UVic salutes outstanding staff contributions
by Valerie Shore
Three individuals and a seven-member team have won the second annual President's Distinguished Service Awards.
The awards were created in 2002 to recognize the hard work and dedication of UVic staff members. "We have more than 4,000 staff members whose commitment enables the univ-ersity to fulfil its mission," says UVic President Dr. David Turpin. "It's my pleasure to recognize their achievements and the outstanding contributions they make to the university community."
Employees are nominated in two categories. The Award for Distinguished Service honours up to three employees, or groups of employees, for their outstanding contributions to the university's learning and working environment. The Team Award
for Innovation goes to a team or group for innovations that improve an educational, administrative or organizational process.
This year, the selection committee received 23 nominations for the Award for Distinguished Service and four nominations for the Team Award for Innovation. The individual winners are Marie Elliott (University Centre Farquhar Auditorium), Lois Jones (human resources) and John Newcomb (geography).
The team award goes to Murray Griffith, Shannon Hayward, Tracey MacNeil, Neil MacLean and Michele MacDonald in accounting, as well as Mary Anne Gotaas and Donna Ratcliffe in the budget office.
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Left to right: John Newcomb, Lois Jones and Marie Elliott. |
As auditorium secretary for nearly 20 years, Marie Elliott has provided quiet, professional support to faculty, department and student alumni groups on campus who have used the Farquhar Auditorium or University Centre foyer for their events. She has also developed and nurtured special relationships with dozens of community not-for-profit groups that have formed the backbone of the auditorium's public programming.
"The combined audiences of these events over the years are in the millions - all efficiently cared for by Marie with a welcoming smile," says a colleague. "She has kept the complex auditorium mechanism running smoothly, despite the eccentricities, egos, short tempers and sometimes outrageous demands of artists and patrons alike."
Elliott, a native of Mayne Island, also holds a master of arts in history and has published three books on B.C. history, with another soon to be completed. She's active with the Victoria chapter of the B.C. Historical Association, serves on the executive of the Friends of B.C. Archives, and played a leading role in preserving the historic gold rush townsite of Quesnel Forks.
As the university's benefits manager, Lois Jones often deals with employees in great distress who must make important decisions for their future. It's a role she approaches with respect for the dignity and well-beingof every employee, says human resources director Peter Sanderson.
"No person is treated as a number," he says. "For Lois, a form does not suffice; face-to-face meetings with the employees and their support network are the norm."
After working with Jones, employees consistently thank the university for the support and empathy they received. "This contributes greatly to a sense that UVic is a special and very human place to work," says Sanderson.
As the university's first return-to-work coordinator, Jones has successfully engaged employee groups and proven that the program is designed to support employees, employers and managers. Jones was also instrumental in bringing the employee and family assistance program to UVic.
During her 25-plus years at UVic, Jones has given her time and energy to a number of on- and off-campus initiatives, including the United Way, the UVic Retirees Association. the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and the CIBC Run for the Cure.
To say that John Newcomb tackles his role as senior laboratory instructor in the geography department with enthusiasm and commitment seems an understatement. He is, in the words of department chair Dr. Dan Smith, "a consummate teacher, a dedicated undergraduate advisor and passionate departmental am-bassador."
Newcomb is responsible for all lab teaching, supervision of teaching assistants and development of lab exercises. He also assists with undergraduate registration and course selection, and counsels students on departmental and university procedures and on personal matters relating to career ambitions.
But his contributions go far beyond that. "John is a person to whom all department members look to for answers to difficult questions," says Smith. "His energy and enthusiasm are unparalleled, and he goes above and beyond the call of duty almost on a daily basis."
Newcomb was instrumental in forming the Society of Geography Students and continues to offer his time to university functions, departmental activities, and community projects such as the UVic Speakers Bureau. He also uses his personal time to track newspaper articles, Web sites and journals of interest to colleagues.
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Clockwise from top left: Neil MacLean, Donna Ratcliffe, Murray Griffith, Shannon Hayward, Tracey MacNeil and Michele MacDonald. Absent: Mary Anne Gotaas. |
For the seven-member financial reporting team, winning the 1999 Productivity Award from the Canadian Association of University Business Officers-for implementing the Web-based financial reporting system known as EASY-set the bar high. After all, what could they possibly do for an encore?
A new challenge presented itself when the province requested that the university's audited statement-reporting deadlines be moved from Sept. 30 to May 31, with fully consolidated drafts by April 28. To accomplish this enormous task, accounting staff are given only one week to translate data from normal fund accounting presentations to generally accepted accounting statements - at a technical level for the Auditor General and at a user-friendly level for other financial statement readers.
During this same period, the budget office has to compare actual and budgeted operating expenses and recommend carry-overs and appropriations to the board of governors. Meanwhile, the office is also working on a line-by-line operating budget for the following year.
"The team led by Murray Griffith and Mary Anne Gotaas has met the deadline challenge without compromising the quality of information or raising the eyebrows of auditors," says Bob Worth, executive director of financial services. "The planning, creative information technology skills and disciplined execution by this team in co-operation with more than 120 units across campus makes this challenge achievable."
Each award recipient received a framed certificate during a ceremony at the president's holiday reception on Dec. 10.
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