Applause Past Awardees-2000

• November 10 , 2000-Shelly Sorensen (view nomination)
• October 26, 2000-Brian Farleigh (view nomination)
• October 13 , 2000-Patricia Jacques (view nomination)
• September 29, 2000-Rebecca Barnes (view nomination)
• September 15, 2000-Carol Dicks (view nomination)
• September 1 , 2000-Chris Wiklund (view nomination)
• August 18 , 2000-Linda Pope (view nomination)
• August 4 , 2000-LoRee Peery (view nomination)
• July 21, 2000-Kate Shaner (view nomination)
• June 23 , 2000-Lori Mueller (view nomination)
• June 9 , 2000-Mavis Hettenbaugh (view nomination)
• May 26 , 2000-Joy Jordan (view nomination)
• May 12 , 2000-Deb Heckens (view nomination)
• April 28, 2000-Kathie Johnson (view nomination)
• April 14, 2000-Donelle Moormeier (view nomination)
• March 31, 2000-Joyce Ore (view nomination)
• March 17, 2000-Tammy Maher (view nomination)
• March 3, 2000-Gail Troyer (view nomination)
• February 18, 2000-Claudia Price-Decker (view nomination)
• February 4, 2000-Linda Ratcliffe (view nomination)

 

Shelly Sorensen - November 10, 2000 Shelly Sorensen receives our Applause this week. In her capacity as Assistant to the Dean, Shelly is central to many of the financial activities in the College, especially related to human resources. As her nomination reads, "Shelly's willingness to serve on committees, to better serve the college of Arts and Sciences, is appreciated by many people. It's been so vital to our college, during the SAP implementation, that we have strong representation in these groups. She helps set best business policies that are in the best interest of the College and University as a whole. In addition she is in the fore front to bring back information that may impact our College and asks for our feedback. This allows each of us to have a voice in how a potential business policy may effect our department and to develop a plan that eliminates as many problems as possible before a policy is set. Her ability to facilitate this information flow up and down the heirarachy has been demonstrated over and over. . . She has recently taken over as the facilitator for our College's Personnel Support Group meetings. . . She does all of this to make our jobs easier. The added benefit is that she has reduced the stress many people were/are feeling during the SAP implementation. . . Thanks, Shelly, for all that you've done for our College."

Brian Farleigh - October 27, 2000 We are pleased to announce the latest Applause awardee is Brian Farleigh. As the FIVE nominations state, Brian "works in the Physics and Astronomy Department in our Electronics Shop. . . an Electronics & Computer Specialist, [Brian] is called upon constantly to assist all of our faculty and staff in many different ways and always does it with a smile and works very diligently to get the job done right the first time around. In our Department Office we recently switched to PC's and Brian diligently attacked the task of making the switch for us efficiently and promptly staying with the job until it was done. . . and he will check back to make sure you are satisfied. . . No task is too big or too small for Brian. . . he has gone above and beyond the call of duty on NUMEROUS occasions. . . He has ALWAYS maintained a positive attitude and professional manner. . . a perfectionist in his job. . . The bottom line is that he is very dependable and will go out of his way to help. . . He is always read[y], willing and able to help anyone with any problem and does so on short notice and in a timely [manner]. Brian is very dedicated to his work, and has the highest work ethics which makes him a great asset to both the Physics Department and the University. . . Brian's continued enthusiasm is a boost to our entire department productivity. . . "

Patricia Jacques - October 13, 2000 We are pleased to announce the latest recipient of our Applause, Patricia Jacques, Staff Secretary for the Biological Sciences Advising Center. As her nominations say, "Students, faculty, and staff alike have commented to us that Patricia is a friendly and energetic presence in our absence and they trust her implicitly. . . She has an exceptionally positive attitude toward life. . . is naturally inquisitive and is not afraid to ask questions. She is always eager to learn more, improve her performance and the environment around her. . . She is also very sensitive to the needs of others. She is consistently friendly, caring, and works hard to find the right answers to student questions. She never sends students on with the "It's not my job" response. Even when it isn't her job, she works to make sure she is making a correct referral so that students don't feel lost in the "red tape" of the university. . . Patricia is just a pleasant person to be around and helps to make our Advising Center a student-friendly place to be."

