Two System Office employees were recognized last week with the 2023 President’s Awards for Excellence, which honors managers and staff members for their commitment to achieving Strategic Plan goals related to affordability, accessibility, student success, economic impact, and excellent and diverse institutions.
“I am thrilled to recognize these two individuals and thank them for their service to our institutions and to the UNC System,” said President Peter Hans.
Honorees were (along with an excerpt from their nominations):
Jami Dawkins, Academic Affairs: Over the past year, Jami has driven more change in the UNC System’s transfer ecosystem than we have seen in the last decade, fundamentally transforming the landscape for transfer students across North Carolina. Her work has substantially impacted the lives of tens of thousands of students who, while they may never know her name, will undoubtedly graduate more quickly, with fewer obstacles, and ultimately at a lower cost thanks to her dedication, vision, and unwavering commitment to helping them succeed. Jami’s accomplishments this past year exemplify the transformative impact of a driven and compassionate leader who actively pursues meaningful changes in educational pathways. Through her leadership, we have seen unprecedented expansion in the transfer programs, partnerships, and support structures that serve our students. Jami’s dedication to advancing transfer student success is evident in every aspect of her work, making her an exemplary candidate for the President’s Award for Excellence. Her work reflects the highest values of the UNC System and has positioned North Carolina as a leader in accessible, affordable, and impactful higher education.
Ronnean Collins, HR Services: Ronnean is recognized for standing up a new “shared service” for our constituent institutions and offering a service that was more economical and saved our institution’s thousands of dollars. In the fall of 2023, Fayetteville State University was facing a crisis with employee benefit staffing and needed assistance in providing day-to-day management of employee benefits. The chief human resource officer at FSU turned to the UNC System Office for assistance. This opportunity turned into a service at the System Office called Benefit Shared Services. We developed a pricing model, service level agreement and met frequently with the FSU Human Resource team to define the services the System Office would provide. From concept to reality, we had a Benefit Shared Service model up and running in just 60 days. Within months of bringing FSU on board, UNC Asheville inquired about joining the benefit shared service model as well. Currently we have four institutions in the model, Fayetteville State University, UNC-Asheville, Winston-Salem State and the UNC System Office. Ronnean’s dedication and hard work, and many late evenings, are an example of how we can be innovative and cost effective in servicing our institutions. When working with an institution it allows us to review existing processes and procedures, and in most cases, to re-envision how their current processes can be enhanced to support more efficiencies.