Spotlight Awards

Relief Cook, Dining Services

Nominated by:
Pat Mahar, Area Manager, Dining Services

When a number of students requested an extended brunch, Maria and her coworkers took on the challenge of experimenting with new dining hours for Sunday afternoon at Chapin House. They wrote the menus and prepared all the food for this pilot program. It was a huge success: They exceeded the department's expectations for both quality of food and quantity of meals served. The department appreciates all the work Maria put into making these changes. We have received lots of positive feedback from students, and hope to continue this program for the fall semester.

Relief Cook, Dining Services

Nominated by:
Rick Rubin, Area Manager, Dining Services

In her role as cook at Chase House, Tina Atkinson works with other kitchen staff to prepare quality food for all Smith students who dine here with us. Most of Tina's responsibility is to prepare food for the 250+ students and Smith guests who eat breakfast and lunch at Chase every day. Besides the "regular" food she prepares, Tina and the other Chase staff prepare and serve meals at our special-diet buffet. During the academic year, Chase's dining room has become the central location for students with special diets to eat their meals. Most who eat from this special buffet have gluten allergies, but many have other dietary restrictions that coincide with a gluten-free diet, among them sensitivities to meats, dairy and certain vegetables and fruits. Since its inception, more than three years ago, Tina has provided "from-scratch" entrées and desserts for our special-diet students. The food-service industry has recently become aware of the growing demand for gluten-free items and has made available a multitude of premade items for those with this restriction. As we purchased more and more prebaked gluten-free desserts, Tina, who is a gifted baker, realized she could make the same products from scratch.

Stewardship Coordinator, Development

Nominated by:
Mary D'Amato, Assistant Director, Donor Relations and Stewardship, Development

Kay is an exemplary employee who always strives for the highest standards in her work and in her relationships with her coworkers. For the past six months, she has continuously done double-duty, covering the work of a team member who was out on medical leave, and who has since left the college. Since June, Kay has trained two temporary workers to take on a portion of the many complicated tasks of our former team member. The training process has been time-consuming with myriad details and a system that is not easy to navigate or to describe. In addition to keeping things running efficiently during a stressful time of transition, Kay has always maintained her sense of humor and kind manner in dealing with others. Thanks to Kay's extraordinary job of training, both of our temp workers became fully trained and efficient in all processes.

In addition to managing the complex and extremely time-sensitive endowed fund, scholarship and PRAXIS scholarship mailings, which she works on from the summertime to late spring each year, she works diligently with students to obtain pictures and information to provide to our donors. She also uses her creativity to design and format the various stationery to uniquely identify each type of mailing.

Kay interacts with many different constituencies on and off campus such as alumnae, students and staff members from many different departments—handling all with patience, dignity and grace. Kay provides exceptional customer service to one and all. Kay has worked long and hard with PRAXIS students to get them to send personalized thank you letters describing their Smith experience to donors who support these funds. For the past two years, she has obtained 100 percent response rate from students—this is quite an accomplishment in itself.

Multi-Faith Fellow, Religious and Spiritual Life

Nominated by:
Pamela Nolan Young, Director, Institutional Diversity and Equity

Matilda was one of six staff members to volunteer to prepare and conduct a workshop on social-justice issues for house diversity representatives. The four-day training was the first held for this group of student leaders. Presenters met regularly during the summer to prepare for the workshops. Matilda conducted two 90-minute sessions. The OIDE would not have been able to host the event without the contributions of the presenters.

Purchasing Mgr/Assist. Bus. Op Dining Services

Nominated by:
Kathleen Zieja, Director, Dining Services

I would like to nominate Patrick Diggins for a spotlight award for all of his outstanding work and efforts for the Women's Global leadership event from October 12 to 14. Patrick's regular support is to coordinate and purchase the food for all dining events, however, the department also leaned on him for his culinary background to set up a "staging area" at Scott Gym so that we could safely and properly provide the dinners for all of the distinguished guests.