Rebecca Barnes - September 29, 2000 We are pleased to announce that our latest Applause awardee is Rebecca Barnes in the Department of Psychology. As her nomination reads, "Recently our department has been under tremendous pressure due to several circumstances. Becki has made the adjustments necessary to make things run smoothly in spite of a chaotic time! She never fails to say a word of encouragement to someone in crisis or give a hug or pat on the back to someone who might need it. Becki is a lightþalways shining, ever glowing and in her presence there is a calm amidst the storm. . . She does much to promote the achievements of others, while ignoring the contributions that she makes to the department and university each day. Becki always gives 110%, without complaint and with the enthusiasm and energy of twenty people!!! She is the first to lend a hand, particularly in difficult times. . . While her assets are too vast to list here, they go beyond our department and the university. Becki is active in the Lincoln community, participating in youth club in her church as well as contributing her time to organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Friendship Home. When someone is in trouble or they have accomplished something special, Becki is there. . . "

Carol Dicks - September 15, 2000 We are pleased to announce our latest Applause awardee Carol Dicks, Staff Assistant in the Department of Geosciences. Her nominations praise "her hard work, competence, loyalty, efforts beyond the call of duty, cooperation-with-a-smile, and just plain niceness. . . " Some illustrations of why she is so appreciated: ¨ "Carol is often the last person to leave the office each day. . . she is also commonly here on weekends catching up with work during busy periods." ¨ "She will take work home on weekends when things are tight, such as last week when we were tying to get our alumni newsletter out on time and some unanticipated extra editing needed to be done." ¨ "She's great with computers and utterly fearless around them; she solves most office computer problems and even gets called on occasionally by graduate students (and her Department Chair) to solve theirs." ¨ "She masterfully handles our alumni affairs (but one of her many duties); she is on a first-name basis with most of our influential alums and manages most aspects of every function we have with them. . . She handles our annual alumni weekend almost single-handedly, from organizing minutes and agenda of the alumni board meeting to deciding the menu for the annual awards banquet. . . " ¨ "She does all this and much more with unflappable calm and pleasantness." "My most recent inspiration to nominate her came last weekend at our department picnic. Carol almost single-handedly organized everything for this kick-off event (mainly on her own time, I might add): chose and reserved the park grounds, bought the staples, set up the tables, arranged the food, and stood there over the hot coals the whole time cooking everyone's hamburgers with temperatures in the mid-90's. This is just an example of how Carol always comes through for the Department. . . For the myriad roles she plays in keeping the Department running, she deserves a standing ovation and at least two curtain calls. . . "

Chris Wiklund - September 1, 2000 Once again, two individuals from the same department received successive Applause awards. We are pleased to announce that Chris Wiklund, from The Center on Children, Families, and the Law is the current awardee. As the nominations say, "Chris is able to function calmly and effectively, even when there are multiple complex demands for her attention. One faculty member refers to her as Radar (from the old M*A*S*H TV show), because of the countless occasions that when she has approached her about a task that she has just thought about or a detail that she has just remembered, Chris will already have thought about it and taken care of it. Chris is one of the warmest, funniest, most delightful people around. Everyone is fond of her and she is a listening board to many (faculty, students, and others). She is instrumental to making CCFL a congenial and productive work place. . . Chris shined with all of the above attributes throughout the planning and implementation stages of our Center's recent Y2Kids Conference. It was one of the most logistically complex activities we have organized with over a dozen speakers coming in from around the country (including two governors) and over two hundred participants from around the state. We received considerable feedback that the conference was the best organized that many participants had ever attended. Several of our speakers reported to us that they had never experienced a more pleasant or efficient person than Chris. . . "

