2021 Outstanding Staff Awards: Remote Edition
After a year of unexpected twists and turns, we were excited to bring back the annual tradition of the Staff Appreciation and Outstanding Awards! This year’s celebration was very special as it was the first time it was completely virtual. Given our hiatus from it last year, this was our 20th annual Staff Appreciation and Outstanding Awards.
Selecting the winners this year was a difficult task! We are grateful for the HEART Committee for taking the time and care to honor their fellow colleagues. We are also grateful to our incredibly Haasome community for being there for each other in a time of need. We thank you all.
And now for the awardees…drumroll please!
For going “Beyond Yourself”: Rosemary Alonso from the Human Resources, Academic Affairs and Administration department!
As the person who nominated Rosemary states, “Rosemary is one of the kindest, thoughtful, and most helpful people that I know.” Responsible for the hiring and maintaining of Haas’ professional faculty, Rosemary’s landscape is always changing. From semester faculty changes to software system changes, she still makes time to help others. She has a smile and kind word for everyone, and she will never hesitate to find the solution to your problem no matter what it is. Thank you for being there for us Rosemary!
Our next award is for being a “Student Always”: Tiffany Santana from the Finance department!
We’ve heard over and over again that Tiffany has brought a fresh set of eyes. A quick learner, Tiffany can take a look at a budget and find areas of improvement, but she doesn’t stop there! She goes the extra mile by working with teams to recognize, suggest and then implement improvements. Tiffany is happy to lend a helping hand and her warm personality has made a large impact on the Haas community. You rock Tiffany!
Up next, someone that “Questions the Status Quo”: Ross Knight from the MBA Programs for Working Professionals Admissions!
Ross’ passion to question the status quo results in his innovative approaches to problem solving and an ongoing commitment to process improvement. Over his last 2+ years on our team, he has not only made the WPMBA Admissions team more efficient and productive, but he also lends a hand to other Haas departments too. From an overhaul of the operation team’s division of labor to automating processes and reports that have saved offices hours of work, Ross always says “there’s always room for improvement”. We love that energy Ross – keep it up!
The final individual award goes to a person that has “Confidence without Attitude”: Meg Fellner from the Human Resources, Academic Affairs and Administration department!
Meg has tackled all that the past year has thrown at her. From virtual graduations to the outdoor pilot program to the study room pilot program, Meg has been the driving force behind it all. She has been the center of creative thinking about how to reopen our campus this past year, as she tirelessly developed new systems to safely bring students back to campus. She championed questioning the status quo to determine not “if” but “how” , without loosing her positive attitude. Thank you Meg for all of the pivoting you’ve had to do! You rock!
In the spirit of “Collaboration and Inclusiveness”, the HEART Committee decided to select 2 teams to receive the team award: Haas Digital and Anti-Racism Challenge!
Haas Digital: Sara Sieteski, Tom Tripp, Amy Ho, Aria Priest, Fernando Corral, Keeley Takimoto, Robert Bazydlo, Sharon Guo, Annette Martinez
Anti-Racism Challenge: Marco Lindsey, David Moren, Seren Pendleton- Knoll, Armaan Singh, Tyrone Wise II
These two teams have done some incredible work in vastly different areas.
Haas Digital: The entire Haas Digital Team has been working so hard throughout the duration of the pandemic to support high quality instruction for the school. In spring 2020, they hurried to meet every faculty member at their own level of digital preparedness to help them finish their classes strong. During the summer, they pivoted to teaching mode, where they held almost 400 workshops for faculty, their teaching assistants, and staff, to raise the bar for preparedness in online teaching. On top of that, they built a fully online summer course which served over 500 incoming freshman and current sophomores. Supporting remote instruction for all six degree programs, the Haas Digital team not only collaborated with each other, but also with students, faculty and more. A beautiful example of the power of teamwork!
Anti-Racism Challenge: This group was formulated after the heightened awareness of racial injustices that was happening in our country in the summer of 2020. Many staff members were raising their hands in wanting to do more, learn more and really delve deeper into their anti-racism work. In came the ARC leaders and gave our Haas staff an opportunity to do just that. Week after week they put together thoughtful, and powerful prompts along with resources and readings that guided the conversations. The topics created spaces that were safe, but at times uncomfortable, and awkward – all necessary feelings for growth. Although anti-racism work never ends, this was a wonderful example of a group of individuals working together as a team and fostering a sense of belonging for others.
Congratulations to all of our awardees and to all our Haasome staff. You all are what make Haas so amazing.
At the end of the event, Courtney announced that the staff gift this year will be…fanny packs! We will receive these gifts during the Haas Re-Orientation which will be during June and July. More information about that will go out soon.
Thank you all for being Haasome! GO BEARS!