To his credit, Patrick worked with our vendors and facilities staff to set up the dance studio in Scott, review and specify the electrical support required for all of the equipment—and this included overseeing the laying down a floor covering, bringing in refrigeration, and heating equipment and setting up a dish drop off and cleaning area. His promise to the other managers and dining staff was that we would have everything that was needed to serve the anticipated 1,500 meals. He also had to coordinate the breakdown of the space in a short window and he worked numerous hours to guarantee that the room was cleaned up and equipment returned to proper locations.

Patrick also worked with the chefs to review the timing of food preparation and delivery of the food to the gym for service, and supervised the Saturday night dinner and Sunday brunch to ensure that they went off smoothly. While he wasn't working on the gym set up, Patrick worked long hours to search for the specific food items and speciality items needed for the menus and this was not an easy task! To ensure that an event of this magnitude was executed properly, Patrick provided lots of culinary guidance and extra work hours. It was due to Patrick's efforts and support that all of the meals and service went off without a hitch. I am pleased to nominate him for this recognition.

Area Manager, Dining Services

Nominated by:
Kathy Zieja, Director, Dining Services

I'm pleased to nominate Ann Finley for a well-deserved Spotlight Award for her planning efforts, organization, and execution for the events of the Women's Global Leadership Celebration. Ann was a member of the planning committee for the WGLC, representing Dining Services, and guided that team, her catering staff, and other dining-team members in order to take on this important college event. She did an extraordinary job in planning the delicious meals and excellent service to more than 250 alumna guests. This required lots of additional hours during the summer and into October in order to manage an event of this scale.

Ann was present for all of the meals to ensure that every detail was in place and that our customers' needs were met. All of the dining events took place at Scott Gym, and this required lots of logistical planning as there wasn't a food-preparation kitchen on site. It should be noted that Ann's catering team was also impressed with her efforts, and awarded her its own gold plaque in recognition of a job well done!

Ann experienced many sleepless nights worrying about the weekend, but she exhibited her usual calm demeanor, as she was at the top of her game and knew everything had been attended to.

Ann is very deserving of this recognition, and Smith is fortunate to have such a dedicated employee.

Administrative Assistant, Theatre

Nominated by:
Ellen Kaplan, Professor, Theatre

This year Alicia has, in addition to fulfilling her regular responsibilities as theatre administrator, taken on supervision of the Theatre and Dance Box Office. She works with a team of students who are utterly committed to her, and who express their devotion and appreciation for the training and support she so generously provides. Under her direction, the box office offers excellent customer service to the hundreds of patrons who attend our shows. Alicia is always courteous and helpful; she brings a positive attitude that contributes to an upbeat atmosphere in the theater. She trains and guides the student team, and together they do a superb job of handling our clients. Alicia's contributions in the Box Office parallel her accomplishments as theatre administrator and her support for the department chair. I am particularly grateful for her ability to work in collaboration with other members of the staff and her contributions to a harmonious atmosphere. She is a treasure.

Manager of Retail & Catering, Dining Services

Nominated by:
Kathy Zieja, Director, Dining Services

Patty Hentz is nominated for a Spotlight Award for her planning and organization in support of Dining Services for the Women's Global Leadership Celebration. Patty's regular responsibilities as manager of the café keep her busy, and she and her staff provide outstanding food and service to café guests and catering events at the Campus Center. Patty's expertise in catering and her creativity were needed to support the dining activities and meals for the Women's Global Leadership event.

Patty regularly puts in long hours to meet the daily demands at the Campus Center, but quickly volunteered to provide support for this important weekend event. She worked tirelessly to make sure we had enough catering uniforms, student workers, signage and staffing. She also worked to provide signage and posters for the residential dining program so students would be able to enjoy a special meal during the weekend of the WGLC.

Patty works with Ann Finley to ensure that the catering services at Smith are topnotch, and she joined Ann in putting in many extra hours attending to every detail of this special event. Additionally, she and her staff provided refreshments for the registration area at Wright Hall.

The Women's Global Leadership Celebration followed a busy summer and opening orientation at the Campus Center café. Patty balanced all of these demands and did an outstanding job. She strives for excellence in everything she does, and I want to recognize Patty for her efforts for the WGLC.

