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!

The Officers of Administration Council is accepting nominations for outstanding OA Star Award honorees until Monday, July 31.

Each year, the OA council selects and recognizes officers of administration who have made an exceptional, positive impact on the university.

Honorees will be recognized at the council’s fall open meeting, receive a certificate and sit in the president’s suite during a UO football game at Autzen Stadium this fall.

Officers of administration selected to receive OA Star Awards distinguish themselves by applying their professional efforts for the betterment of the entire institution and the university community. They not only excel in their positions and 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.

UO community members can nominate up to three officers of administration by completing the online survey. Each nomination should include a short paragraph that addresses their exceptional and positive impact on campus and how the nominee embodies a spirit of collegiality and vision to foster a more inclusive campus community. Nominations are due by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, July 31.

The OA Council hosted the Engaged Leaders Symposium on May 24, 2023. This post to the OA Council website will hold the slides and handouts provided at the symposium.

Slides

OA Council Leadership Symposium 2023 Slide Deck

OA Council Leadership Symposium DEI-Climater Survey Presentation 2023

Handouts

Building a Learning Organization

OA Council Leadership Symposium Presentation 2023

Learning and Development Handouts

Engagement Team Considerations

Guide to Inclusive Meetings

UO Leadership Culture Study Reports and Presentations

Presentation

Full Report

On Page Handout Summary

When: May 24, 8:30am – 12:30pm

Where: Ford Alumni Center Ballroom

Session One: Engaged Leaders

Information and resource sharing. Topics will include:

• OA Star nominations
• OA Council priorities and progress
• Campus Climate Survey updates
• Panel discussion with campus resources on OAs as engaged leaders

Session Two: Strengths Based Leadership, a Campus of Belonging

This is an optional add on hands-on experience offered in partnership with UO HR and the OA Council. Space is limited to the first 50 registrants. Clifton Strengths is a tool that can help us gain awareness of our greatest talents and begin turning them into strengths.

Each year the OA Council solicits nominations for folks who go above and beyond to improve the University of Oregon. This year, more than 73 OAs were nominated by their peers for outstanding service to the UO community. Congratulations to the 2022 OA Star recipients!

• Tom Driscoll, director of university housing, University Housing: led the accommodations and dining planning and implementation for Oregon22, the largest and most complex conference hosted on campus with over 120,000 meals served and 50,000 bed nights.
• Mariko Lin, assistant director education and prevention outreach director, University Health Services Counseling Services: oversees counseling services mental health outreach on campus, was responsible for JED campus distinction, implemented Kognito and other initiatives to assist students with mental health concerns.
• Sarah Rivas, executive assistant: with staff departures, she took the lead on planning and executing campus wide events like homecoming, spring parent and family weekend, and commencement. She works tirelessly and diligently to cultivate the best experience.
• Chantelle Russell, associate director, Physical Education and Recreation: developed and oversees the Thrive Healthy Living academic residential community (ARC), oversees over 140 PE classes per term for nearly 4,000 students.
• Anna Shamble, senior project manager, Office of the Provost: manages and executes academic initiatives, incorporates innovation and inclusion in the provost’s initiatives. Her colleagues describe her as the unsung hero that keeps the university functioning.

Over the past several years, one thing has been evident: OAs across campus are rock stars! Each year, the OA Council recognizes Officers of Administration who have made an exceptional, positive impact on the University. We invite you to participate in this process by nominating up to three exceptional OAs for an OA Star Award! Honorees will be recognized at an upcoming Oregon football game.

Officers of Administration selected to receive OA Star Awards distinguish themselves by applying their professional efforts for the betterment of the entire institution and the university community. They excel not only in their positions and 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 by building cross-campus relationships and offering creative solutions that improve the University for all stakeholders.

Please submit nominations by Wednesday, August 24 on this Qualtrics form.

OA Council recognized that the upcoming vacation cap accrual expiration was a concern to many OAs. As a result of the Spring OAC listening sessions and interactions with our OA colleagues this summer, the OA Council went into action to advocate for fellow OA’s. Back in June 2020, the UO temporarily increased the vacation cap accrual from 260 hours to 340 hours as a result of the pandemic’s impact on OAs’ inability to take vacation time. This temporary cap expansion was to end September 30, 2022. Knowing that many OAs would be negatively impacted by the looming deadline, OA Council met with UO leadership asking for more insight on the impact and advocating for another option. As a result, we are pleased that the UO instituted a step down approach giving OAs, managers and teams an ability to plan thoughtfully for time off, ultimately working toward “work-life harmony” at the UO.

It’s up to all of us to know how the step down process works. On October 1, 2022, the maximum vacation accrual balance will reduce to 300 hours. On October 1, 2023 the vacation allowance will revert to the regular maximum allowance of 260.

For more information related to OA vacation accrual, visit HR’s website.