The College of Southern Maryland recognized 13 employees who have made significant contributions to the colleges success during the past six months at a reception at the La Plata Campus. Employees were recognized for their actions and accomplishments in response to the colleges seven principles of diversity, excellence, innovation, integrity, knowledge, respect and teamwork.
The colleges Employee Recognition and Awards Program gives staff and faculty the opportunity to recognize their co-workers excellence in the following categories: Customer Service, Extra Mile, Innovator, Leadership, Innovative Teaching and Professional Goal Attainment. The awards are open to individuals, groups and teams.
The Customer Service Award recognizes employees who have provided quality service and have ensured customer satisfaction. An award was presented to
Assistant Director of the Network Service Team Dave Marek, Senior Systems Administrator Barry Hamilton, Software Development Manager Gene Kirscht and Help Desk Manager Mike Baione for their quick work and technical expertise in limiting downtimes of CSMs WebCT online courses when larger than normal data entry impacted the system.
The Extra Mile Award recognizes employees who have made significant contributions over an extended period of time. An award was presented to Distance Learning Instructional Designer Ronda Jacobs and Instructional Technology Coordinator Joel Kinison for development of a master course template and faculty training schedule. Over the course of eight weeks, nearly 200 faculty members were trained. This resulted in expanding face-to-face courses with web-enhanced capabilities by 58 percent from the previous fall resulting in 90 percent of classes with this capability for the fall 2009 semester. The trend has continued into the spring 2010 semester with nearly all CSM courses having a WebCT component.
The Innovator Award recognizes efficiencies that save the college substantial money or work, improve student educational experiences or lead the college in a new direction. A team award was given to Kirscht, Employee Benefits Coordinator Susan Needham, Assistant Director of Compensation and Benefits Jennifer Rupp, Payroll Director Patricia Zych and Senior Payroll Practitioner Julia Kline for recognizing, developing and implementing an innovative solution to a payroll system for it to handle mid-year adjustments. The CSM team was told by the system vendor that the programming issue could not be corrected. The team not only updated the program for CSM, but provided the vendor with an example of how to address similar situations with its other users.
The Leadership Award recognizes employees who have applied strong leadership skills to the success of a curricular project, committee responsibility, administrative project or major college activity. The award was given to Director of Facilities Buddy Brown for his leadership in expansion and beautification projects on all CSM campuses, including renovation and construction projects, and pre-construction planning. These projects equate to a massive increase in square footage for maintenance and cleaning, however, under Browns leadership and organization, there will be only a modest addition to manpower.
The Innovative Teaching Award recognizes individual faculty members who have improved the educational experiences of students and, in doing so, have moved the college forward in a strategic direction. The award was given to Associate Professor of Mathematics Donna Sperry for offering Lesson Sessions to her students in an online chat room feature of WebCT during hours convenient to her students. Sperry conducted her lecture using Power Point slides and Elluminates chalkboard-like features allowing students to ask questions. More than 90 percent of her class attended online sessions during this winters snow closures, allowing the course to remain on schedule.
The Professional Goal Attainment Award recognizes employees who have achieved a job-related educational or professional goal. Recognized were Director of Public Safety and Awareness Melanye Smith who received her Ph.D. in organizational management from Capella University, Student Records Management Assistant Keyonna Clark who completed her bachelor of science degree in information systems management at University of Maryland University College, Procurement Specialist Beverly Coger, who obtained her bachelors degree in business management from the University of Phoenix and Jacobs who obtained a certified faculty developer from the Certified Faculty Developer Institute.
CSM is a seven-time recipient of the Workplace Excellence Award, and the 2010 Health and Wellness Trailblazer Award.
To view career opportunities through CSMs online application system, visit http://www.csmd.edu/employment/. For information about the college, call 301-934-2251 or 301-934-7700.