Administrative Assistant, Theatre

Nominated by:
Ellen Kaplan, Professor, Theatre

Joan is totally committed to the theatre department. She makes herself available in every possible way to handle department business and to support other staff and faculty with energy and enthusiasm; we can call on her to step in during any emergency, to resolve any number of issues both within and beyond her writ. Joan's attention to budgetary details has saved the department money, and has added to the overall efficiency of our work. She is tireless in tracking down every aspect of the budget and of the considerable expenditures we, as a producing entity, are constantly engaging in. Joan brings boundless energy, great good humor and much enjoyment to what she does, which enhances the teamwork on which we pride ourselves. In addition, Joan supervises student workers and is equally caring of their needs. She is a pleasure to work with on every level.

Advanced Systems Integration Manager, Development

Nominated by:
Merrilyn Lewis, Director Donor Relations & Stewardship Development

During the last eight or nine months, a task force met regularly to streamline the process used to receipt every gift that comes to the college. The ultimate goal was for the gifts and record unit to assume responsibility for sending all receipts, and to be able to send them electronically (that is, via email). The former system was archaic, clunky and difficult to use.

As part of the task force, Julia demonstrated an exceptional problem-solving aptitude. She readily identified needs and quickly provided possible solutions, always welcoming feedback along the way. As glitches arose, she responded with assistance and a willingness to identify where the problem occurred, and offered resolutions.

Julia was also responsible for training our colleagues in gifts and records on the new system/processes. Her patience and we-can-fix-that attitude have been deeply appreciated.

On July 16 the transition was made, and electronic receipts have been sent now for a month, with little or no difficulties. I hope that Julia took pride and satisfaction in the success of her efforts, and for this I nominate her for a Spotlight Award.

Administrative Assistant, Clark Science Center

Nominated by:
James Lowenthal, Professor of Astronomy

I'm very happy to nominate Donna Kortes for a Spotlight Award. Donna has made our life in AST much easier with her proactive and very professional support. She handles all our paperwork quickly and efficiently, but more importantly she keeps on top of the deadlines that I'm supposed to be on top of as chair—I really don't know how she even finds about them—and she reminds me at just the right time about action needed. And then she makes getting the job done even easier by making the options clear ("Does the AST space for reunion events need to be reserved?") and then following through with all manner of administrative details ("I'll send it to the registrar"). All of this is done in her characteristic low-key but very pleasant manner. All in all, Donna is a great asset to AST and the Clark Science Center, and I'd be happy to see her hard work recognized.

Technical Services Coordinator, Information Technology Services

Nominated by:
Giovanna Bellesia, Professor of Italian Language & Literature

I'd like to point out an exceptional Smith employee who I think should be recognized. Every time I have a problem with my laptop, a broken backup drive, or some other technological crisis, Bill Krieger is ready to help. He is amazing: kind, knowledgeable, patient. I'm very aware of how much more difficult it would be for our faculty were it not for such great support. Bill is invaluable as a person and as a technician.

Program Director Health & Mentor Program, Clark Science Center Administration

Nominated by:
Pamela Nolan Young, Advisor to the President /Director of Institutional Diversity/Equity

Katie was one of six staff members who volunteered to prepare and conduct a workshop on social-justice issues for House Diversity representatives. The four-day training was the first held for this group of student leaders. Presenters met regularly during the summer to prepare for the workshops. Katie conducted the 90-minute opening session. The OIDE would not have been able to host the event without the contributions of the presenters.

Area Manager, Dining Services

Nominated by:
Kathy Zieja, Director, Dining Services

I would like to nominate Pat Mahar for a Spotlight Award in recognition of her planning efforts for special dinners and student dinners during the Women's Global Leadership Celebration, and for her excellent work with Orientation and other student events.

An event of the scope of the WGLC required the dining teams to work together and support the catering department. Pat and the other managers planned, organized, and ordered equipment, food, and supplies for the dinners, which were served in Scott Gym. In addition, Pat volunteered to manage the Friday-night dinner for the 250 alumnae and guests. Pat is our go-to person for planning the events and meals during Commencement weekend, and was therefore a great resource for dining management in planning the menus for the WGLC. Pat was also a helpful contributor at September's weekly planning meetings.

