UCI Student Affairs Employees of the Month
January nominations due Feb. 3, 2023 | Nomination form »
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December 2022
Auxiliary Services
Ashley Scering consistently models the values of Student Affairs at UCI through the work that she does. In December, Ashley went above and beyond to provide excellent service to 60 residents impacted by a flood in their residence. At the time of the flood, Ashley was the first responder and stayed until 2am ensuring residents were safe in their new spaces and that all supervisors had information needed. Ashley committed herself to doing daily check-ins with the residents, providing updates, answering questions, escorting residents to get belongings left behind all while still maintaining her daily tasks, assignments and managing additional programs and events. Ashley displayed a spirit of collaboration through communicating with all campus partners and ensuring everyone had all the information needed to get the necessary work done. Ashley always had the student's well-being at the forefront, while in meetings regarding the flood Ashley made sure to advocate for the residents and voice concerns and potential challenges. An example of this was making sure students had access to enough transportation to get meals, attend events, study, and take finals. Ashley volunteered to transport residents as late as 11pm to prevent a disruption in the student experience. During this time Ashley was positive and had a heart of servant leadership.
OVCSA
Throughout fall quarter, but especially during the month of December, Sara went above and beyond in managing our social media accounts. She has consistently provided thoughtful analysis of the channels and has utilized Instagram insights to inform her content schedule based on popularity of topics and demographics of our audience. This month, Sara created a family of templates to use with each content type, to provide a more streamlined feed on our channels. She continues to explore hand lettering techniques through cheerful and lovely holiday/important moment cards, and I honestly want to turn them all into a calendar. :) She also turned the Campus Assist List into a series of posts, highlighting the critical services that not everyone knows about. Interspersed with the important information posts are fun looks at notable alumni, flashbacks to bygone eras of campus history, and interesting behind the scenes notes about filming locations on campus. Sara has done an amazing job of growing our accounts not just in follower or engagement numbers, but also by creating a feed that is informative, positive, interesting, and fun. Add in her supervision of our inaugural Administrative Intern, and I guarantee you'll be impressed. Sara has created an organized, streamlined process of management for the accounts and a clear definition of expectations and assignments for our intern. She has helped him hone his organizational skills and pushes him to explore areas of interest. In December, he gave a presentation to the SA Comms leadership team with an overview of our channels' growth throughout the fall quarter and shared some of the insights he has gained by utilizing market research and the reporting tools to plan for future content/engagement goals and it knocked our socks off! Sara has proven herself to be a competent, insightful, and innovative professional and I look forward to seeing how she continues to lead the department in new and exciting ways!
Student Life & Leadership
Andrea has had a critical role in overseeing and managing the Basic Needs new office location renovation, moving, and implementing temporary plans to ensure limited disruption to the hundreds of students seeking basic needs support. She has met with various campus partners to ensure the new space is equipped to provide food service, proper food storage, accessibility for students, available parking/access for students and deliveries, etc. This is a huge undertaking that requires Andrea's constant attention and quick problem-solving with campus partners to ensure services are provided to students. Many campus partners have an interest and need to be involved in the planning process. Andrea has managed all requests for information, adjusted timelines with contractors, and modified staffing requirements to roll out a transition into the new location. This project has seen many setbacks, but through Andrea's dedication and commitment to the UCI community, she has continued to address and resolve every challenge. Of course, Andrea did not do this alone, her team and many campus partners were instrumental to this project, so kudos to all! We are excited that the Basic Needs team is now in their new location!
Wellness, Health & Counseling
Dr. Godarz was the main Student Health Center pharmacist to lead the UCI interdepartmental collaborative effort to provide flu vaccine on the walk-in basis on Anteater Plaza and Social Science Ring. It was the collaborative effort between UCI Student Health Center, the UCI School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the UCI Program in Public Health. The clinic was mobile and created with the purpose of providing convenience to our students. The intention was to allow students to get their flu vaccine between their classes or during their lunch breaks. The clinic was held for two months in October and November of 2022. The student really enjoyed this convenience. As a result, the team vaccinated and provided protection to almost 1900 students and generated almost $100,000 for our campus. Prior to the implementation of the clinic, Dr. Godarz also led all the internal SHC departments since July 2022 to ensure the logistics were in place. Beyond this accomplishment, Dr. Godarz has received multiple compliments from our students as a caring and sympathetic pharmacist. For this reason, I am nominating Dr. Godarz to be the Employee of the Month for December.
Wellness, Health & Counseling
As the Student Health Center Chief of Psychiatry & Mental Health Services, Dr. Vivien Chan has a strong understanding of not only the mental health needs of our students, but also of our campus. With the updates and innovations in Mental Health programs and initiatives that are now in place at UCI and across many of the UC campuses, Dr Chan continues to serve as our UCI Student Health subject matter expert. Dr. Chan continues to participate in lifelong learning as evidenced by maintenance of certification for specialty and subspecialty boards and has consistently authored academic papers for publication. Dr Chan continues to stay highly involved with her participation as a member of professional meetings and associations, and in doing so stays up to date on the latest best practices, keeps us informed of upcoming legislative changes and regulatory requirements, and serves as both representative for our campus and an advocate for our students. With the impact of recent events affecting our students, the mental health unit maintains quite a high-volume active caseload, however our SHC psychiatrists are available when needed to provide care to existing patients. Under the direction of Dr Chan, our providers frequently go above and beyond to facilitate real case management of some of our most challenging cases. The Psychiatry/Mental Health department is arguably one of the most challenging departments on campus, and Dr Chan has worked very hard to improve engagement with her team and provide them with a focus on teamwork and mutual support for the health and well-being of our students.
About the Program
The Student Affairs Employee of the Month program will recognize contributions of staff employees from each cluster in the Division of Student Affairs.
Employees are nominated by their colleagues and reviewed by a committee of campus partners who select the recipients.
Eligibility
Currently employed staff.
Student staff, temporary staff or third party staff are not eligible.
Recognition
Staff who are recognized as employees of the month will be highlighted in our quarterly newsletter and will be eligible for Employee of the Year. All nominees will receive a certificate of recognition. There is no financial compensation connected to this award.
For questions please contact Alexandra Murillo.
Criteria for Nomination & Selection
A scoring model will be used by the Employee of the Month Selection Committee based upon the following criteria. However, an employee need not meet all these requirements to receive the award. In order for the committee to fully evaluate the nominated employee’s attributes and/or achievements, it is important that specific examples are cited in the nomination.
Innovation
When a staff member, office or group that has generated one or more creative and sustainable programs or initiatives within the last month to forward the Student Affairs Division mission.
Excellence in Collaboration
When a staff member, office or group that has successfully partnered with colleagues from the Student Affairs Division or UCI community during the past month to create programming, activities and initiatives that enrich the UCI student experience.
Social Justice
When a SA staff member, unit or group who has engaged in activities and programming that promotes a UCI community that is equitable, inclusive and meets the needs of all members of the community.
Distinguished Service
When a SA staff member, unit or group that demonstrates excellence in leadership, service, development, mentoring or long-term service to the UCI community.
Unsung Hero Award
When a SA staff member who works consistently and performs their responsibilities in a manner that enhances the work environment of the greater Student Affairs Division.
