Honoring years of service and a job well done

The Chancellor's Staff Recognition Awards honors the achievements of staff members across campus whose hard work, dedication to excellence and push for innovation make significant contributions to the mission of the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Chancellor Domenico Grasso

Chancellor Domenico Grasso welcomed the crowd to the Nov. 13 breakfast award ceremony, recognizing the staff as the backbone of the university and noting longevity as one of the greatest strengths and a reflection of a strong campus community. "The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the median number of years that wage and salary workers have been with their current employer was 3.9 years in January of 2024, the lowest since January of 2002. This reception shows how dedicated so many of our staff are to serving our students," said Grasso. With staff receiving awards recognizing over 1075 years of service, UM-Dearborn is pushing back against the national average, he noted.

ECEC Academic Director Catie Stone

Each year, the Staff Recognition Committee chooses a university partner to highlight and this year's selection was the Early Childhood Education Center. Catie Stone, academic director of the ECEC and a featured speaker at the event, echoed the Chancellor's sentiment about the impact of UM-Dearborn's staff.

"I am so lucky to work with a team like this. I've never seen a more dedicated, knowledgeable, inspiring, dynamic and fun group of educators," said Stone. "The Early Childhood Education Center has had over 10,000 kids directly educated by us over the years. Since we work as a lab school, we've also indirectly impacted hundreds of thousands of children throughout the state. We taught their teachers."

A highlight of the event was recognizing Mail Room Motor Vehicle Operator John Kaszewski for 50 years of service. The audience honored him with a standing ovation.

In addition to the 81 staff members celebrating milestone anniversaries this year, five awards were presented to people or teams who went above and beyond in their roles across campus to support UM-Dearborn's mission. This year, the committee received 44 award nominations - a record number.

Here are the 2024 award winners.

Innovation Award

Sophie Nguyen, Business Intelligence Analyst, Institutional Research & Effectiveness

From Sophie's nomination:

"Sophie led the way for UM-Dearborn in developing our first Tableau dashboards and this award specifically recognizes her work on the Live Enrollment Dashboard which was completed this summer in partnership with Enrollment Management. . . . Since Sophie started developing Tableau dashboards, the team has developed a robust set of them that are highly utilized on campus. The Live Enrollment Dashboard was challenging and required special innovation to deliver. Sophie was able to learn advanced technology with ease and understand how to bring together UM-Dearborn data to specifically meet UM-Dearborn's unique needs."

Advancing the Mission Award

External Relations Web Team: Bailey Ayers-Korpal, Kalanda Kambeya, Claudia Lugo-Meeks and John Powell

From left to right: Chancellor Domenico Grasso, Bailey Ayers-Korpal, Claudia Lugo-Meeks and John Powell with Kalanda Kambeya joining remotely

Here's what a nominator said:

"The web team had a vision for the website improvements based on best practice research and vendor partner expertise. The web team always kept the vision in sight while listening to the needs and wants of the campus community. The team blended campus feedback with the vision, compromised when needed and moved the complex project forward on time and on budget."

Community Engagement Award

Molly Manley, Outreach & Engagement Specialist, Office of Community Engaged Learning

Chancellor Domenico Grasso and Molly Manley

When asked to comment on Molly's merit regarding this award, Carmel Price, Associate Professor of Sociology and Provost Fellow, wrote:

"Molly's understanding of community-based research and teaching is refreshing. She understands how to center and respect community partners while also keeping the mission of UM-Dearborn, e.g. student success, in mind. Molly knows the power of relationships and she is gifted at building and forming meaningful relationships with community members, faculty, staff and students. Most importantly, Molly cares. She cares deeply about social justice, equity, diversity and ethics. Molly serving as the Outreach and Engagement Specialist for the Office of Community Engaged Learning has been a blessing for both our campus and our community."

Student Success Award

Kimberly LaPere, CIS Graduate Program Coordinator, Computer & Information Science

Chancellor Domenico Grasso and Kimberly LaPere

From Kimberly's nomination:

"Kim's dedication to student success is evident in her proactive approach to mentoring and supporting students. She regularly reaches out to underperforming students, making reminder calls to ensure they stay on track, and resolves complex issues related to course transfers, prerequisites and registration. Kim also facilitates student services by addressing countless inquiries related to financial aid, visas, CPT and OPT processes. Her ongoing support and availability make her a trusted resource for students from admission to graduation."

Dearborn Victor Award

Dan Blacker, Facilities & Events Senior Manager, Athletics & Recreation

Chancellor Domenico Grasso and Dan Blacker

Here's what a nominator said:

"Dan is outstanding! He is the backbone of the Athletics & Recreation Department in regards to maintaining the fieldhouse and ice arena and providing a great game day experience for student-athletes and coaches. Dan is also highly respected on campus. As he has grown into his position, more and more people on campus know him and work with him and have a great experience working with him."

Here are the staff service milestone honorees.

5-year milestone anniversary

Swapnasree Bangalore Arumugam, Stephen Bernard, Anthony Brown Jr, Autumm Caines, Nicholas Capul, Jason Cazier, Amee Cherry, Sarah Drogheo, Nicole Engel, Michelle Fallscheer, Soon Kong, Kimberly LaPere, Molly McCutchan, Andrew Meyer, Andrea Nonnenmacher, Kelsey Parker, Maria Paterno, Tyler Petee, Marta Pethke, Jillian Poteracki, Donovan Reeve, Worteh Sampson, Cathy Sidor, Lindsey Singley, Charles Starkman, Melissa Stone, Jennifer Tomblin, Casandra Ulbrich, Greta Valmassoi, Anitra Wells and Aletha Williams

10-year milestone anniversary

Kathleen Asmann, Lisa Copeland, Randy Dillard, Dana Fennessey, Rachael Gibbs, Eva Gogola, Kevin Headrick, Bradley Jones, Natalie Kuhn, Dragan Lazin, Danielle Muehlenbein, Lanie Offman, David Reynolds, Becky Richardson, Kristen Sanchez, Jason Sands, Louise Schiedel, Eric Stark, Sarah Tuxbury, Robert Ward and Tuere Wheeler

15-year milestone anniversary

Jessica Calderon, Bill Fluharty, Emily Hamilton, Ian V Hawkins and Lee Savage

20-year milestone anniversary

Bryan Earl, Amy Finley, Tamarah Hawkins and Jeremie McCoy

25-year milestone anniversary

Sherry Boyd, Denise Bozeman, Tammy Casey, John Cristiano, Stacy Eglinton and Sherie Modelski

30-year milestone anniversary

Scott Alexander, Eric Kirk, Patti Martin, Vanessa Maxwell, Leigh McGrath, Richard Simek, Emily Wang and Mark West

35-year milestone anniversary

Mark Hostetter, Randy Meyer and Stephen Sersen

50-year milestone anniversary

John Kaszewski

The Staff Recognition Committee coordinates the nominating process, recommends recipients for each award and arranges the ceremony. Members of the committee include Jackie Kortes, Michelle Barnes, Jessica Calderson, Nicholas Capul, Rachel Buzzeo, Sheryl Kubiak, Diane Sigler, Julie Faust, Kari Kowalski, Shari Marshall, Sherie Modelski, Kelsey Parker, Celia Robinson and Melisa Wilson.

Article by Kathryn Bourlier. Photos by Annie Barker.