During that month, Pat also planned a number of special events for our regular dining program, and was singled out for her efforts for the Latina dinner and the Dine Around during Orientation. These activities required Pat to work extra hours to ensure that each event went off smoothly, and I want to commend and thank her for her support in creating a wonderful dining experience and great food for students and guests.

Float Cook Assistant, Dining Services

Nominated by:
Rick Rubin, Area Manager, Dining Services

As a Dining Service employee at Chase House, Dan McKenna (C.A.) has worked with other Chase kitchen staff to prepare quality food for all Smith students who dine with us. During the academic year, Chase's dining room has become the central location for students with special diets to eat their meals. The majority who eat from our special buffet line have gluten allergies, but others have other dietary restrictions that coincide with a gluten-free diet, among them sensitivity to meats, dairy and certain vegetables/fruits. Since its inception, more than three years ago, Dan has taken the lead in ensuring that the food served to students with special dietary needs is free from potentially threatening items. Over the past 20 years we have seen an increase in the number of students with food allergies, and in the last five years there have been many more students specifically with gluten allergies. This rapid increase in people suffering from gluten allergies along with other restrictions has made it challenging for our kitchen staff to keep up with the nuances of preparing for these types of diets.

As the number of students with special diets grew, it became apparent to many of us—but especially to Dan—that as a group, Chase dining staff should be more aware of these special requirements. It became one of Dan's priorities to ensure that all food on the special-diet line not only was of high quality, but also did not contain any ingredients that had the potential to make any of our students sick. Dan worked to educate himself, other staff, managers, and even students on the proper handling of these foods. He regularly checks ingredients of premade food and communicates with kitchen staff about the ingredients they use in the foods they prepare. Dan works hard to present food that is fresh, tasty and of high quality, and also sees to it that all students can feel confident about eating at Smith.

Chef, Dining Services

Nominated by:
Pat Mahar, Area Manager, Dining Services

Students on the Senate Dining Committee made a suggestion to extend the hours of service for Sunday brunch. To help meet the students' needs, during the spring semester we tried changing the hours of service at Chapin House. Instead of dinner, we served a later brunch, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Glenn and a coworker wrote the menus and served all the meals. Glenn was very creative with the menus, serving items he knew the students would enjoy. He was very flexible and positive during the entire process. The students LOVED IT, and the counts went as high as 600. Thanks to Glenn's help, this pilot program was a huge success.

Stockroom Assistant

Nominated by:
Betty Daignault, Technical Support Specialist, Clark Science Center

Jack has worked in the Clark Science Center stockroom for almost five years, and what a contribution he has made to his job and to the center. Jack always has a good attitude, is willing to learn anything, works hard at keeping chaos at bay, and is very reliable. The stockroom is a place where if rigorous organization is not maintained, chaos can ensue. Jack makes it a daily challenge to perform his job while paying meticulous attention to the details of the area and giving his upmost to provide first-class customer service to everyone who walks through the door.

I must say that I can't cite a specific event or a job that Jack has done to be singled out: It's his daily performance that deserves praise. His upbeat attitude is a good reason to come to work and share the day, and I believe that everyone who interacts with Jack agrees with my evaluation.

Event Database Administrator

Nominated by:
Ann Finley, Area Manager, Dining Services

Ken Molnar has taken the expertise and proficiency he brings to college relations and shared them across the campus, generating maps, signage, name plates and invitations for other departments. For a number of years, he has also created beautifully crafted menu cards for the catering department for its annual Honorary Degree Dinner during Commencement weekend.

Ken has also trained staff in data management with patience and confidence in their success, and set up data systems for other departments' use. In addition, he has served on Staff Council, proofing and editing many issues of the Staff Chronicle.

For these reasons, and for the kind support he is always willing to give to the Smith community, Ken truly deserves a Spotlight Award.

Wellness Education Director, Student Affairs

Nominated by:
Pamela Nolan Young, Director, Institutional Diversity and Equity

Emily was one of six staff members who volunteered to prepare and conduct a workshop on social-justice issues for House Diversity representatives. The four-day training was the first held for this group of student leaders. Presenters met regularly during the summer to prepare for the workshops. Emily conducted two 90-minute sessions. The OIDE would not have been able to host the event without the contributions of the presenters.

