Inaugural awards spotlight provost stars

Town halls are a great opportunity for leaders to share progress on departmental goals and outline future plans with employees. The recent Provost Town Hall adopted a new approach, leveraging the employee gathering to announce the first recipients of the Provost’s Star Awards.

“We established these awards in response to the latest employee engagement surveys that showed a need for more formal recognition locally of the tremendous work of our team,” said Dru Marshall, provost and vice-president (academic).

“Leadership comes from everywhere, from every corner of our team,” Marshall said during the presentation.

“We are privileged to recognize this select group of individuals for their outstanding contributions and commitments to our core values of respect, integrity, compassion and collaboration.”

Provost Star Award recipients

• Debbie Bruckner, senior director, student wellness and support, Student Enrolment Services: For her efforts as co-chair of the Mental Health Strategy Steering Committee and also time spent as interim registrar, Bruckner received the overall award of Provost’s Star. She is respected across campus for her leadership at the Student Wellness Centre and for establishing a holistic approach to campus health and wellness.

• Recas Forbes, programmer/analyst, Office of Institutional Analysis: Forbes received the Provost’s Star Award for the Planning and Resource Allocation portfolio for creating an innovative way to calculate the cost of delivering university programs. His new method not only improved overall accuracy, but has the potential to become a model for Campus Alberta.

• Savera Hayat-Dade, manager, programs and international development: Hayat-Dade was selected as the Provost’s Star for the International portfolio for spearheading several new training programs and increasing opportunities for international students and international development projects. Her hard work is helping to pave the way as the university expands its strategy abroad.

• Leeanne Morrow, head, learning support and engagement services: Morrow organized Library and Cultural Resources' activities during Orientation Week and took part in sessions for new students and their families, postdocs, athletes and academic staff. She also played a lead role in events during Beakerhead 2015. Morrow was recognized as the Provost’s Star for Libraries and Cultural Resources and she is applauded for her work developing academic integrity learning modules that are gaining interest in faculties across campus.

• D’Arcy Norman, manager, technology integration group, Educational Development Unit of the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning: Norman showed outstanding leadership in the design and implementation of the Strategic Framework for Learning Technologies which is a major institutional strategic initiative and thus was recognized as the Provost’s Star for the Teaching and Learning Portfolio.

• Anna Nowaczyk, social marketing adviser, Office of Sustainability: Combining her refreshingly positive outlook and collaborative nature, Nowaczyk applied her creativity and knowledge to share stories and build an appreciation for leadership and innovative practices in sustainability across campus. For this work, Nowaczyk was recognized as the Provost’s Star for the Sustainability portfolio.

• Dmitry Romanov, programmer/analyst: Romanov was selected as the Provost’s Star for the Student Experience portfolio because he is always on the lookout for ways to help others. His work ethic is exemplary and is a role model both for the respect he shows towards others and his unfailing dedication to the university.

• Corey Wilkes, team lead, registration, Graduate Studies: Motivator, great trainer, patient and dependable. These are just an example of the words co-workers use to describe Wilkes and her ability to bring out the best from those on her team. Recognized as the Provost’s Star for Graduate Studies, she willingly takes on a new challenges, doing so in an environment of constant change.

The Provost’s Star Awards are slated to become a semi-annual event with plans for the next awards to be handed out at the next Provost Team Town Hall in the spring.