During the annual Information Technology Services (ITS) Picnic, on Wednesday, May 7, 2008, Brian Roberts, Vice President, Information Technology announced a number of achievements by ITS staff. In doing so, Roberts stressed the ongoing importance of recognizing outstanding employees, saying "a complete program of employee recognition is strongly supported by ITS senior management and came out of the ITS strategic planning goals of Organizational Excellence and Innovation."
CAST Award
As he presented the May 2008 CAST Award, Roberts said "I can't think of a higher honor than to be recognized by your colleagues for the work you do." The CAST Award is presented to an ITS staff member who exemplifies commitment, attitude, service and teamwork. An internal selection committee chooses the recipient based on nominations from ITS staff and the campus community at large. For the May 2008 award, one nominee stood out among the 20 nominations submitted.
Scott Richardson, Desktop Support Specialist in User Services was cited in more than ten nominations for his personality, responsiveness and willingness to "go above and beyond the call of duty." Scott, who supports the Anthropology and Air Force Sciences departments in the College of Liberal Arts, was praised as being "the best IT tech we've had in the 16 years I've been working for The University. He solves the problem, period. If he does not know the answer, he researches it and gets the issue resolved.” Again and again, people he supports praise Scott as being "an exemplary employee" who is "a valuable asset to The University and a credit to his department." Congratulations, Scott!
Commitment to Excellence Service Award
Mark Innmon, Senior Computer Equipment Maintenance Technician, in the Operations group of ITS, was the first-ever ITS employee to receive AppleCare's Commitment to Excellence Award. This award is part of a quarterly recognition program created by AppleCare to honor Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASP) who meet strict eligibility requirements. To receive the award, an AASP has to fix a minimum of four machines per day. Mark accomplished this goal even though he is just a one-man shop. Only 125 awards were presented nationwide, which places Mark in the top five per cent of all AASPs in North America. Congratulations, Mark!
Staff Service Awards
The University of Texas at Austin Staff Service Awards Program recognizes the importance of the contributions of loyal and committed staff to the continuing success of the university. Recognition is based on length of service.
In 2008, twenty-seven ITS staff members were honored for their length of service to the university:
- Roger Bostic, 10 years
- William Bova, 10 years
- Roger Birdwell, 25 years
- Michelle Carlson, 25 years
- Zachary Clubb, 10 years
- David Dobelbower, 10 years
- Jeffrey Dowdy, 20 years
- George Fahlund, 10 years
- Michael Godfrey, 10 years
- Charles Guajardo, 10 years
- Cooper (Guy) Henson, 10 years
- Stephen Holland , 15 years
- Sarah Holmes, 10 years
- Joshua Hsu, 10 years
- Schuyler Hupp, 25 years
- Christopher Johnson, 20 years
- Sandra Johnson, 20 years
- Luther Keeler, 30 years
- Dennis Klenk, 30 years
- Larry Liberty, 20 years
- James McClellan, 40 years
- Craig Meserole, 10 years
- Dwain Pape, 15 years
- Curtis Pew, 20 years
- Aidee Sanchez, 10 years
- Candace Sandefur, 10 years
- Frank Sayre, 25 years
- James Stolpa, 30 years
- Diane Sumner, 15 years
- Gene Titus, 20 years
- Shilanda Woolridge, 10 years
- Kamran Ziai, 15 years
Congratulations everyone, for your individual achievement and your 550 combined years of service to the university!