Tech Systems Analyst, Information Technology Services

Nominated by:
Chrissie Bell, Administrative Assistant, Philosophy

At the end of August, 2012 Dewey Hall was newly renovated and it was time for faculty to move back into the building, just before classes were to begin. Over a three-day period, Chris Niemiec (and Steve Stander) connected computers, printers and phones in 24 offices and a handful of meeting rooms. They coordinated their efforts with each other and with me, kept track of what was working and what wasn't, and communicated very effectively with the faculty throughout those days. Their commitment was obvious and the occupants of Dewey Hall are very grateful to them for their efforts.

Donor Relations Specialist Development

Nominated by:
Merrilyn Lewis, Director Donor Relations & Stewardship Development

From November 12–16, Halley successfully led "Thank a Smithie," a weeklong stewardship effort that dovetailed with National Philanthropy Day and helped our students better understand the alumna philanthropy that supports the college. True to her nature, Halley collaborated with others on campus: Smith Fund, as most of the donors will have supported its efforts; college relations, to fine-tune the promotional items she designed, such as note cards, posters, writing prompts, stickers, and give-away pins and pens; student affairs and the House Presidents Association, to seek student input and involvement; catering, for refreshments (feed them and they will come!); and development colleagues, to help staff the tables and contribute to the thank-you notes.

With more than 1,000 notes written, reviewed and mailed before Thanksgiving, it was a tremendous success. That she could pull together all of the details in the few short weeks after the Women's Global Leadership Celebration was quite remarkable.

I am delighted to submit her nomination for a Spotlight Award.

Administrative Assistant, Afro-American Studies

Nominated by:
Ann Leone, Professor of French Studies, and Daphne LaMothe, Associate Professor Afro-American Studies,

David, as always, is unflappable. He handles any and every task with calm, grace and efficiency. He's also self-directed and full of initiative. Our curricular and co curricular planning and our budgeting run like a well-oiled machine because of David's knowledge and dedication. I especially want to highlight his work organizing Kevin Quashie's book talk in September and his development of the publicity for Pearl Cleage's residency in November (the Cleage residency was organized by Andrea Hairston, in theatre, but we did the publicity). In both instances, he created fliers and posters that were eye'catching and gorgeous. He sent notices to the campus community that were perfectly timed and targeted the right groups. We on campus tend to be inundated with emails, so I don't take for granted the knowledge it takes to strategize how early and how often to communicate in order to get peoples' attention. In each case, we had a full house and I give David much of the credit for helping to achieve our excellent attendance.

Nominated by:
Ann Leone, Professor, French Studies

David knows our program inside and out. He manages our important connections with faculty and programs in the other valley colleges, especially those in landscape architecture and architecture at the university. Every spring he deals with all correspondence with our 13 speakers for LSS 100. This year he has organized two visits involving lectures, meetings with students, and complicated travel for two important guests to landscape studies.

Administrative Assistant, English Language & Literature

Nominated by:
Richard Millington, Professor, English Language & Literature

Jennifer Roberts began her work as the administrative assistant to the English department and the Program in Comparative Literature this year. Her predecessor in this position, Bobbie Kozash, had held this position for many years, and it was hard to imagine anyone taking over for her. Yet Jen has made the transition a seamless one, and many department members who wondered what would become of us without Bobbie now feel the utter security brought about by Jen's omnifold competence, her warmth and cheerfulness and the remarkable skill with which she has mastered her new job. She has handled with particular skill the challenge of at once providing continuity by performing the many services department members had come to expect from Bobbie and making the job her own by making changes that have brought new efficiencies to the work and taken advantage of the technological resources now at our disposal. I can think of no area in which she hasn't excelled, and only some eight months into the job she seems like an old hand.

