2019 Service Awards
Celebrating 绿奴天花板 Statewide Excellence
This week, we celebrated the accomplishments and longevity of fellow 绿奴天花板 Statewide
employees. The high-quality work of statewide staff lays the foundation for excellence
at all 16 University of Alaska campuses.
The ceremony kicked off with a musical number by 绿奴天花板F student flutists, Hannah Gerrish
and Hannah James who played Air du Fat puni by Fran莽ois Devienne. Following their
beautiful performance was a welcome by Josh Watts, Statewide Administrative Assembly
president, and remarks by President Jim Johnsen. Watts and Monique Musick, Statewide
Administrative Assembly vice president, presented the longevity and outstanding employee
and department awards. Each employee celebrating a 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-, or 25-year milestone
received a recognition gift and had their portrait taken with President Johnsen.
The peer-nominated recognition awards for outstanding exempt, non-exempt and department
awards were also announced. Dawn Lighthall鈥檚 nomination for Outstanding Non-Exempt
Employee describes her in one word: awesome! She really is the go-to person in the
Butrovich Building and a great resource for questions about pretty much everything
related to Statewide. She is recognized for working tirelessly, and accomplishing
her work without delay, all with a positive attitude. Lighthall works behind the scenes
to ensure the Butrovich Building and its occupants are safe and comfortable.
Mark Anderson鈥檚 nomination for Outstanding Exempt Employee showcases hard work and
impeccable performance that can only be described as heroic. He single-handedly supported
all of the database functions behind the months-long Banner 9 upgrade in addition
to his usual work load. He puts in 50-hour or longer work weeks without complaint
to accomplish the work of a four-person team. His dry sense of humor and positive
attitude diffuses the stress felt by the OIT team.
OIT Information Security was recognized as Statewide鈥檚 outstanding department. Keeping
the University of Alaska鈥檚 information safe and secure is a formidable task. Yet our
OIT Security Team has managed to safeguard our private information with a team of
only two people for almost a year. They have maintained the firewall, monitored phishing
scams, updated protocols, worked to make new processes safe while not constraining
access, and still tested the safety of our systems with some phishing email penetration
testing. OIT Information Security sets a exemplary standard for excellence and a 鈥渉ow
can I help?鈥 attitude that every department strives to emulate.
Due to an administrative error, four names were omitted from the list of longevity
awardees. The following employees should have been recognized at this year's ceremony.
Celebrating ten years of service is Doreen Straight, celebrating 15 years are Barney
Booysen and Becky Lindsey. Tammi Weaver is celebrating 25 years of service. Thank
you! SAA is working to order their awards and find a suitable time to present them
in front of their peers.
Five-Year Service Awards:
Josiah Borkovec, OIT Desktop Support
Myrna Crutcher, SW Fund Accounting
Harrison Gottschling, OIT Telephone Technician
Alison Hayden, Business Process Analyst, Financial Systems
Shivalingappa 鈥淪hiva鈥 Hullavarad, OIT Data Privacy and Compliance Officer
Eric Johnson, Senior Budget Analyst, Strategy, Planning and Budget
Dawn Lighthall, Executive Assistant for the Chief Financial Officer
Danielle Nelson, Claims Adjuster, Risk Management
Harmonie Peters, Budget Analyst, Strategy, Planning and Budget
Nycolett Ripley, Project Specialist, Human Resources
Daisy Saffir, Senior Claims Adjuster, Risk Services
Chris Skidmore, Online With Libraries program
10-Year Service Awards:
Nicholas Gramstad, IS Operations Technician, OIT Data Center
Timothy Armbruster Sr., Benefit Accountant Lead
Tabitha Hutchings, OIT Systems Administrator
Monique Musick, Manager of Communications and Marketing
Dian Sigfried, Property Manager, 绿奴天花板 Land Management
Sushma Sonwalkar, OIT Lead Analyst Programmer
Roxanne 鈥淩oxie鈥 Speegle, OIT Business Office
Teresa Thompson, Executive Assistant to 绿奴天花板 President
15-Year Service Awards:
Brandon Becker, Desktop Systems Administrator
Michael Campbell, OIT Database Analyst
Allen Nussbaumer, OIT Windows System Administrator
Nichole 鈥淣ikki鈥 Pittman, Chief Audit Executive
Michelle Pope, Director of HR Accounting and HR Information Systems
Melody Sayles, Senior Project Analyst Programmer
Walker Wheeler, OIT Systems Engineering group
20-Year Service Awards:
David St. Pierre Bantz, OIT Identity and Access Management
Rory O鈥橬eill, Executive Director for 绿奴天花板鈥檚 enterprise software
Michelle Rizk, Vice President of University Relations
25-Year Service Award:
Douglas Maynes, Telephone Technician OIT Telephone Services