Professional Integrity Award

Angie Wetzel serves as the Director of the Office of Data Analytics for the School of Education and was described by a nominator as having the “work ethic, dedication, trustworthiness, and integrity combine[d] to make her one of the most trusted, admired, and well-liked individuals in the School of Education.” Angie’s skills are widely appreciated, as noted by a nominator who stated, “Angie’s leadership, integrity, and honesty serve as a bridge that fosters school-wide trust and allows opportunities for positive change. She is a creative problem-solver who can be always be relied upon to combine big-picture systems thinking with detailed data to make recommendations.” Angie Wetzel is an outstanding example of the VCU Staff Senate Professional Integrity Award.

Professional Integrity Award presented by Stephanie Hart

Professional Integrity Award

John Priestley serves as an Applications Developer and Analyst for the School of Medicine and was described by one of his nominators as someone who "consistently demonstrates the qualities of respect, excellence, responsibility and accountability, stewardship, and compliance in his work." For over twenty years, a co-worker noted they were “consistently impressed by John’s unwavering commitment to professional integrity and his detailed communications with others in the VCU community.” John Priestly is an outstanding example of the VCU Staff Professional Integrity Award.

Professional Integrity Award presented by Stephanie Hart

Benchmark Award for New Employee

Sarah McCall has shown phenomenal growth in her position with the Office of Institutional Equity, Effectiveness and Success (ILES). It is noted that in a very short period of time, Sarah had gone from learning our operations to managing many of our programs to being one of the core leaders our office depends on, as an adept Program Manager. She was constantly adjusting to handle new challenges and, at the same time, managing logistics so her supervisor had the space to do nothing but focus on the primary tasks. She was always 10 steps ahead, anticipating problems and fixing them before they had an adverse effect on our work. She was instrumental at Qatar, representing the VCU’s Richmond campus while able to accomplish this in the midst of leadership change, expansion all within in one short year. Sarah is an exemplary employee and embodies what it means to be part of the VCU Community. She is transformative and innovative, bringing those along with her, students, staff, faculty, and our community forward to reach our fullest potential. Sarah McCall is an excellent example of the criteria outlined for the Staff Senate VCU Benchmark Award for New Employees. We are proud to present this award to Sarah on her accomplishment as a new employee. We look forward to more examples of excellence.

Benchmark Award for New Employee presented by Priscilla Clayborne

Benchmark Award for New Employee 

Lexi Lewis is a Program Manager in the department of Physical Therapy. Within 4 months, she was tasked with planning Black History Month events, a special recognition of Occupational Therapy during OT Month, an Alumni weekend reception, a Faculty Retreat and Graduation; all while still handling her day to day support responsibilities. Each event was successful and complimented by all that attended. Shortly after the dust settled from the events, the department’s Business Manager was promoted to the Dean’s Office. This gave Lexie another opportunity to show her high-level management skills and she was promoted to Program Manager, taking on additional responsibilities due to the loss of the Business Manager. Ms. Lewis is an active member of the CHP Staff Advisory committee, and volunteers to help train new Administrative staff of the College. As a trained CPR instructor, Lexie was eager to start providing this service to the students instead of hiring a 3rd party to re-certify them. She also became a notary once she saw the students need for one during clinical placement onboarding. Lexie has also taken on several responsibilities for scheduling. She has created google sheets with semester schedules for all courses in our program. This has allowed all faculty and students to see the same calendar. This has greatly improved faculty not overloading students with exams/practical’s in the same week. In addition to her organization and scheduling, Lexie has taken on a role with department finances. She has been in charge of purchasing supplies, ordering linens, getting faculty reimbursed for travel, etc. In her short time here, Lexie has taken on many of the behind the scenes responsibilities for our department. She regularly contributes to improving our efficiency. She is a great resource for both faculty and students. Her demonstrated leadership, streamlining of processes, strategic planning & implementation of new initiatives has carried the department in the past year and has reduced stress and anxiety amongst all the faculty, staff & students. We are proud to present this award to Lexi on her accomplishment as a new employee. We look forward to more examples of excellence. 

Benchmark Award for New Employee presented by Priscilla Clayborne

Guiding Star Award for Career Achievement

Over the past 38 years, Alice Chambliss has been a remarkable staff member to students and employees in her role by being a problem solver, mentoring VCU students, she is dependable, has a wealth of institutional knowledge, quite likable and her work ethic is one to emulate. Alice is deeply engaged with the wider VCU Community by coordinating Staff Development Day, annual Walkathon (pre-pandemic), as well as VCU runs (or walks) for charity. Alice is a Guiding Star.

Guiding Star Award for Career Achievement presented by Janet Wooten

Guiding Star Award for Career Achievement

Mary Tucker has been employed by the Department of Rehabilitation Counseling in the College of Health Professions for 43 years! She guided the department through 5 accreditation self-studies, organized admissions applications, ensured anything and everything related to student success and academic affairs were met. Her institutional knowledge is crucial but it’s her heart that leads. Mary has a strong service orientation that is manifest in her interactions with students. She is recognized by students as a source of support on both a programmatic and personal basis. She has influenced new students to come to their program.  Mary is an essential voice in our department and contributes significantly to our growth and continuous improvement.