Nominated by:
Sabina Knight, Associate Professor, Comparative Literature

When Bobbie Kozash retired after 40 years of service, Jennifer Roberts graciously managed the transition for both the Program in Comparative Literature (CLT) and the Department of English (ENG). As our new administrative assistant, Jennifer immediately went above and beyond the scope of daily responsibilities as we had to establish or reinvent many procedures, as well as catch up on important overdue duties. We had to finish many of these tasks on very tight deadlines (as the official deadlines had passed). Because I, the incoming director of comparative literature was also new to my position, we had to learn the ropes together. Jennifer worked tirelessly with me to catch up on our program's work, including compiling the teaching schedule for spring 2013 and preparing orientation and other materials. (With retirement preparations and ceremonies, Bobbie Kozash had a great deal to do at the time of her departure, and the outgoing director of comparative literature left the country at the end of May, a month before the end of his term, just as Jennifer entered her position.)

Over the summer and throughout the year, Jennifer also went beyond the call of duty in working with me to establish or reinvent many procedures, reorganize extensive outdated paper files, and begin developing practices that will work for the future. For example, because many faculty were accustomed to having Bobbie make hard-copy course packets and readers, Jennifer not only had to request copyright permissions, but also had to help several colleagues learn how to use and transfer their materials to e-reserves. She patiently explained the reasons for the change to colleagues unfamiliar with e-reserves, and she did a tremendous amount of scanning not only for faculty in CLT and ENG, but also for the writing instructors in the Jacobson Center.

Jennifer demonstrated great determination to keep everything running smoothly during this enormous transition, and she did so with exceptional kindness and patience. Many faculty expressed gratitude for Jennifer's high-quality work.

Jennifer also provides exceptional ongoing support to all of the faculty in CLT and ENG, as well as the faculty who work in Peirce Hall. (These colleagues rely on her to maintain the copier, printers, and other parts of the building, as well as to accept deliveries and do other favors.) She often eats lunch at her desk in order to be available to faculty and to collect papers for their students. She also arranges refreshments for meetings and events, and she often purchases them herself at discount stores to save the program money. Her warm presence and cheerful, positive attitude fosters camaraderie, collaboration, and trust among faculty.

Area Manager, Dining Services

Nominated by:
Kathy Zieja, Director, Dining Services

I'm pleased to nominate Rick Rubin for a Spotlight Award for his enthusiasm for and support of the two catered lunches during the Women's Global Leadership Celebration and for his management of our consolidated summer dining programs.

Rick volunteered to manage the two catered luncheons at Scott gym. He worked with the catering team to plan, organize, and serve 250 guests, and the meals were outstanding. Operating in a location without a kitchen was a challenge, and he planned every detail to provide our customers with a great experience.

Rick also coordinated the china, glassware, and silverware needs for the entire weekend—his spreadsheet was always changing, as decisions to add a dish, a fork, or a spoon, depending on the menu, varied for each event. Rick also worked with the catering and food-purchasing managers to make final decisions on what to serve.

This event required long days for Rick to take care of the details while balancing his regular job responsibilities. I appreciated his extra work, especially as this event followed our very busy summer. Rick works with numerous leaders of summer programs, and he and his staff did a great job offering excellent food and service at Lamont.

He provided outstanding leadership for the new Smith summer programs and worked to ensure that our customers enjoyed their time here. For example, Ramadan took place while the S.T.E.M. participants were on campus, and Rick made sure there was appropriate, quality food after the daylight fast.

Relief Cook, Dining Services

Nominated by:
Rick Rubin, Area Manager, Dining Services

Lisa Seymour has exceeded the expectations of staff, managers and customers in her role as associate at the Lamont Summer Dining Program this past year. The Summer Program Office coordinated 35 programs with 2,862 guests. The Lamont Program provided dining for many of these guests, among them industry-leading biologists, Baghdad University students, young violinists, guitarists, actors, singers, museum-study students, and Smith students working on campus. This large number of programs had Lisa working with staff and managers preparing food, arranging seating charts, ordering food and supplies, working with program directors and coordinating special events.

Even with everything on her plate, Lisa balanced all of her responsibilities and still provided excellent customer service. Throughout the summer we received many letters of appreciation for the work Lisa and the other staff at Lamont did. Lisa worked with every customer individually and went out of her way to communicate with each of them about any changes or information pertinent to her or his program.

