Thank you to everyone who participated in the nominations process to recognize this year’s OA Stars. This year’s stars were chosen from a pool of 95 nominations from the UO community. The honorees will be recognized at the OA Council’s fall open meeting in late October. The seven honorees receive a certificate and a seat in the presidential suite at a home football game.
Officers of administration selected to receive OA Star Awards excel not only in their positions and in departments, but they also embody a spirit of collegiality and vision, working with peers and partners across departmental and divisional lines. They strive for continuous improvement and look to build relationships and solutions that improve the university for all stakeholders.
Below are the OA Stars, along with highlights from their nomination entries.
Kathleen Brown, Business Affairs Office, Accounts Receivable, student billing manager: leveraged connections throughout business affairs and across campus to provide extraordinary service to both students and other UO employees where she personifies the idea of going above and beyond to ensure both students and colleagues have an outstanding experience on campus.
Alyssa Červenka, Division of Global Engagement, global risk manager: developed mental health and student support services to create a safer, more positive experience for all students who study or intern abroad (roughly 29% of UO students), as well as for the faculty members and staff working with them.
Hana Chan, UO Libraries, law library manager: built on relationships and training to provide students with skills and ownership of their work that have positive impacts on both life and work arcs and is a champion for students and the campus community in providing equitable access to library resources. She demonstrates a clear understanding of user needs and expectations across a varied range of stakeholders.
Tiffany Lundy, Office of Human Resources, Learning and Development, associate director: provided invaluable guidance on successful implementation of change initiatives while thinking of new ways to bring people in and engage them. She consistently works on improvement in broadening the offerings provided by learning and development while highlighting the existing opportunities to help employees and the campus community.
Ethan Mapes, Division of Global Engagement, International Student and Scholar Services, international employment specialist: innovated process and service improvements for short term and permanent residency visa applications for all UO employees who are eligible, and through his diligence, he is helping UO to achieve its mission to promote diversity and prepare our students for success in a global workplace.
Sarah Stoeckl, Campus Planning and Facility Management, Office of Sustainability, assistant director: implemented a Sustainability Fellowship Program to train scholars from both UO and the wider region in community-engaged and participatory-action research. This and other innovative work seeded remarkable projects and collaborations regarding sustainability, environmental and climate justice, in addition to creating important bridges from our campus to local non-governmental organizations and other community partners.
Paul Timmins, University Career Center, executive director: played a key role in the First Steps Initiative, a collaboration between the career center and the Division of Undergraduate Education and Student Success designed to get UO students engaged in the career readiness process early and across all four years of their college experience. He collaborated on the Portland Internship Experience, embedding career readiness in the College of Arts and Science curriculum, and a multitude of cross-campus collaborations.
Congratulations to this year’s Stars and thank you for your contributions to our community!