Guiding Star Award for Career Achievement presented by Janet Wooten

Exceptional Customer Service Award

Madison Carroll is a Child Life Specialist in the Pediatric Emergency Department. Working in such a high pressure, high touch environment is so impactful not only on the patients but on their families during incredibly stressful times when they most need support. In just one of many examples provided of her incredible grace and kindness, her nominator shares the following: “Maddie embodies qualities that make her exceptional at serving patients and families, no matter the circumstances. She can be seen on the unit sitting quietly beside a mom who is telling stories of their rambunctious child prior to a tragic accident, or creating finger print mementos for parents so they do not leave the hospital empty handed. One of the most difficult tasks we have in the Pediatric Emergency Dept is serving patients even after death. Maddie helps bridge this gap and so eloquently provides dignity and respect to these patients and their families.” I quite literally shed a tear as I was reading through this nomination and the kind words from both colleagues and patients. 

Exceptional Customer Service award presented by Brogan King

Exceptional Customer Service Award

Sara Rafuse is an academic coach in the Campus Learning Center. As an academic coach, Sara engages with and supports some of our most vulnerable students, and her nomination letter highlights many examples of her support of students in distress as well as testimonials from students whose lives she has impacted. In reference to Sara’s support of a student during a time of grief, her nominator shared the following: “So many extremely emotional and difficult thoughts were weighing on this student, and they just needed a safe moment to think, breathe, process... and simply be a human. Sara sat with the student, listened, and then when they were ready, Sara connected them with our Dean of Students Office and made sure that they felt comfortable with their next steps. I commend Sara for making the time and effort to provide a safe space and listening ear, and to also share resources with this student in their time of need. This is what providing excellent customer service to our VCU community members is all about: Going that extra step and taking that extra moment to notice, to listen, and to support.”

Exceptional Customer Service award presented by Brogan King

Executive Award for Staff Advocacy

Whitney Carswell is the Director of the VCU Transfer Center. Whitney is described by their co-workers as an exceptional person that demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to the VCU Community. Under her leadership, the transfer Center has grown to become a leader and a model in Virginia for transfer services by developing partnerships with Community Colleges and VCU campus units. She is described as a tremendous champion for transfer students, and takes the time to listen and make sure that everyone is included in conversation and decision. She is a natural leader, supporting the staff to provide superior service to our students, but stays aware of the self care of her employees. She is defined as a caring person, respectful of others, humble, has a big sense of humor and she worked very hard to ensure a culture of care for the staff and the students at VCU. 

Executive Award for Staff Advocacy presented by Stephanie Danis

Champion of Diversity and Inclusion Award

Kaylynn Hill is the Assistant Director for Engaged Learning in VCU Transform. Her nominator writes, "Kaylynn has taken the initiative to join and advance various VCU diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to make the VCU community more welcoming to each person. She has provided excellent leadership as a Rammalogue facilitator, grown in anti-racist practice by participating in the Anti-Racist Educator series, gotten involved with VCU’s Q Collective, joined VCU Votes, and became a certified Diversity and Inclusion Facilitator. She has also spearheaded efforts to elevate the work of the MLK Committee..." He continues in his letter to say, "Honestly, I am probably missing several other areas of involvement that demonstrate Kaylynn’s commitment to making the broader VCU community the most inclusive and equitable place possible." And, honestly, I too am leaving out a lot of what he and many others wrote about her. Suffice to say Kaylynn goes above and beyond in participating and championing DEI initiatives at VCU, and has had a clear impact in her department and in the VCU community. 

Champion of Diversity and Inclusion Award presented by Andrea Wight

Champion of Diversity and Inclusion Award

Coronda Lee has been a transformative leader in the Neurology department. She has led efforts to minimize the impact of implicit bias during residency recruitment. The letter of recommendation states, "Administrative staff now redact demographic and identifiable information (including photographs) before the selection committee reviews applications for ranking. She briefs all interviewers prior to their meetings with potential candidates and has provided training to the selection committee regarding how to reduce the risk of bias during applicant review." Her work in decreasing the chances of bias during the interview process is extremely important, and should be used as a model for other departments. 

Champion of Diversity and Inclusion Award presented by Andrea Wight

Executive Award for Staff Advocacy

Warren Mays is from the VCU desktop services, print coordinator and manager. She serves as a founding member of the Technology Services Recruitment and Retention committee and helped them to achieve its goals in 2022 and 2023. Warren is defined by her co-workers as someone who is always looking for ways to improve. She created the Technology Service employee engagement surveys to give employees a way to express their feelings about our diversity, job satisfaction, professional development opportunities, and work/life balance. She really tries to listen to their voices, and to act on them. She is described as a person who always focused on keeping the workforce united by listening and understanding their issues, and as someone who collaborated to keep employees connected in the unit of several hundred employees spread across all the Monroe Campus. She implemented a lot of policies and initiatives to advocate for her colleagues and everyone on her team, she definitely advocated for improving staff recognition, and even held social events for people to connect.

Executive Award for Staff Advocacy presented by Stephanie Danis