Dr. Rice has been such an asset to the Student Affairs team. He has chaired two of our recent searches and is spending countless hours helping us find a new team member to help support student access and student success!

Nominated by Bethany Meighen

Karen provides incredible support to all of our campuses, specifically related to Student Data Mart submissions. During deadlines she can be found up late working through data validation issues with campus contacts and giving good advice.

Nominated by Aaron Meyer

For the entire time I’ve worked at the System Office, Trivia has gone above and beyond in making sure I turn in my timesheets and get paid on time. Over the last couple months, she has helped unravel a challenging bureaucratic issue with UNC-Chapel Hill payroll (to accommodate some freelance work for the UNC Chancellor’s Office), and she has done all of this with extraordinary good cheer and diligence. She’s a joy to work with, and knows how to diplomatically encourage those of us who struggle with HR paperwork. I’m glad to know her.

Nominated by Eric Johnson

Have a question? Cassie will respond with helpful information promptly. Need some information? She has a contact and is happy to connect you. Struggling with a rough day? She’ll listen. Discussing a new project at a meeting? She’s happy to share ideas.

Cassie is consistently positive and unendingly encouraging. She’s the person who always adds a compliment or virtual clap in any Zoom or Teams meeting. Her dedication to her position makes her a leader by example. When new employees join the team, I always encourage them to take advantage of the wealth of information Cassie is happy to share.

Cassie Irwin deserves a Round of Applause for being a model of caring professionalism!

Nominated by Casey Fletcher

Cassie is one of the most talented and thoughtful colleagues I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. No matter what she has on her plate, she’s always willing to step in and help when challenges arise. One recent example was late yesterday afternoon when I needed a last-minute favor adding a press release to our website. Cassie called me immediately and made it happen—no questions asked and always with a smile and positive attitude. She is devoted to creating synergy within our department and organization-wide, always believing that our team is greater than the sum of our parts.

Nominated by Kathleen Kramer

In a work-from-home environment, supporting and empathizing with our colleagues when they are having a rough day can be more difficult than when colleagues are working together in the same building. I want to take this opportunity to thank my amazing colleague Becca for reaching out and showing up for me recently. I was having a particularly difficult day juggling my increased workload after someone on our team had resigned. I mentioned something offhandedly to Becca during a conversation about one of our projects and a few hours later she messaged and said, “I’m heating up my lunch… want to have lunch together and chat?” The surge of appreciation I felt when I saw her Teams message come through was palpable. And our “virtual lunch” was just what the doctor ordered. Her thoughtfulness was truly appreciated.

Nominated by Lauren Peress

Randi did an amazing job creating a new newsletter to share information about the UNC System with high school counselors across the state. Thanks to Randi’s tremendous efforts we were able to share updates with high school counselors for them to share with prospective students and their families.

Nominated by Bethany Meighen

Lydia has done an amazing job coordinating an Open House for the students at NCSSM. She has worked with our 16 universities to plan 2 virtual sessions for the NCSSM students to learn more about all of our system schools and the guaranteed admissions program. This is the first time our team has hosted this event and she has certainly set the bar high for the next time we host it!

Nominated by Bethany Meighen

Thanks to Kim’s leadership over 200 faculty, staff, and students from the UNC System, NCCCS, and NCICU, completed their certification to become Mental Health First Aid Instructors. Kim coordinated over 13 courses in a four-month time period and now these 200+ instructors will work to train 10,000 first aiders across NC. Way to go Kim!

Nominated by Bethany Meighen

Presidential Scholar R. Connor Wood made a significant contribution to the external review process for doctoral program establishments in the UNC System. Connor enthusiastically partnered with me in designing a more efficient workflow and took the lead in rebuilding it within Google Drive and developing a user guide. By combining all external review activities within an application hosted by the UNC System intranet, Connor went beyond the original request to deliver a more transparent workflow, greater consistency of responses, and improved document storage. Helping to streamline and digitize the external review process is but one of many examples of Connor’s lasting impact and valuable contributions to the Academic Affairs division. His efforts are greatly appreciated and deserving of a round of applause.

Nominated by Jennifer Gerz-Escandon