Linda Pope - August 18, 2000 We are pleased to announce that the latest recipient of our Applause is Linda Pope. As the nominations said, "Linda is our Office Manager at the Center on Children, Families and the Law, and has been here for a little over a year. . . First, the quality of her work is superlative. She came from outside the university system but very quickly mastered our accounting and human resources functions. She's become a master of our new software system. She handles the complex budgets of our Center with seeming ease. Second, she's a real team player. Linda is always stepping up when someone needs some help during crunch time. She never shows strain when working under tight grant-related deadlines (which is always the case), and actually manages to soothe the (nerves) of frazzled faculty members here. Third, she is just an absolutely delightful person with whom to work. Personnel problems within our support staff have disappeared since Linda came on board. Every single faculty member at the Center has commented on how delighted they are to have Linda on our team. . . During her interview she described herself as an 'information-gatherer' and that is so very true. If she does not know something she will diligently pursue the answer, not only for herself, but for others, and in a very timely manner. . . She is quite enthusiastic about SAP and volunteers to assist in the trainings whenever her schedule allows to not only acquaint herself better with the program, but also to advocate its usefulness and value. . . "

LoRee Peery - August 4, 2000 Our Applause goes out to Loree Peery. As the nominations said, "LoRee Peery is an Ed. Asst. in Modern Languages. She has also served as staff support for Graduate Studies. She is always knowledgable, gracious and approachable. She is a good example of someone willing to go the extra mile for staff members. . . As the Graduate Secretary, she had taken upon herself to check on the well being of students, and many times she had helped us by reminding us of deadlines with paper work that we may not be clear about. . . LoRee is most of all the colleague to whom we, nonnative speakers, bring all sorts of documents, and ask her to make sure that the content is in idiomatic English. She always helps, with great tact and promptness, pointing out any possible improvements, and necessary corrections. She is the editor of all the English and Czech articles, and a textbook . . . I do not remember how many times she turned a half-prepared request into a professional document, making the needed adjustments and corrections so that the outcome would be of the highest quality. She anticipated many problems and took steps to correct them. . . ".

Kate Shaner - July 21, 2000 It is with great pleasure that we announce that Kate Shaner is the latest recipient of our Applause. Although we usually abbreviate the nomination(s) in our announcements, in this case the entire nomination is available here. The nomination, as you will see, is actually a nomination for the University KUDO award which was transmitted in its entirety as a nomination for our Applause as well. We are pleased and proud that Kate will also receive a KUDO at the August Regents meeting. If possible to do so in this virtual format, Kate deserves not merely our Applause, but a standing ovation. The nomination may be read at http://www.unl.edu/artsci/applause/Kate.htm

Lori Mueller - June 23, 2000 It is unprecedented that two staff persons from a department are honored with successive Applause. We are pleased to announce the Lori Mueller is the recipient for this week, following Mavis Hettenbaugh from the same office on June 9. As the nominations for Lori say, "Lori Mueller is a member of the office staff of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Her job is to assist the faculty in managing the undergraduate program. Her normal duties include supervising the student workers, handling department telephone calls and visitors, helping direct students who come to the office, and managing undergraduate instruction supplies, such as calculators and textbooks. The office has run very well since Lori arrived. . . An excellent example is the planning, preparation, and execution for Math Day, an outreach activity in which our department hosts students from many Nebraska High Schools in mathematics competitions. . . This is a very important program, as it attracts many of the elite young mathematicians in the state. . . On the actual day, Lori is on hand early and stays late to make sure that everything goes well. . . For most people (students, faculty, staff) visiting our department, Lori is the first face they see. And Lori has enough expertise that for many people, she's the only person they need to deal with. . . She has broadened her services to the department to include design work and desktop publishing for posters and brochures to support programs such as Power Math and the off campus administration of the Math Placement Exam. In the midst of all this whirlwind of activity, she is steadily taking classes working toward a degree in business administration."

Mavis Hettenbaugh - June 9, 2000 It is a great pleasure to announce that Mavis Hettenbaugh, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, is the latest recipient of the Applause award. As her nominations say, "it is an understatement to say that the faculty, staff and students in mathematics and statistics depend upon Mavis Hettenbaugh. She runs the department office, she is responsible for all department PAFs, she is the department's business officer, the chair's administrative assistant, and she is never too busy to stop and help a student or faculty member who has a problem. For 12 years, everyone in mathematics and statistics has known they can count on Mavis. She arrives at 7:00 a.m. and often works into the evening. Mavis can also be found at work on many Sundays because she is dedicated to meeting the needs of the department. In recent years faculty and staff outside the department have also benefited from Mavis' understanding of the university and how to get tasks accomplished. . . Most recently, her assistance with the Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics has proved invaluable. We had over 50 undergraduate mathematics majors and two established well-known mathematicians come to Lincoln for this event, and each of them needed travel reimbursement. . . Mavis managed to sort through them and get the reimbursements done quickly and, more importantly, correctly."

