Above:  Alan Beaudrie receives his award from Interim Dean Hakim.

Please join us in congratulating Sally Littau, Alan Beaudrie, and Margaret Kurzius-Spencer.   These three outstanding employees of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (MEZCOPH) were honored with awards that recognize their hard work, dedication and performance on Tuesday, April 22, 2008, at a ceremony and luncheon in University Medical Center's Duval auditorium. 

Sally Littau Receives the

AHSC Georgia Reynolds Dedicated Service Award

The UA Zuckerman College of Public Health is extremely proud to announce that Sally Littau is the winner of the Arizona Health Sciences Center's Georgia Reynolds Dedicated Service award for 2008.  Sally Littau, B.S., MT(ASCP), is a Coordinator for Health Research in the Community, Environment and Policy Division of MEZCOPH, and has worked for the University since 1992.  She was chosen from nominees from all four of the colleges in the Arizona Health Sciences Center (AHSC).  Sally is "gracious, sweet, the hardest worker that one will ever find," and is "a devoted colleague," said one of her colleagues who nominated her.   Sally works for Associate Professor Jeff Burgess, and does all of the laboratory work.  Some of the projects they are currently working on include respiratory toxicology in firefighters and smoke inhalation victims — studying the negative effects of smoke inhalation on the lungs of firefighters and burn victims.  More about Sally and her work.

AHSC Staff Awards For Excellence: 

Alan Beaudrie and Margaret Kurzius-Spencer

Each year the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health recognizes the outstanding performance and achievement of two staff members through the Staff Awards for Excellence program.  The MEZCOPH winners of the 2008 AHSC Staff Awards for Excellence are:

Alan Beaudrie, Program Coordinator Senior and Undergraduate Coordinator for the Office of Student Services.  Alan received the award for Outstanding MEZCOPH Administrative Staff.  He works hard to help the 200+ MEZCOPH undergradate students majoring in Health Education achieve success.  “I work with students from recruitment to the UA all the way to their graduation,” he says.  Others in the College also help along the way with career advising or other matters, but Alan is the only undergraduate advisor at the college.  More about Alan and his work.

Margaret Kurzius-Spencer, MS, MPH, Senior Research Specialist in the Division of Community Environment and Policy.  Margaret received the award for Outstanding MEZCOPH Research Employee.  Margaret is an epidemiologist who does lots of data analyses and data synthesis, as well as proposal writing for new grants.  She works primarily for MEZCOPH scientist Jeff Burgess, but also with Stefano Guerra, Mary Kay O'Rourke, and Robin Harris on various research projects.  Margaret works a lot with colleague and award-winner Sally Littau, also.   More about Margaret and her work.

In total, seven MEZCOPH outstanding employees were nominated for the AHSC Staff Awards for Excellence, and all should be recognized for their service to the College.  The other five nominees are (listed in alphabetical order):

• Anita Foley, Administrative Assistant in the Division of Epidemiology
• Amy Glicken, Recruitment and Admissions Coordinator in the Office of Student Services (Shown in the picture at right receiving her nomination award from Interim Dean Iman Hakim, with Donna Peterson looking on.)
• Kathy Ott, Executive Assistant in the Office of Student Services
• Rebecca Ruiz, Program Coordinator in the Rural Health Office
• Suzanna Trejo, Administrative Associate in the Research Office

Many congratulations to these MEZCOPH award winners and nominees!

Background on the AHSC Staff Awards

Each year the four colleges of the Arizona Health Sciences Center recognize outstanding classified staff members for their performance and achievements with the eight Arizona Health Sciences Center Staff Awards for Excellence. Two awards are given for each college:

• Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
• College of Medicine
• College of Pharmacy
• College of Nursing

In each AHSC college one award is given to an outstanding administrative staff person and one to a staff research employee.  Each of the eight award winners receives $500 and a commemorative plaque.

In addition to the awards listed above, each year one outstanding employee from the entire Arizona Health Sciences Center (all four colleges) is selected for the Georgia Reynolds Dedicated Service Award.  This award winner receives $1,700 and a commemorative plaque.  The award is named for Georgia Reynolds, who worked for the UA College of Medicine and AHSC for 21 years as an Executive Assistant for Dean Vanselow and Dean Kettel.  She was known for her polished "people skills," warm personality, professionalism, and unruffled demeanor.  2008 is the eleventh year that AHSC classified staff have been given an award in her name.

AHSC Awards Nominations and Eligibility

AHSC faculty and staff are encouraged each year to nominate their outstanding classified staff colleagues for the yearly awards. Selection of recipients each year is based on the following award criteria:

• The employee demonstrates strong work qualitities such as initiative, dependability, resourcefulness and commitment.
• The classified staff member encourages others to collaborate and strive for excellence in all aspects of work.
• He or she shows a willingness to help others, extends extra effort to take on additional responsibilities such as volunteering, serving on committees, etc.
• Nominated employees make a difference in the lives of others by displaying a positive outlook and strong compassion.

To be eligible for an award, AHSC classified staff must meet the following criteria:

• The employee must be a Classified Staff Member in MEZCOPH
• The employee must be a non-probationary employee.
• The employee must be benefitis-eligible (0.50 FTE or greater)
• The employee must not be a recipient of the award for the past five years

Nomination packets are accepted until an announced deadline in March each year, and must include:

• One letter of nomination and two letters of support from faculty, appointed personnel, staff and students or outside community members.
• The letter of nomination must clearly identify if the employee is to be consdiered for the research or the administration award for each AHSC college.
• Letters of nomination and support must include specific examples of how the employee has met the award criteria.

For more information about these awards and the nomination process for MEZCOPH staff members, please contact Charlotte Smith.

Written on May 30, 2008 by Loretta McKibben.