisting faculty, staff, students and visitors, Lindy performs a variety of duties for the Dean’s Office from condolence cards for the Pet Memorial Program, filling out travel forms for faculty, sorting College mail, setting up web-based surveys, making room reservations to updating the CVM calendar. Her supervisor, Debrah Rarick said: “Lindy remains calm, friendly and helpful, in spite of the stress of constant interruptions. She enjoys new challenges and projects and goes out of her way to help people.”
Two Exemplary Service Awards are also given to non-classified staff, which includes research assistants, research associates, and professional faculty. Letters of nomination were submitted to the awards committee for selection, which is based on excellence in job performance, as well exhibiting the kind of helpful, caring attitude that reflects well on our College and brings distinction to us as an institution. Recipients of the Exemplary Service Awards this year are Jason Weist and Denny Weber. The awards are the same as the classified staff award — $250 and a certificate.
Jason (right) receiving his award
Jason Wiest
Jason Wiest came to the College in Nov. 2008 as the computed tomography (CT) coordinator in our imaging suite. He is responsible for performing the CT scans and selected other radiographic procedures in our veterinary teaching hospital. The nominator said this about him: “Jason has done a fantastic job for us. He works so hard, stays late, is gentle, kind and caring for the patients, and is enthusiastic about his work. He makes sure imaging is done correctly and in a timely manner and is always open to suggestions for improvement. He loves animals and it shows.” His supervisor, Dr. Steiger, said this about him: “He is pleasant to work with and has a great sense of humor. He is very knowledgeable in his field and provides excellent service performing successful diagnostic imaging studies. He works well with the technical staff, students and faculty and is appreciated by all.
Denny (right) accepting her award
Denny Weber
Denny Weber, assistant to the department head of Biomedical Sciences, was hired in Nov. 2003. Denny not only keeps Dr. Bermudez organized (no easy task!) but assists the faculty, students and research members of the department as well. The nominator noted: “She is the go-to person for questions about grants, blackboard and university policies, she coordinates the research speakers, and arranges their travel schedules. Her expertise in grant application preparation is invaluable. She has taken on new responsibilities assisting Dr. Bermudez with the research efforts in the College. She is tireless in helping to find answers for faculty, students and staff. In addition, she is a joy to work with.” Dr. Bermudez concurs and says: “I am grateful to Denny for all she does for me and the department to keep things running smoothly!”
Scheduling a College or student club activity just got easier. The Dean’s Office is consolidating the room calendars and College and club events into one CVM Calendar. The calendar icon on the front page of the CVM website leads to an extended calendar with events listed. Each event can be opened to obtain the details regarding that event. The schedule has been updated through June 30, 2010, and will be updated as new events get scheduled through the CVM room schedule request. Lindy Young in Lobby Reception has the responsibility of inputting events from the room schedule into the OSU CVM calendar. Having all events listed in one calendar helps students decide when to schedule club speakers or bring in industry representatives for lunch seminars. It is a big help for avoiding scheduling conflicts such as an all-classes SCAVMA meeting on the same day a student club is hosting a well-knows speaker.