Joy Jordan - May 26, 2000 "As receptionist for Modern Languages, she handled questions, importunate requests, and unanticipated absences during the first day of classes; she was alone at her post but never lost her calm, was infallibly polite to students, and most diplomatic with faculty members. Joy's skills exceed expectations. . . The difference Joy has made in the morale of the office and of the department cannot be exaggerated. In addition to all her duties she takes classes, stays late to finish tasks, solves problems on the spot, becomes informed about every aspect of the registration procedure. This semester, as last Fall, every student who wished to register in a course in MLL received a personal phone call from Joy. . . New to the Department last May, Joy has already made a difference in our daily operations. She is available before and after hours (Saturdays included) at registration time. And yet she keeps her smile and energy level all through the day, day after day. She never turns down any reasonable request and goes out of her way to discharge her responsibilities with flair and professionalism. Her memos to the faculty are witty and concise: They are truly a morale booster! Recently, Joy Jordan served as coordinator of the Language Fair, that is, controlling, reassuring, comforting 1100 (high school) students, informing 50 (high school) teachers and coordinating a departmental team of more than 80."

Deb Heckens - May 12, 2000 We are pleased to announce that Deb Heckens is the latest recipient of the Applause award. As her nominations say, "Deb is the Secretary/Assistant for the Department of Computer Science (in between) our College and the College of Engineering. . . Deb is responsible for all office activities in budgetary, financial, and personnel matters. These are broad responsibilities and there are many factors that make them even more challenging. . . Deb performs these duties in an exemplary fashion. . . Of all the things that she does, I am most grateful that she makes this workplace a better place to be. . . . Deb is ALWAYS in a good mood. She deals with difficult faculty with grace and patience. In a position that could have a tendency to make a person cynical and negative, she is always positive and has a rosy disposition. . . Even our visiting faculty and chair candidates are struck by her warmth and helpful demeanor. One of them wrote back to tell her she was the 'crown jewel' of this department!"

Kathie Johnson - April 28, 2000 Kathie received an unprecedented TWELVE nominations for our Applause, from her supervisor, faculty, and students. The nominations say it best: "Kathie is the secretary for the Grad Program in English, and also helps with recruitment work. Kathie deals with over 100 graduate students in English. It is well-known that the students go to her before they go to the graduate chair. Kathie is unfailingly cheerful, helpful, and supportive to all our students (and all who come into her office). She knows the students personally, she inquires about their lives and issues and situations she knows they are dealing with, she reminds them of deadlines, she helps them with what forms need to be processed when. . . It is Kathie's voice prospective students hear when they call Nebraska to inquire about the program, and Kathie's guidance that helps them through the application process. . . I have frequently found Kathie hard at work on a Saturday or Sunday so that she can get the work out in a timely fashion. It is far and away beyond the call of duty and is a sign of Kathie's professionalism. . . The fact is, she's been critical to my success and sanity as a doctoral student. . . a month ago, I was laboring over the typewriter in the English department office, trying to type my memorandum of courses for the graduate college. Being a computer age person myself, and having no knowledge of how a typewriter functions, she quietly offered to do my typing for me. . . Considering that we often come to her flustered, frustrated, and anxious, Kathie does an amazing job of patiently calming us down and helping us out. . . Even when I ask her of a copy of my transcript for the fourth time in the year she just as cheerfully gets it for me. . . And she is also there to celebrate with us. I think she was the first person I told about passing my comprehensive exams. . . She balances it all and without a doubt is a valuable asset to this program and the university at large. . . "