Administrative Coordinator, Interdisciplinary Studies

Nominated by:
Justin Cammy, Associate Professor, Jewish Studies

I supervise Rachel Siegel in interdisciplinary studies, Seelye Hall. Rachel supports not only the Program in Jewish Studies, which I chair, but also the Program for the Study of Women and Gender, the Archives Concentration, and Faculty Council. I'm amazed at the degree to which she manages to serve these various constituencies with efficiency and professionalism. Her days are filled balancing the needs of the general faculty in a classroom teaching building, the demands of various programs and concentrations, the committee work of Faculty Council, and the management of significant budgets for these programs. She does so with good humor, energy and attention to details. As program directors, we are fortunate to have someone of her capabilities, organizational skills, proactive nature and vision working with us on behalf of the education of students. She is a superb member of our team and a hard worker who deserves to be acknowledged for her skills and commitment to the college.

Nominated by:
James Lowenthal, Professor, Astronomy

Rachel took over this year from Leah Ahlen as secretary of Faculty Council, which I chair. Rachel did an exceptional job in this position that was entirely new to her. There was plenty of catching up for her to do, and she did it quickly and cheerfully. Her can-do attitude and proactive assistance were incredibly helpful to council. She arranged for all our open faculty meeting lunches for upwards of 50 people (as well as all our council weekly lunches); she compiled our agendas and minutes and managed their posting on the council webpage; she stayed on top of all the many deadlines for elections and other faculty-wide issues; and she agreed to serve as a co-manager of the new Google Groups Smith Faculty listserv. Through all those tasks she communicated clearly and effectively, and always with good humor. I would be delighted to see her hard work and professionalism acknowledged through a Spotlight Award.

Desktop Systems Analyst Information Technology Services

Nominated by:
Chrissie Bell, Administrative Assistant, Philosophy

At the end of August 2012 Dewey Hall was newly renovated and it was time for faculty to move back into the building, just before classes were to begin. Over a three-day period, Steve Stander (and Chris Niemiec) connected computers, printers and phones in 24r offices and a handful of meeting rooms. They coordinated their efforts with each other and with me, kept track of what was working and what wasn't and communicated very effectively with the faculty throughout those days. Their commitment was obvious and the occupants of Dewey Hall are very grateful to them for their efforts.

Grants & Contracts Specialist, VP/Finance & Administration

Nominated by:
Patti Thornton, Assistant Director of Development; Marilyn Woodman, Corp. & Foundation Relations Director Development; Denise Rodino, Associate Director Fac Grants/Gov. Rel.

Kate Wallen is deserving of the Spotlight Award for her professionalism in taking on projects, her response to requests, and her ability to provide results quickly even when a request is not in her area of expertise.

Kate strives for excellence and will go above and beyond to help make sure a project budget is accurate and complete. Last fall our office called on Kate for help on a very detailed budget project for a grant proposal. Somehow she was able to comb through years of figures in a very short amount of time and give us the data we needed.

For the past couple of months, Kate has been covering for a colleague who is on maternity leave. In addition to continuing to do her own job with excellence, Kate has taken on responsibilities for pregrant award details with that same standard. This work requires meticulous attention to pregrant budget details with complex electronic submissions, as well as the ability to work with a wide range of individuals facing firm deadlines.

She is highly organized and demonstrates great pride in the presentation of her work. Kate is gracious and conscientious and eager to help, even when her plate is overflowing. She is extremely flexible and exudes calm in the face of last-minute requests. Kate truly deserves a Spotlight Award for all of her great work!

Dining Room Coordinator, Dining Services

Nominated by:
Pat Mahar, Area Manager, Dining Services

During the spring semester, the department changed Sunday's hours of service at Chapin House. The staff served a later brunch, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. This was a change that Yaeko, the DRC at Chapin, welcomed: She knew it was something students really wanted. As it turned out, there was a huge increase in the number of students who dined at Chapin on Sundays. Yaeko arranged to get extra student help, and made sure all shifts were filled. She set up the dining room such that it was easy for students to go quickly through the line to get their meals. The department appreciates Yaeko's positive attitude and flexibility with this pilot project.