2005 Staff Council Award for Excellence in Service
The service award is a new award to be given annually to staff members who have made especially effective contributions, including "exceptional imagination and dedication for improving the university community." Service must include diverse formal and informal activities of high quality in staff governance, committee work, policy improvement, program creation, and the like, and must be outside normal job responsibilities. This year the recipients are Valerie Garr and Kathy Klein.
Valerie Garr is diversity relations and outreach director in the Office of Admissions, where she has developed and implemented a comprehensive plan for minority recruitment; created and coordinated diversity outreach programs; put into practice new diversity training tools; and counseled students, parents, guidance counselors, and youth organization directors about the admissions process and the University's programs. She is also the current vice president of the UI African American Council, a group of faculty and staff who are committed to creating an inclusive environment on campus, and she serves on the Diversity Action Committee appointed by the Provost. The time and energy she devotes to mentoring students, along with her willingness to take on any project that will foster positive change, demonstrate her commitment to diversity, to the University, and to its students.
Kathy
Klein is a Secretary IV in the Graduate College, providing primary
support for Associate Dean Sandra Barkan. Her responsibilities,
which include assisting with the College's Fellowship programs and organizing
the three Graduate College Commencements each year, require extensive
interaction with students, their families, faculty, and visitors to the
College. As a result, she is the "face" of the Graduate College
to many people, and she has made the College proud by representing it
in such a positive and effective way. Ms. Klein has been an elected
member of Staff Council since 2000, where she has distinguished herself
as a leader. She is one of five members elected by her peers to
represent approximately 500 Merit Supervisory Exempt Confidential staff
across campus. She has served on several internal committees of
the Council, developed mechanisms for regular communication among her
constituents, championed issues important to the group she represents,
and helped to increase the Council's visibility within the University
community.