Donelle Moormeier - April 14, 2000 Seven nominations have been received for Donelle. In their words, Donelle "is new again to the Communication Studies Department this January. . . She has made the office significantly more efficient in the short time that she has been back with us. In addition, she has gone over the departmental budget and has found numerous errors that could have cost the department significantly at the end of the fiscal year. She has come up with ways to save faculty time. . . She has a great deal of knowledge about the inner-workings of a wide range of administrative processes and deploys that knowledge in ways that make our lives a little easier. This is no small thing. . . Simply stated no one can touch her for work ethic. . . Donelle has a wonderful attitude and disposition which is contagious to all those around her. Her determined positive attitude is a great example to all of us. . . With her energy and enthusiasm, both undergraduate and graduate students are made to feel important and valued as people. . . Donelle is, without question, a most extraordinary employee and the kind of employee deserving of this special recognition. . . "

Joyce Ore - March 31, 2000 We are pleased to announce that Joyce Ore from Chemistry is the latest recipient of the Applause award. Joyce's nominations were entirely from graduate studentsþseveral of them, in fact. As they said "Joyce is always helpful and always smiling. Whether it's about paper work you need help with, or advice, or for class assistance, she always helps out. She is knowledgable, well organized, and personable. . . She is the only person that I know that can put up with the complaining and questions of over 800 undergrads at the same time and still keep a smile on her face. Amazing!! . . . She is one to go the extra mile to keep the chemistry courses running smoothly. The Chemistry faculty, staff, several dozen teaching assistants, and over 1000 undergraduate students all know Joyce. She is the person with all the answers to your questions. . . She has revamped the teaching assistant evaluation process by making the questions more specific and providing easy to read results sheets for the teaching assistants. Joyce has also placed pertinent student information on the web to allow students easier access to such information. . . "

Tammy Maher - March 17, 2000 Tammy Maher from the School of Biological Sciences is the latest recipient of the Applause award. As her nomination says, "not only did Tammy improve the efficiency of graduate committee operations, she was the primary person responsible for implementing the database system we now use for tracking all graduate student activity. . . she was one of the reasons it was fun to come to work. No one ever felt ignored or unwanted. No one was forgotten. . . " Now as the personal assistant to the Director of SBS, "she has done an outstanding job managing many of the important faculty related functions. . . At the same time, she has often been the first point of contact regarding student complaints and concerns. I have been most impressed by the consistent high quality of her integrity and her extensive 'people skills' in dealing with, at sometimes, difficult people."

Gail Troyer - March 3, 2000 We are pleased to announce that Gail Troyer is the latest recipient of the Applause award. It's obvious that the Department of Classics and Religious Studies made a concerted effort to nominate Gail. Three nominations were received from the faculty. In their words. . . "She often comes in early and works late, trying to meet the administrative needs of the department. . . Gail is unfailingly patient and good-humored, even though she has to cope with a group of 'flaky classicists.' On top of all this, she supplies us with delicious baked goods!" "Our department has recently been expanded to twice its original size by the addition of 'Religious Studies': hence it is now really two departments. Ms. Troyer is the only secretary we have; she nonetheless handles the work of this double department with exemplary efficiency, cheerfulness and courtesy." "She is always busy with some task, either business at hand or with longer term projects of her own conception to make the work of the department and faculty easier. . . She has an excellent working relationship with all departmental personnel. . . In short, she keeps this department running as efficiently as I have ever witnessed. . . all in only 20 hours per week!"

Claudia Price Decker - February 18, 2000 We are pleased to announce that Claudia Price-Decker is a recipient of the Arts and Sciences APPLAUSE award. As Claudia's nomination states, "For almost 20 years, she has worked tirelessly for the Psychology Department, the College of Arts and Sciences and the University as a whole. . . "

Linda Ratcliffe - February 4, 2000 We are pleased to announce that Linda Ratcliffe is the first recipient of the Arts and Sciences APPLAUSE award. As her nomination states "Linda is the technical editor for Great Plains Quarterly and Great Plains Research and the PR tech. for the Center for Great Plains Studies, designing all programs, flyers, posters, and other materials that come from the Center and the Great Plains Art Gallery (You have seen a lot of her beautiful work in the halls of Oldfather). She is also the senior staff member of the Center for Great Plains Studies and the institutional memory of the Center, the person who jogs people's minds about all the myriad of things that have to be done every year to keep all that teaching, service, and research going. . . "