March 28, 2024

CSM Honors Employees at Convocation

Convocation

Employees at the College of Southern Maryland are the school’s greatest asset. The college recognized its employees for innovation, leadership and service during the annual All-Campus Convocation on Sept. 30, 2016. The convocation was designed to bring together faculty and staff to collaborate and celebrate one of the college’s core values: respect. After a welcome address by CSM President Dr. Brad Gottfried, employees were honored for their accomplishments of the past year.

Honored were:

President’s Awards

Daphne Morris, Joel Kinison, Keisha Patterson, Kristy Stevens, Wesley Robbs, Dave Marek, Barry Hamilton, Matthew Cox, Jill Wathen and Gene Kirscht were honored for providing outstanding coordination to migrate the college from Blackboard to Brightspace Desire2Learn to help the college better serve its students while saving money. The team was nominated by Rob Farinelli.

Lean Initiative – Lean Team leaders Helene Cameron, Heather Zeolla, Joyce Embrey, Jill Wathen, Kristy Stevens, Kim Yellman, Larisa Pfeiffer, Markia Simmons, Anne Buckler, Angela Thornton, Debbie Jacques and Douglas Kuykendall; and Scheduling Kaizen Team members Doreen Bickel, Helene Cameron, Dr. Jessica Chambers, Phyllis Coombs, Rob Farinelli, Marcy Gannon, Tiffany Gill, Brian Hammond, Lena Hancock, Jen Houchin, Ronda Jacobs, Dr. Stephen Johnson, Peggy Jones, Dr. Kelly McMurray, Daphne Morris, Melanie Osterhouse, Amee Patel, Shelby Potts, David Robinson, Tom Russ, Shelly Snell and Patty Zych were honored. These team members learned and embraced Lean Principles to lead the charge for strategic continuous improvement of CSM’s internal and external processes. They were nominated by the President’s Council.

Innovative Teaching Award

Erich Hintze, Rachel Heinhorst, Barbara Johnson, Barbara Link, David Phalen and Joy Syring worked tirelessly to give students greater success in credit-level English and in so doing have created a model for developmental education throughout Maryland. They were nominated by David Robinson.

Innovator Awards

Honored were Dr. Lydia Williams, Chris Zimmermann, Dr. Melanie Osterhouse and Shelby Potts for successfully launching and managing the Presidential Scholars Program designed to attract high-achieving scholars at the Prince Frederick Campus in fiscal 2016. They were nominated by Dr. Rich Fleming.

Kathy McClure, Carol Harrison, Gene Kirscht, Phil Hawkins and Dave Marek were honored for implementing Parchment software to send electronic transcripts. CSM has moved to this paperless platform which better serves its students and saves CSM money in resources and labor. They were nominated by Diane Major.

Leadership Award

Ellen Flowers-Fields inherited the Small Business Development Center with an annual structural budget deficit of $40,000. During the past two budget cycles, she met with local officials and has turned the deficit situation around with increased funding in St. Mary’s and Charles counties. She also has been very active in the grants area, landing an $800,000 multi-year grant from SHA to expand the number of minority firms in Maryland who are certified to work on state projects, expanding SBDC staffing and services provided to SBDC patrons. She was nominated by Dr. Dan Mosser.

Extra Mile Award

Courtnie Krauss was honored for administering off-site placement testing at all Calvert County high schools and one in Charles County, involving approximately 500 students, as well an additional math testing for some juniors. She was nominated by Linda Giles.

Judi Ferrara, Joyce Embrey, Kelly Winters and Karen Brandt assumed project management and fiscal responsibilities for large grants, in addition to their normal full-time duties, which are advancing the college’s impact in our region. They were nominated by Dr. Dan Mosser.

Tracey Stuller led the Leonardtown Biological and Physical Sciences Division by encouraging faculty and students to play an active role coordinating the Leonardtown Campus Save the Tree Project. She also worked with community leaders including the Patuxent Tidewater Trust to ensure that the trees were properly handled by giving an overview of tree and vine management while providing students with the knowledge of the practical application of their work. She was nominated by Dr. Tracy Harris.

Customer Service Award

Due to the large number of nominations, no single winner was selected for this category. Congratulations to those recognized by their co-workers: Building and Grounds technicians, Web Services team, Prince Frederick Campus Student Services, Chris Richards, Sharon Buckler, Devonta Lawrence, Roseann Glassman, Thirza Morgan, Judy Mills, Julie Sackfield, Karen Smith Hupp and Julie Andrews-Walker.

College/Community Service Award

Amee Patel and Marcia Kent organized two community service projects on the Prince Frederick Campus. Their efforts included a decorated holiday tree for Calvert Hospice fundraising efforts as well more than 60 winter coats, scarves and gloves for Catholic Charities Coat of Many Colors coat drive. They were nominated by Sharon Wilding.

Jim Cleary, Don Posey, Nathan Welch and Ron Toward worked to have two new dugouts built and a new fence installed for the CSM softball team. Their negotiations with local vendors and the community resulted in getting materials at a discount and in-kind labor saving the college 37 percent on the overall estimated project costs. The improvements greatly enhance the appearance of the athletic facilities and better serve CSM’s student-athletes. They were nominated by Tony Jernigan, Dr. Bill Comey and Michelle Ruble.

Kim Yellman, Heather Zeolla and Annie Sutten led efforts to partner with the Charles County Children’s Aid Society on the nonprofit’s annual backpack project for the past four years. They have organized college volunteers to successfully pack more than 6,000 backpacks so that young learners can start the school year with the right supplies. This service project makes an impact in the community and on the campus. They were nominated by Karen Smith Hupp.

Professional Goal Attainment Award

Anne Buckler earned the Society for Human Resources Certified Professional Certification. David Coppins-Crump earned an Associate of Applied Science in Management Development, a Certificate in Office Technology, and was recognized as an Outstanding Student in the Management Development Department from CSM. Jennifer Everhart earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland, University College. Jeanine Davis earned a Pharmacy Technician Certificate from CSM.

Also at the convocation, Dr. Patrick Allen, chair of CSM’s Social Sciences and Public Services Division, spoke on “Learning the Value of Respect. Learn It. Live It. Pass It On.” The faculty and staff then split into break-out sessions to talk about the respect theme – how they would define it, how they demonstrate it and the verbal and non-verbal signs of respect.

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