Recipients of Board of Regents Staff Awards Honored
Adelphi, Md.
(Sept. 18, 2017) -- University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents
Chairman James T. Brady and USM Chancellor Robert L. Caret honored winners of
the 2017 USM Regents' Staff Awards at a breakfast ceremony before the September
15 meeting of the board, held at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
(UMBC).
The awards recognize staff members who have
made exceptional contributions to their organizations, students and the
university community.
Award winners are selected based on
nominations and letters of support from colleagues, culminating in a formal
recommendation from the Council of University System Staff, which provides
non-faculty USM employees with a voice in system governance.
Each award carries a $1,000 prize, provided
by the institutions and the University System of Maryland Foundation.
The following USM staff members were honored.
The descriptions are adapted from the remarks made by Chairman Brady and
Chancellor Caret at the awards event.
Exceptional
Contribution to the Institution or Unit-Exempt Staff: Claudia
Diamond, Director of Academic Success, University of
Baltimore (UB) School of Law.
During Ms. Diamond's seven years as Director of
Academic Success for the School of Law at UB, she has been focused on improving
student outcomes, designing and implementing strategies to assist student
learning, predominantly for those students considered high-risk. The most
recent and prominent of Claudia's projects is the Legal Writing Center. Funded
through a UB Foundation grant and staffed with five second- and third-year law
students, the Legal Writing Center is a creative, innovative, and cost-effective
approach to serving UB's law student population, especially first-year law students.
As an alumna of UB's School of Law, Claudia knows first-hand that effective and
clear writing is essential for legal professionals and her personal touch with
students enhances her contributions.
Exceptional
Contribution to the Institution-Non-Exempt Staff: Audrey Stewart,
Program Administrative Specialist in Facilities Management, University of
Maryland, College Park (UMCP).
Audrey has worked at the University of Maryland for 21
years, serving as the program administrative specialist in facilities management
for the past two. In this capacity, she
coordinated the Cogeneration Steam Plant and the Energy/Utility Infrastructure
upgrade. During this multi-year project, Audrey took a leadership role and
served as acting project manager on the cleanup and redesign of the former
Facilities Management Work Control Center, now known as the new Customer
Service Response Center.
In addition, Audrey spearheaded her department efforts
during the Green Office program, designed to help the university save money as
well as resources. Moreover, Audrey is involved in numerous voluntary
activities through the office of community engagement. Colleagues describe her
as a reliable volunteer who brings a "can-do" and sunny spirit to her efforts.
Outstanding
Service to Students in an Academic or Residential Environment-Exempt Staff:
Jenna Beckwith, Sexual Health Coordinator at UMCP's
University Health Center.
Over the past five years, Jenna has distinguished
herself as a motivated and creative employee willing to try new things to
benefit students. Jenna has worked
passionately on understanding and supporting transgender student's needs. She has been an extraordinary leader in
promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion within the University Health Center, implementing
creative process improvements delivering care for lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender patients. Her efforts have
helped change the perception of the LGBTQ students who once viewed the
University Health Center an unwelcoming environment. Her pioneering efforts
resulted in the University of Maryland's recognition as a "Leader in LGBT
Healthcare Equality" by the Human Rights Campaign. Only one other US campus shares that
distinction. Through Jenna's personal
guidance and program building, she is improving the health of students at the
University of Maryland in significant ways.
Extraordinary
Public Service to the University or to the Greater Community-Exempt Staff:
Rebecca Bowman-Rivas, Law &
Social Work Service Program Manager at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB)
School of Law.
Rebecca instructs and supervises UMB's social work
students who, in turn, collaborate with law students to provide vital services
through Carey Law's legal clinics. The clients served face significant legal
challenges, including issues of immigration/asylum, HIV/AIDS, and reentry into
the community following incarceration.
Working with the Immigration Clinic, Rebecca and her students help
clients in crisis access vital community resources; most do not qualify for
public assistance.
In her work with the HIV/AIDS clinic, Rebecca recently
intervened to help a transgendered client find safe housing after realizing the
client was living out of her car. The clinic also provides reentry services for
elderly prisoners released late in their prison terms. Rebecca's current and
former students sing her praises. Her work has been recognized at the local and
national level. Many clients affirm Rebecca's impact, stating, "They don't know
where they'd be without her help and care."
Effectiveness
and Efficiency-Exempt Staff: Prasad Doddanna, Director of the
Information & Decision Support System at Coppin State University (CSU).
Prasad Doddanna has worked at Coppin State University
for 16 years as Director of Information & Decision Support Systems. His creative and innovative approaches to his
work has saved Coppin millions of dollars, contributed to the Division of
Information Technology revenue base, and resulted in regional and national
recognition. Prasad's original ideas-student bill and voucher processing,
online time entry, use of analytics, Cloud Computing, and other efforts-have
resulted in savings of approximately 2 million dollars over ten years for
Coppin, while generating hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue. Prasad is the standard setter for employees
who contribute far more than is ever expected. He has done so with a high level
of professionalism.
Effectiveness
and Efficiency-Non-Exempt Staff: Paul Clements,
Engineering Technician at Salisbury University (SU).
Paul has been at Salisbury's Henson School of Science
& Technology for 27 years, consistently working beyond the expectations for
his position. His ability to identify, troubleshoot, repair, design, fabricate,
and communicate saves SU significant money every year. For example, when a high-speed centrifuge was
damaged with a replacement cost of $25,000 and a repair cost of $15,000, Paul
was able to repair the centrifuge for about $2,000. This ability to diagnose
and repair a variety of technical machines has saved SU literally hundreds of
thousands of dollars over the years. Salisbury University's ability to do "more
with less"-a hallmark of USM's Effectiveness and Efficiency initiative-has been
a genuine source of pride for this institution and the system. Staff members such
as Paul Clements are the story behind that success.
Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu
