2019

April 

Congratulations to our April You Rock! award winner: Jodi Guy. Jodi was nominated for all of her great work in the Department of Political Science! (Submitted by Michelle Ilgen)

January

Congratulations to our January You Rock! award winner: Alex Towle.  Alex was nominated for his prompt responsiveness and delivery in helping collect necessary data. (Submitted by Kim Smith)

2018 

November 

Congratulations to our November You Rock! award winner: Jessica Fatica.  Jess was nominated for her support and tireless dedication during the HR transition in her office. (Submitted by Nicola Kiver)

October 

Congratulations to our three October You Rock! award winners: Kathy Swidwa, Stacey Hoffman, and Jennifer Hessert. They were all nominated for going above and beyond in their parts of planning and executing the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Festival. (Submitted by Kim Smith)

September 

Congrats to our September You Rock! award winner: Randy Dixon. Randy was nominated  for some very detailed and labor intensive work moving hundreds of thousands of files into Box. (Submitted by Giuli Dussias)

August 

Congratulations to our August You Rock! Award winner: Mark Williams. Mark was nominated for providing outstanding support to Paola's students during their grant submission process. (Submitted by Paola Dussias)

April 

Congratulations to our April You Rock! Award winners: Brad Winters and Rusty Price. They were nominated for being incredibly helpful in ensuring that the Center for Language Science gets E-Studio (a program employed to run psycholinguistic experiments) on the laptops that undergraduate students associated with the center will use abroad to conduct NSF grant-funded research. Thanks to them, undergraduate students will now be able to conduct research projects abroad with all the tools that they need to be successful. (Submitted by Giuli Dussias)

March

Congratulations to our March You Rock! Award winners: Amy Schmoeller, Chris Hort, and Mary Jo Schilings. 

Amy was nominated for taking on many new responsibilities this semester and assisting her department in their initiative to increase internship opportunities for students. In addition, she used her creativity to develop much needed marking and promotional materials for special events, summer courses, study abroad programs, and graduate recruitment. (Submitted by Stacey Martilotta)

Chris was nominated  for outstanding service. With all the renovations both inside and outside Lori's building, Chris always took time to listen and give suggestions and would follow through on ideas that Lori had to make things better. He helped sustain a wonderful work environment. (Submitted by Lori Sabatose)

Mary Jo was nominated for being extremely helpful when Laura's group needed last minute help with the set-up/technology in 102 Weaver. Mary Jo took time from her own busy day to come to the room and assist with the meeting. Because of her help, Laura's meeting started on time and the invited speaker was able to present without issue. (Submitted by Laura Reddington Moser)

January

Congratulations to our March You Rock! Award winner: Dave Lingenfelter. He was recognized for his willingness to help others, and for providing outstanding service to staff and students. (Submitted by Stacey Hoffman)

2017

September 

Teresa Yost was the recipient of the You Rock! Award in September.  

June 

Stacey Martilotta, Randy Dixon and Steven Sherman were the recipients of the You Rock! Award in June. 

April 

Tracy Wallace was the You Rock! Award recipient for April. She was nominated for striving to ensure that both students and faculty are successful within the learning environment and for always putting them at the forefront. 

March

Three You Rock! Award recipients were named for March: Aimee Grugan was recognized for advocating for the interests of staff in the college; Lisa Reihart stepped in to help another unit during their time of need; and Jackie Smith has worked very hard to incorporate a new process for embedded courses in the college while continuing to be student-centered.

February

Mark Kepler, a technology consultant in Information Technology, was selected as the You Rock Award recipient for February because “not only was he extremely knowledgeable, he provided outstanding customer service while supporting staff…He was always responsive to questions that we had and spent valuable time troubleshooting with us.” The entire Staff Advisory Committee congratulates Marc and the work that he does to help the college run more smoothly. (Submitted by Nicola Kiver and Cathy Dittman)

2015

November

Nicole Force is our "driving force" behind the School of Languages and Literatures.  Nicole is serving as the main point of contact for the move back to Burrowes Building on the SLL side of life.  She approaches her duties as if she were the Maestro of the Metropolitan only her orchestra consists of ~230 faculty, staff, lecturers, and grad students.  I can't even begin to list the many details (large, small, and eben smaller) she works with on a daily basis and does so with a smile on her face.  Many would have thrown their hands in the air but not Nicole.  Nicole is still the first to say "what can I do to make your part of the move easier".  For that she deserves a "you move mountains" award, not just a "you rock" award. (Submitted by: Becky Bressler)

October

With unbelievable speed, creative vision, and patience, Tracy Jackson created a handout for LA Advising to use at an event for prospective students.  Not only was Tracy gracious and enthusiastic about our last-minute request, she had a refined and incredible draft of the document for us to proof in less than 48 hours.  Her creativity, flexibility, and collaborative nature made the fast-paced task stress-free and enjoyable.  Tracy was a remarkable contributor to the recruitment event (Scholars Day) with her expeditious and wonderful creation, and we are so grateful for her creativity, talent, and team-oriented spirit. (Submitted by: Margaret Hammond and Jamie Brenner)

September

The staff at the Dean's office (Nicola, Jessica, Maryam, Faye, Sean and Chris) have made me feel so welcome and part of the team from my very first day on the job (the welcomed me with breakfast!).  They all deserve a "You Rock" award fro their ability to train new staff, their positive attitudes, their patience and their hard work at creating such a pleasant work environment every day.  Thank you all so much! (Submitted by: Stephanie Whitesell)

The Jablonski Lab, Department of Anthropology, nominates Jeff Foltz for a You Rock award for all of his wonderful IT help at the start of this semester.  With a new graduate student and post-doc, our lab needed a lot of new equipment and software, often in a hurry.  Jeff managed all of our requests quickly and with a smile; even when our crotchety printer acted up during a busy week!  His constant good humor and expertise are vital to making our lab run smoothly.  Thanks Jeff!  -Nina Jablonski, Tess Wilson, Elizabeth Wright, Sandy Koch, and Tina Lasisi (Submitted by: Tess Wilson)

August

Amy Schmoeller - Due to a staff departure, we were shorthanded just as the spring semester was wrapping up.  The staff in Sociology is exceptional and everyone pitches in, but due to the nature of the vacant position, Amy picked up many additional duties fro several months.  Amy was a HUGE help to me training the temporary employee, coordinating moves, serving on the search committee, and assisting with the orientation and training of our new full-time staff member all while performing her own duties in undergraduate studies support.  Amy, thank you for all your efforts - YOU ROCK! (Submitted by: Kim Smith)

Joshua Zong - Joshua does an excellent job managing the web team helpdesk tickets through the ticket lifecycle.  I've received numerous unsolicited comments from faculty and staff complimenting how quickly Joshu acknowledges, manages and follows up to confirm his solutions support the requester expectations.  Joshu also provides the majority of the department website admin training.

In addition to Josh's core helpdesk responsibilities, he also helps support the college photo requests, monitors/manages the college digital signs, initiated web team website Google analytics project, and performs website development content transfer tasks, thus improving the department website development productivity. (Submitted by: Greg Giles)

July

Kenny Gutshall - While the majority of support staff were out, Kenny Gutshall worked hard to assure departments were taken care of.  Kenny met with an external rep to address a request from the Hemingway Letters Project. -Morgan (Submitted by: Morgan Wellman)

May

Ned Balzer, Travis Freehauf, Kenny Hwang, and Sean McCurry - Thank you to Ned, Travis, Kenny, and Sean for designing and delivering a new Intranet for the college.  Not only does it lok more attractive, but the new structure makes documents and links easier to find.  It is also much easier to add section headers and upload documents.  Thank you so much for providing such great design and functionality.  We really appreciate it! (Submitted by:  Nicola Kiver)

Kathie Alterio - Kathie went above and beyond in the month of April help me close five gifts for the college before my departure on May 1.  Each of these gifts had unique aspects that she diligently worked through with a smile on her face.  Kathie's behind the scenes role in moving paperwork is critical to the fundraising success of the College.  Kathie kudos to you for always doing a great job with a positive attitude especially this past month. (Submitted by: Kelly Stazi)

April

Jessica Fatica, Nicola Kiver, and Maryam Sinawa - Thanks to Jessica, Maryam and Nicola and the rest of the Dean's Office staff who have spent countless hours trying to decipher the new background check system. Their hard work is making a potentially difficult process much easier for all of us in the College. Thank you! (Submitted by:  Kim Keller)

Jillian Balay and Holly Beaver - Jillian and Holly teamed up to organize a very successful Liberal Arts Graduation Open House. The intent of the Open House was to ensure that Liberal Arts graduates had all the material they needed for graduation and to encourage them to fill out the Senior Survey, which is an important part of our data collection strategy to measure how effectively we are helping our students navigate a path to a meaningful professional or academic careeer after graduating. 

Jillian and Holly, along with the entire Student Services and Career Enrichment Network units, organized a very successful open house in which over 1000 liberal arts graduates participated. The entire staff of the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies unit was involved, but Jillian and Holly truly rock for their collaborative work on this.  (Submitted by:  Chris Long)

March

Kathy Andrusisin - Kathy is nothing short of efficient and amazing. So many times I am caught with last minute UEd. requests that I need to pass along and I always feel so bad asking Kathy to rush something for others and she always comes through. Today I had to put in a request because I had planned poorly for a conference that I was going to in 2 days and went to Kathy with a request. Not only did she get back to me right away, but she did so with her usual professionalism and kindness that I really appreciate. In a world where "a lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine", Kathy is one in a million!  (Submitted by:  Jessica Steele)

February

Benjamin Bryan - On behalf of DSAC, I would like to nominate Ben Bryan for a You Rock award. Ben served cheerfully for an extended term as the chair of DSAC, and during his tenure he was professional, organized, supportive, and unflappable. He contributed significantly to DSAC's new employee orientation, with all of the IT support for creating the presentation framework, setting up the registration, and loading all of the new thumb drives. He also made everyone from new employees to our presenters feel welcome, at ease, and appreciated. Ben has a gift for working with a diverse group of people and making it seem easy and fun. Thank You Ben -- You Rock! (Submitted by: Claudia Horner)

2014

December

Nicole Force - Nicole Force is the School of Languages and Literatures "Unsung Hero and Rock". I speak for all of the SLL staff when I say, without her, we would be lost. Nicole comes in early, stays late, and works many lunch hours to be sure the job is complete. She assists faculty, grads, and staff on a daily basis with a smile and good cheer (even when we know she is very bogged down with her own duties). Nicole is full of original ideas, is always willing to pitch in and help on a project, and makes the staff shine. The staff as a whole share in nominating Nicole for this award. Speaking personally, I have never worked for anyone as amazing as her.  (Submitted by: Becky Bressler and ALL of the SLL Staff)

November

Jessica Fatica - Jessica Fatica deserves a 'You Rock' award for the exceptional job she does in the Dean's office. An accomplished event planner, complicated events this Fall such as the new faculty reception and the named and distinguished faculty reception have gone flawlessly. The coming holiday season brings many more parties and events for her to organize. But the reason Jessica particularly deserves a 'You Rock' award this semester is because along with all these events and her many other duties she has also done a wonderful job training and mentoring our new receptionist, Maryam Sinawa, who joined us in October. I am grateful to work with such a talented and hard-working colleague. Jessica definitely rocks!  (Submitted by: Nicola Kiver)

Kathy Andrusisin - On short notice Kathy helped proofread and edit the Political Science Board of Visitors meeting packet. Without Kathy's sharp eye we would have gone to print with many inconsistencies in our packet. Kathy, thank you for making the time to go above and beyond. Your effort is greatly appreciate and deserves recognition! (Submitted by:  Kelly Stazi)

October

Marc Kepler - While I've always found Marc to be pleasant and helpful when it comes to IT related issues, he really went above and beyond a couple of weeks ago for a faculty member in our area. The faculty member called the Help Desk right before 5:00 and she was told that she needed to show her ID in person in order to fix the issue. She was in the middle of a class at the time so Marc was quick to respond. In fact, as I was leaving in my car for the evening (after 5:00 p.m.) I saw Marc RUNNING down the sidewalk toward our building. The faculty member stated "He was tremendously helpful and fast when he arrived. He had me up and running within minutes." Marc deserves major kudos for going above and beyond in this situation while maintaining a positive attitude. (Submitted by: Trisha Everhart)

August

Becky Bressler - I would like to recognize Becky Bressler for stepping in to handle the huge number of faculty appointments while SLL was short a staff member this summer. This was in addition to her own workload, which already includes a large amount of appointment processing. Not only did she process these additional appointments, but she took the time to solve quite a few complex issues that came up along the way. Becky’s help and expertise proved to be invaluable. For that reason, I want to say, Becky Bressler-- you rock!  (Submitted by: Nicole Force)

June

Becky Bressler, Becky Cross, Carol Ritter, Bonnie Rossman, Sarah Denes, Laura Shaffer, Courtney Robison, Cortnie Showers - I would like to take the opportunity to give a much belated thank you to the staff of the School of Languages and Literatures: Becky Bressler, Becky Cross, Carol Ritter, Bonnie Rossman, Sarah Denes, Laura Shaffer, Courtney Robison, and Cortnie Showers, for their hard work and good humor before, during and after the move from Burrowes Building to our various swing spaces on and off-campus, while the building renovations are underway. Each of these amazing women worked tirelessly during the fall and early spring semesters to pack, unpack, organize, measure, move, and make countless trips in arctic weather conditions to ensure the temporary office spaces were made comfortable for faculty and students, putting their own needs last. Despite our cramped, yet cozy, quarters in Ritenour and Old Botany, the SLL staff  have certainly made these offices warm and welcoming. It’s been nearly 6 months since we moved and the SLL staff team continues to pioneer new approaches to accomplish the many new challenges that we now face with having to provide remote support to faculty and grad students in five different locations across campus and town. 

I am very fortunate to have the pleasure of working with such an ambitious and caring team and feel that each of them should be recognized for their continued dedication to SLL.  (Submitted by Nicole Force)

Casey Fenton - Casey Fenton was asked to help with the printed program for graduation, and with assistance from Holly Beaver and Vicki Fong, did an excellent job designing all the print materials for graduation under a tight deadline. The Student Marshall posters looked amazing, and helped the College look its best on graduation day despite the construction. Casey's willingness to work cooperatively and tirelessly on projects to meet high standards aided in making graduation a great event. (Submitted by Kate Miffitt)

Holly Beaver, Andrea Crews, Barb Edwards, Billie Moslak, Debbie Pyatt, Laurie Shirey, and our excellent Liberal Arts Advisers - This year, the College had a record number of graduates walking this year - 1269 students - which made graduation preparation more complex for the LAUS unit. But despite the challenges, the team worked together and went above and beyond to ensure that graduation went smoothly for our students and their families. It is an important and special time for all of us. The LAUS staff is terrific, and am grateful to work with a team that definitely rocks.  Nominated by Chris Long

May

Jodi R. Ripka - Jodi is our A.A. at the PA Commission on Sentencing. She has a wide variety of duties, and does them all extremely well. She has brought our department through a few moves on campus, and took over duties when staff left for other positions. She is highly valued here in our department, and I would like to see her recognized for the great job that she does.   Nominated by Catherine W. Dittman

April

Lynn Hepfer - I would like to nominate Lynn Hepfer because quite frankly, she rocks! Lynn and I have been working together for almost two years in the History Department. This is my first position at Penn State, and Lynn has helped me to navigate the many policies & procedures without hesitation. Whether it's a friendly smile or an offer to help, she has this incredible ability to make your day! Lynn is amazing at her job, and has been a fantastic mentor to me over these past two years. Nominated by Leah Pawlicki

March

Kathie Alterio - I’d like to nominate Kathie Alterio for the integral role she played in helping the college secure several gifts by February 28, the deadline to be invited to the University’s Campaign Celebration.  February, a short month, coupled with several school closings and delays, meant that time was of the essence in helping donors make several last minute commitments to the College to be part of the April festivities.  Kathie went above and beyond by submitting guideline requests and revisions in a timely manner, keeping me updated on their progress with the Office of Gift Planning, preparing mailings with multiple components for donors, and tracking UPS replies.  She communicated efficiently and effectively throughout the entire process, which helped me to keep donors in the loop every step of the way. Kathie, thank you for all you do to make the gift officers look good in the eyes of our alumni. Nominated by Kelly Stazi

Tammy Cecil, Maxine Laslo and Georgine Mihalenko - Tammy, Max and Georgine have done an amazing job of taking on extra work while Emma's position is being filled.  At the beginning of the semester they not only took on the duties of helping extra faculty but also took on the organization of extra workshops and conferences.  Thank you to Tammy, Max and Georgine for helping out during an already busy time for your positions.  And also a thank you for the anticipated help you will provide Amy as she learns the new position. Nominated by Michele Moslak

Ned Balzer - Ned was given the challenging task of creating a program to enable department staff to quickly and easily submit background check requests to the Dean's office for processing.  He created a web-based application housed on the Intranet that is user friendly for both the background check requesters and the administrators.  Ned helped us transform a time-consuming and complex process involving paperwork, emails, and spreadsheets into a streamlined, easy-to-use program that collects and tracks this sensitive information with the entry of just a few pieces of information and the click of a button.  Ned developed this complex new application in just a few days to ensure the College was ready to comply with the University's new background check process.  Thank you for your hard work.  You rock, Ned! Nominated by the Dean’s Office Staff

February 

Christine Foster and Lori "Micki" Bower - Chris and Micki are the first approvers in the Moore and Carpenter Financial regions.  They have done a fantastic job keeping the regions’ workflows moving during the last 6 weeks, especially considering the size of their workloads and the fact they have been down 2 out of 3 staff members during that time.  I interact with them on a daily basis and they have remained calm, cool and collected (as far as I can tell!).  Not to mention they are both relatively new to their positions and still learning as they go!  You two definitely ROCK!Nominated by Abby Benkiran

Natashia Richardson - Natashia is a financial assistant in the Carpenter Financial region, supporting 3 different departments.  She has only been in her position for a few months and has done a fabulous job.  Also, during the last 6 weeks, she has been a HUGE help to Chris and Micki assisting with the workload in the Moore financial region.  She is definitely a hard worker, quick learner and team player! Nominated by Abby Benkiran

Cathy Holsing - On behalf of the entire College of the Liberal Arts Online Education staff, we would like to nominate Cathy Holsing for the YOU ROCK award. Cathy Holsing is the director of our area and is the glue that holds it all together. There are many moving parts to online education; meeting with the World Campus, working with Department heads, collaborating with instructors, participating in university wide committees and leading a group of Instructional Designers, Instructional Design Assistants and Multimedia support staff. Somehow Cathy makes it all look so seamless. Cathy is an amazing manager who leads by example, everything she does and everything she says is based on what is best for our unit and ultimately what is best for Penn State. Cathy strives to continue our reputation as a quality online course developer for the College of the Liberal Arts and for Penn State World Campus. We all have the utmost respect, admiration and appreciation for Cathy. Simply put, without Cathy we would be lost. Thank you Cathy, for being OUR ROCK! Submitted by: Lisa Byrnes, Stephen Tuttle, Teri Noll, Kurtis Steele, Ryan Murray, Brian Smith, Tracy Wallace and Rox Toto

Holly Beaver, Robin Robinson, Andrea Crews, Debby Pyatt - I nominate the Liberal Arts Student Services staff for working so effectively as a team to transition the office through Robin Robinson's move to the LionPATH project and through the restructuring of roles and training of new staff. They have devoted time and energy beyond what was asked of them to share information, learn new roles and brainstorm innovations to improve interaction with other units and service to the students. Holly, Robin, Andrea and Debby have navigated smoothly a challenging transition thanks to their dedication to collaboration and focus on efficiency and excellence in processes. Our students in the Liberal Arts are the direct beneficiaries of their dedication.  Submitted by: Chris Long

Jamie McClintock Benner - Since Jamie has started she has worked diligently to make strides in making connections throughout the University and her hard work has been paying off! The Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) requested representation from the College of the Liberal Arts for a new project in revising the new advising at Penn State web page. This is a huge undertaking and prior to Jamie’s arrival the College would never have been considered. Our team already knew Jamie was amazing and it was nice to hear that others outside of our College see her hard work as well. DUS kept mentioning our College as being top notch in advising, a leader in technology and cutting edge of innovated ways of advising and communication with Penn State students. 
The Undergraduate Advising team would like to recognize Jamie for her hard work since she started at Penn State. She is an amazing team leader and we are so very happy to have Jamie as our team leader! What an amazing year of growth for our advising team. We cannot wait to see what happens for us in 2014!   Thanks Jamie!  Submitted by:  The Liberal Arts Advising Team

Mary Kay Hort, Katy Heltman, Sherri Bumbarger, Kathie Alterio and Helen Miller - This week the Donor Relations team, comprising of Mary Kay Hort, Katy Heltman, Sherri Bumbarger, Kathie Alterio and Helen Miller, mailed over 230 invitations to our donors inviting them to our campaign closing celebration. This was a monster of a job requiring different parts for separate groups and included in-house design, printing and assembling. It was a great effort and a demonstration of their harmonious team work. Only one of many tasks in preparation for the big event. Great job!  Submitted by: Amanda Pruss

Karen Sones, Ben Whitesell, Beth Brown, Katelyn Perry - Karen, Ben, Beth and Katelyn spent the ENTIRE fall semester revamping the College's Accepted Students Program presentation to better answer students' and parents' questions about an education in the Liberal Arts at Penn State. They worked over lunches at least one day almost every week of the fall in addition to using their administrative time to reach out to faculty and staff throughout the College to collect details and to refine the presentation. All of the effort is culminating in the first ASP presentation on 2/17. I am so proud of the energy and creativity that they gave to this endeavor to better serve prospective students and the College. Submitted by: Jamie Brenner

2013

December 

Chris Hort - I have never witnessed anyone who can juggle as many tasks as Chris Hort! I am amazed by how he talks on his cell and work phone at the same time, and then excuses himself to answer his office door and at the same time keeping on track! How does he do it? I think he needs to share his secrets :) Chris has this facilities coordination thing down to a "T".....he made the entire transition to swing space effortless for me, my staff and my colleagues. Thanks, Chris! Nominated by Kim Keller

Mike Riden, Tracey Jackson, and Lindsey Marshall - Mike Riden, Tracey Jackson and Lindsey Marshall have demonstrated the true meaning of hard work, dedication, and teamwork during the recent move of the Burrowes Building Staff to Swing space locations across campus and town. They have spent many, many extra hours and extra efforts to make sure that our faculty and staff were set up with their computers before the start of the semester. They should be commended for the amount of work that the three of them accomplished in such a short amount of time. I certainly appreciate all their hardwork while maintaining a positive and fun attitude! They are a pleasure to work with and I personally can't thank them enough! Nominated by Kim Keller

Department of English Staff and LA Regional Financial Office - (Amy Barone, Steph Cramer, Karen Davis, Sharissa Feasler, Kim Johnson, Laurie Meyer, Cheryl Mohr, Lynn Setzler, and Wendy Shaffer). I can't say enough about the teamwork I witnessed during the recent move out of Burrowes Building. The English Department Staff and the LA Regional Financial Office Staff were nothing short of amazing. During such a chaotic time, I heard no complaints, only offers of assistance and suggestions for solutions! I am very proud to work with such a wonderful group of people and I can't thank them enough! Nominated by Kim Keller

Jamie Featherer - Jamie has helped tremendously by keeping our undergraduate student support operations running for the last few months while we have been short-staffed. Jamie has taken on additional responsibilities as well as training other staff. She has worked with faculty across our departments' to maintain our undergraduate student's needs, while keeping up with her own graduate student responsibilities. Thanks Jamie for all of your effort! Nominated by Sandi Rockwell

Angela Hill/Kristy Boob - Angela Hill, undergraduate assistant and Kristy Boob, graduate assistant in the Department of Political Science did an outstanding job with the course scheduling for Fall 14. Kristy and Ang both worked extremely hard to make sure the faculty requests and preferences were taking into consideration and worked diligently on providing the best options for our students. This is just one of the many reason's Kristy and Ang rock!!!!! Nominated by Stephanie Rossman

October

Steve Dotts, Shane Freehauf, Mike Renne, Brad Winters - The College IT staff went above and beyond to provide support for the BDSS IGERT sponsored "Hacking GDELT@PSU hackathon" held last week.  We thank you for your efforts to help us make this event a big success! Nominated by Dee Bagshaw

Tracey Melnick - I would like to nominate Tracey for a YOU ROCK award because honestly Tracey is MY ROCK! As my supervisor she truly is the best; she listens to my concerns, she offers positive suggestions for moving forward, and provides me the direction and guidance for being the best I can be in my job. Nominated by Mary Cameron

Mary Jo Schillings - Mary Jo has taken on new responsibilities in our Unit as a result of shrinking our team by one staff member. Mary Jo is now planning events for our unit. Recently, she had four events in one week, which is a pretty full schedule. Not only did Mary Jo keep everything straight, but she did so with organization and a cheerful attitude. She communicated well with the team about what was going on, what she needed from us, and with the hosts of the speakers as well. Mary Jo rocked all four events, and for that, I think she deserves the You Rock! Award. Nominated by Erin L. Eckley

September

Elaine Prestia - Elaine has been the primary coordinator and solicitor of the Psychology Department's fundraising efforts for our Office Olympics Team.  She has put a lot of personal time and effort in collecting the funds and should be credited for making it the success it is.  I don't think we could have done it without her.  A big thanks and kudos to Elaine! Nominated by Judy Bowman

Ryan Murray - Ryan Murray has worked tirelessly and given great support in the creation of the online FR 1-2-3 courses. He has shown great patience in helping the faculty course author make the most appropriate choices for an online course. His attention to detail and strong work ethic have meant that he has spent many nights and weekends tweaking the course to get it just right. The College of Liberal Arts is lucky to have such a dedicated Instructional Designer! Nominated by Heather McCoy

Sarah Denes - Sarah Denes recently took on a bulk of the work necessary to make the Marathon Reading of 100 Years of Solitude a success. She organized readers and volunteers and orderd promotional posters and t-shirts which she distributed. She had a unique task this year because she smoothly helped navigate between readers in different languages. She spent countless hours preparing before the event and spent time during the even making sure everything was running smoothly and helping where she could. She even picked up breakfast! I had a great experience working with her and she was an integral reason the Marathon Reading was a success. Nominated by Lauren Perrotti

Lisa Pierson, Jessica Steele, Sierra James, Erin Hetzel, Katelyn Perry - The School of Labor and Employment Relations recently made the move from the basement to the 5th floor of the Keller Building.  Any move can be stressful but this move was scheduled during the first week of classes! I am so incredibly proud of how our team worked together to make the move as smooth and seamless as possible.  The team didn't skip beat.  They made sure faculty and students received top notch service all while unloading boxes and rearranging furniture.  I am very lucky to have such amazing people on my team. Lisa, Jessica, Sierra, Erin, and Katelyn totally, absolutely, undeniably ROCK!Nominated by Trisha Everhart

August

Susan Knell, Jillian Balay, Melissa McBrayer, Drew Yingling, Julie Willits, Ben Whitesell, Suzanne Bennett, Greg Nolan, Jen Sholtis, Margaret Hammond, Lisa Brooks - For their excellent, swift and creative work in developing a Student Success Toolkit this team of advisers and Network staff truly rocks. The toolkit includes mini curricula related to the resources the College has for students as they think about study abroad, internships and their academic career at Penn State and beyond. Take a look at what they developed in only a few weeks:http://laus.la.psu.edu/laus/enrichment-toolkit. Nominated by Christopher Long

Jen Sholtis - Since arriving as a new advisor for students majoring in the School of Languages and Literatures just a couple of years ago, Jen has consistently gone above and beyond. She has a real ability to listen to students' concerns and to translate those into realistic and appropriate course choices. She is incredibly professional and calm in even the most trying of times. And she is always looking ahead to the next thing that can be done to simplify and clarify the course selection process for students. She's contacted me maybe a half dozen times with suggested additions to our departmental website, she's attended biannual student orientations for our majors, she's sat in on Undergrad Committee meetings to advise us about the impacts our curricular changes will have on students, and she's proven herself an invaluable colleague. My life as DUS for Asian Studies would be so much harder without her!Nominated by Charlotte Eubanks

July

Melissa Price, Ken Woll, Shane Freehauf, Charles Halcomb - Missy Price, Ken Woll, and Shane Freehauf did an excellent job migrating their Lotus Notes users to UCS, Penn State's new email system. The project took many months and hundreds of hours of work. It was quite a challenge considering their already demanding workloads. It also required them to work around the busy schedules of faculty and staff. I appreciate their efforts. Nominated by Greg Halpin

Bonnie Rossman - Bonnie single-handedely planned, organized and ran faculty searches that resulted in at least five tenure-line hires this Spring-- this meant multiple campus visits for each position. This, in my experience, was unprecedented, and way beyond her normal duties. She deserves all the credit for the success, which will have deep impact on the College. Nominated by John Ochoa

Ned Balzer, Ben Bryan, Wendy Buterbaugh - At the end of the Spring semester, DSAC had a surge of interest in CPR-AED certification training requests. Wendy Buterbaugh (who had already left the college) generously stepped up to offer her expertise as a Red Cross certified instructor. When classes filled up, she quickly agreed to add more. Over the past two years, she has certified 74 CLA staff and faculty. 
Despite a short deadline and lots of pressure, Ben Bryan and Ned Balzer worked quickly to get the class websites created and updated. Without their help, this wouldn't have happened. 
Thanks to all three of you for jobs well done! Nominated by Tess Wilson

June

Brad Winters and Shane Freehauf—I have found the both of them to be a valuable resource since I started here in the Psych IT department. They have always assisted us when we have needed it by answering our questions, training, and helping out where needed. A recent example, Brad came over and assisted myself and Art in going through the 134 computer lab and helping us make changes to every one of the machines. Also those two have been providing extra support, as needed, for the Psych IT department as we are still shorthanded due to being in process of hiring another person. I cannot thank them enough!  Submitted by Ryan Heberling

May

Kim Johnson - I would like to nominate Kim Johnson for the You Rock Award. Kim was a great help when I fell and really needed assistance. She provided great support when I most needed it! Kim always has a smile on her face and an offer to help on any given day. I really appreciated her help in my time of need. Nominated by Cheryl Mohr

Billie Moslak & Barb Edwards--Graduation is a chaotic time for our office and it's always overwhelming for Tanya and I to handle the things we need to do while also managing phone and foot traffic. This year Billie and Barb were superheros for us both. They answered our phones and handled a significant portion of our walk-in traffic allowing us both the time to concentrate on making sure graduation went off without a hitch. We can't say enough to express our gratitude for the way they helped make our lives easier! You ladies ROCK! Submitted by Andrea Crews & Tanya Hockman

Huacong Liu—Huacong was instrumental in the success of our recent visit to Nanjing University in Nanjing, China. Not only did she take care of all of the coordination leading up to our visit and contribute significantly during meetings with Nanjing representatives, but she served as an invaluable cultural guide and translator during our visit. Huacong went above and beyond the call of duty when she rescued us from spending the night in the Beijing airport when we ended up stranded for an extra day because of a flight delay. Huacong's patience and generosity made our first visit to China an experience to remember!  Submitted by Chris Long and Susan Knell

April

Sierra James - Sierra made a seamless transition into the LSER department early this year and has made a positive impact on the department. Her work ethic and sense of pride in her work is apparent in all of the tasks that she performs. She is always looking to improve, grow her skills, and to make positive contributions to the department. Above and beyond that her positive and friendly personality is welcoming to all students, faculty, staff and visitors. I am very proud to call Sierra a co-worker because as we say- She Rocks! Nominated by Jessica Steele

Nicole Force - Since the very moment she began working for the department, Nicole has brought stability and composure to her role as staff supervisor. The results of good management, however, often go unnoticed-- precisely because things run so smoothly. But I recently had the opportunity to experience how miraculous her working practices can be: during a time of staff transition, when we lost an important staff member at an especially busy and delicate time of year, Nicole took on the extra work herself. Whereas the disruption might have had serious effects on the department, Nicole made the transition period seem like an improvement. Nicole made it possible to weather the storm as if the waters were perfectly smooth. Not only did she take on the extra work herself, always managing the innumerable extra tasks with efficiency, but she did so with her characteristic kindness and elegance. I am deeply impressed with Nicole Force as a colleague and leader; she rocks. Nominated by Jonathan Eburne

March

Drew Yingling - Drew volunteered to drive a 15 passenger van to the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Region 2 conference and brought us home safely through a small snow storm that left the roads quite dangerous. He stayed calm and cheerful throughout a very stressful 6 hour drive. Without him we may not have made it home that day.  Nominated by Ben Whitesell

Drew Yingling - Returning from the regional conference of the National Academic Advising Association, Drew fearlessly guided 9 of us in a van safely through a snowstorm on I-80. Despite a one and a half hour stoppage, he kept his cool and kept his sense of humor, and the rest of us were able to relax and laugh and entertain ourselves through the unexpectedly long trip. Nominated by Jamie Brenner

Betsy Will - Once again, Betsy Will pulled off an exceptional staff awards reception! Betsy puts countless hours into this event starting as soon as the prior year's event has concluded and ending long after the event has occurred. She is constantly searching for new ideas and ways to make this event special and enjoyable to not only the award winners and their guests but also to the entire Liberal Arts staff. She purchases and assembles gifts, decorations, snacks, etc., on her own time. She looks for ways to save the college money such as by borrowing props and decorations for free or for a nominal donation. She uses her contacts to request giveaways. She seeks other music options when the band she has used for years is unable to perform. She comes up with activities that the staff will enjoy. All of her hard work comes together in a well organized, well attended, and very much appreciated staff event. We are very fortunate to have Betsy as the organizer of this event and the question on everyone's mind is how will she top it next year?  Stay tuned!  Nominated by Faye Maring

Bonnie Rossman - Bonnie Rossman has proved to be a master at coordinating faculty recruiting efforts for the School of Languages and Literatures. This year she organized a total of 15 candidate visits for the Department of Comparative Literature; the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese; and the Asian Studies Program. Bonnie devoted endless hours to ensure that every possible detail of their visit was flawless and that the hosting department put their best foot forward from start to finish. Even in the most hectic of situations, Bonnie never got flustered and went the extra mile to ensure that the candidate and those meeting with the candidate were accommodated in whatever way possible. Bonnie’s generous nature, attention to detail and dedication to the School is remarkable and for that she ROCKS! Nominated by Nicole Force

February

Katy Heltman and Holly Beaver - It is wonderful to have employees that care! Katy and Holly went above and beyond the call of duty and their efforts made a profound impact on the life of one of our undergraduate English majors. Due to difficulties with the awarding policies and procedures, one of our undergrads was recently negatively impacted by what should have been a very happy and gratifying experience. Thanks to the quick action of Katy and Holly, they were able to turn that negative into a positive and truly show how much our employees care about our undergraduate students! Nominated by Kim Keller

January

Lisa Pierson - Lisa Pierson recently had a billing issue with a vendor that was not easy to resolve. Lisa was continually in contact with the vendor and countless staff explaining and working with them on the billing issue. The vendor had a staff change-over and Lisa had to start all over to try to get her refund. She was successful in receiving the refund which was due to the department. Lisa ROCKS for saving PSU and her department money. Nominated by Stephanie Rossman

Sondra Morrison and Sheri Miller - Just before the start of the Fall semester, due to a leave and a departure, the Department of Sociology/CLJ was short-staffed by two.  Sondra and Sheri, each with their own very full-plates, without hesitation helped to pick up the "slack," contributing greatly to the team effort of handling additional duties, and also serving on the search committee for a new staff member. Thanks to their expertise, professionalism, and dedication to the Department we had a smooth and successful start to the Fall semester. Sondra and Sheri rock all year long, their efforts and commitment are appreciated every day. I couldn't have gotten through the last two months without them. Thank you Sondra and Sheri, you both ROCK!  Nominated by Kim Smith (PLEASE NOTE: Nomination was originally submitted in October, but was missed by reviewers - we apologize for the delay in recognizing our great staff!)

2012

December 

Angela Hill - End of the semester is always a busy time of year, particularly for the undergraduate office. Angela Hill seems to make it look easy. This fall while doing her normal duties, Angela also took over the scheduling of Political Science undergraduate courses. She did so with very little guidance or training. Knowing I've been feeling under the weather, Angela also assumed responsibility for cleaning out our department classroom. Making sure all the bookshelves loaded with journals from 1948 found their rightful place.....in the trash! YOU ROCK Ang - for stepping up, without prompting, to help out the team! Nominated by Amy L Homan

Kim Kneas - Kim has devoted priceless time and energy to the LA Advising Social Media Committee's video shenanigans over the last several months, but she outdid herself on our latest video "Advisers Unite!" We couldn't have done it without her! Kim's efforts help us to connect with students in an innovative, interesting and fun way. Nominated by Jamie Brenner

November

Suzanne Bennett - Suzanne is someone who really pays attention to the little things that mean a lot. When I was desperately looking for vegan marshmallows, she not only found them--she purchased them and brought them in to work for me. All is right in my world again, thanks to Suzanne. I can enjoy my favorite snack...guilt-free! Suzanne, you (and your thoughtfulness) totally rock! Nominated by Katelyn Perry

October

Sandi Moyer - Sandi went above and beyond the call of duty to help my departmental committee meet its deadline. She quickly and efficiently handled my many requests that she send emails and make phone calls with good humor. Her positive attitude put the rest of us at ease, while her willingness to do extra work quite literally enabled the functioning of the committee.  Nominated by Amy S. Greenberg

Betty Blair - Betty has been a huge asset to the Associate Dean’s Graduate Studies office over the summer and fall semester. She volunteered to provide assistance to several departments who didn’t have a grad staff assistant during the crucial appointment period of the summer. Without her, several departments may not have had their grad students paid on time. Betty continues to prove her expertise as a member of the newly created committee, the Graduate Mentor Group. Her knowledge, competence and professionalism are greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for all that you do… you rock!  Nominated by Lynn Sebulsky

Diane Hockenberry - I want to congratulate and thank Diane Hockenberry for her excellent work managing 16 endowments in the Department of Political Science. Over the first quarter of this fiscal year (7/1/12-9/30/12), Diane awarded funds to graduate and undergraduate students, and managed expenditures from various award and program support funds for her department. Strategically spending funds that our donors have graciously donated is crucial to future fundraising success. Donors want to see that we are spending the money they have previously donated (and spending it wisely) before making another gift. Political Science is currently leading the way in spending their endowment. Way to go, Diane!  Nominated by Mark Luellen

Amy Barone - Amy is an awesome team player. I am filling in for a staff member out sick and had to submit something (for course scheduling) into a system in which I have no experience. Amy just called and said "I will go ahead and submit it for you and let you know when it's approved". She just made my day!! Departments helping Departments is what it's all about and Amy is a great model for this!  Nominated by Erin Eckley

Mary Jo Schillings - Mary Jo is an amazing asset to the History and CAMS Depts and JST Program as their "public face" to everyone who enters the office. She is always happy to welcome enquirers at the front desk and deals with multitudes of questions and problems each day with a bright and encouraging attitude. In addition Mary Jo is an ever patient and most diligent coper with my numerous questions about research grant use; she deals with foreign language websites (without actually knowing the languages!) in a most effective and efficient way and follows up the various problems that arise with persistence and precision. She's wonderful!  Nominated by Paul Lawrence Rose

Joelle Devinney - Finding someone to cover the Liberal Arts IT Help Desk is like pulling teeth. Joelle suffers from the curse of the helpful; she helps out enough that she's usually asked to do it again. And again. And again.  Thanks for all the help, Jo!  Nominated by Ben Bryan

Psych financial team - I would like to recognize the work that Dawn Corman, Jenn Brungard, and Heather Besecker do in the department of Psychology. In addition to the fine service they provide to the faculty and students they are always more than willing to stop what they are doing to assist the staff (especially me!). They are a great asset to the overall Psych team--keep up the great work!!!  Nominated by Mona Muzzio

Stephanie Rossman - Stephanie has been a tremendous support to me in the last several months. I recently transitioned into a new role which resulted in a learning curve. Stephanie has taken the time to work with me in getting up to speed. She is extremely knowledgeable, efficient, and patient...doing it all with a positive, upbeat attitude. Stephanie, you totally rock!  Nominated by Trisha Everhart

September

Wendy Buterbaugh – Wendy did a phenomenal job completing a college wide CPR/AED Training initiative over this past summer. Her efforts resulted in over 30 individuals throughout the college receiving their Red Cross certifications. Wendy worked with Deans' office staff, DSAC and others to coordinate 5 training sessions that all occurred in Moore building making it easier for faculty/staff to attend. Thanks Wendy for your time, efforts, and expertise in making this very worthwhile initiative a success!  Submitted by Chris Hort

Trish Everhart – Trish has taken on a new leadership role in the LER department...while still successfully managing ALL of her typical responsibilities. I would have lost my head weeks ago I found myself in a similar position, but Trish is unflappable, tremendously competent, a quick study whenever a new, unexpected task comes her way--and she maintains a sense of humor, too. I really admire you, Trish--and you totally rock! Submitted by Katelyn Perry

Jessica Steele – Drop/Add is usually a high-energy, demanding time for all of us who work with students. As the front line staff assistant in LER, Jessica Steele handled the student traffic with tact, poise, and a good bit of patience! I'm especially grateful for Jessica's assistance because this year, drop/add came at a high-stakes time in her personal life. Thanks so much for rockin' the first ten days of the semester, Jessica!  Submitted by Katelyn Perry

Jessica Fatica – The Dean's Office in 111 Sparks Building is a busy and ever-changing place. Following the departure in June of our previous scanning assistant, Jessica Fatica stepped up and did the work of two people, including covering all the receptionist duties, processing a mountain of FT2 and Wage Payroll appointments, and serving on the search committee to find a new staff member. Ably assisted by Faye Maring and Betsy Will, Jessica fulfilled all her additional responsibilities with professionalism, efficiency, patience, dedication, and good humor. We are so lucky to have the very talented Jessica on our team. We couldn't have got through the summer without her.  Jessica, you Rock!  Submitted by Nicola Kiver

Sarah Denes – Sarah was one of the key staff members who organized this year's first Liberal Arts Catch-22 read-a-thon, and she did a fantastic job. Coordinating a 24 hour event takes a tremendous amount of energy, a boat-load of time, and a lot of ... heart. I saw Sarah in the evening when the read-a-thon had been underway for over 10 hours. She was welcoming, focused, and very gracious. I'd love it if we made the read-a-thon a yearly tradition, but even if it was a one-time only event, it was a lot of fun, and Sarah completely rocked it! Congratulations, Sarah!  Submitted by Katelyn Perry

Sandi Moyer – Sandi has stepped up in the past few weeks during times of being short-staffed and general transitioning. It is true that, as my "back-up" person, this is part of her job, but at times we had things coming at us in all directions and Sandi went above and beyond every day. Sandi has been patient and understanding while I learned how to handle situations that are new to me. She has trained and welcomed new staff, and promotes the well-being of the units we serve at all times. Sandi rocks all the time, but has rocked even more at the beginning of this fall semester!  Submitted by Erin Eckley

Kenyan Cattell – Kenyan serves as the Undergraduate Studies Officer for the History Department. In this capacity, she provides behind-the-scenes logistics for undergraduate education in the department, including, but not limited to scheduling courses and managing enrollment. I teach a 180-student introductory survey course and many of my students were late enrollees because of delayed financial aid and other unforeseen issues. Kenyan made the enrollment process as smooth as possible for these students and maintained constant communication with me, keeping me informed about students' enrollment status and my official class size. Kenyan always does her work with a smile and makes everyone feel as if their problem or question is at the top of her priority list. I am thankful for Kenyan's enthusiasm, professionalism, and dedication to undergraduate education here at Penn State. I believe that she rocks and her extraordinary work should be recognized.  Submitted by Crystal Sanders

Leah Smith – Leah is a new staff assistant who has been very responsive and helpful in getting a lot of routine tasks done efficiently and promptly taking care of chores that faculty ask her to do.  Submitted by Mark Munn

August

Melissa Price and Ken Woll – Missy and Ken are an amazing IT support team for CAS. They are incredibly responsive to our needs and always well informed AND pleasant. Recently, we need a new team member brought up to speed on technology and I was preparing for a trip overseas. Missy and Ken stepped right up and got us both going. Great Job!!  Submitted by Michael Hecht

July

Robin Haynes, Karen Andrus-Smith, Sally Arnold, Kendra Stahlman – During the month of June we our merged unit went from an administrative support staff of eight to four within three weeks.  Those staff members left due to other opportunities both within and outside of the university and outside of the college.  Robin, Karen, Sally and Kendra have been a tremendous help in stepping up and taking on other responsibilities wherever and whenever needed.  They have crossed job descriptions and competencies with no complaint and we are surviving.  I don't know if it's possible to recognize them all with this award, but they certainly deserve it.  Submitted by Sandi Rockwell

June 

Billie Moslak – Billie has been terrifically patient while I learn the process of getting approval x97 courses and getting them schedule. When she has called to correct an error she uses these interactions as teachable moments. Although, I have never actually meet Billie in person, I can tell that she is an asset to the College of the Liberal Arts. Submitted by Jessica Steele

Holly Beaver – The Office and Undergraduate Studies and the Office of Outreach and Online Education partnered in early spring to plan for and monitor summer 12 enrollments.  This was a new approach because we had historically worked independently, but the summer session budget model incentivized both units to approach the undergraduate summer offerings holistically regardless of how delivered.  Holly and I could have worked independently and pieced together the entire summer picture, but she was open to collaboration and patient with my questions.  She was willing to learn to how the course sections delivered through Outreach fit into the overall portfolio, and she shared with me the processes used to manage enrollments that are on a much larger scale than those with which I currently work.  I am appreciative of Holly’s openness and team-oriented approach.  Working together we were able to see significant improvement over last summer.  Thanks to Holly, the College has an example of a successful inter-departmental collaboration.  Submitted by Elizabeth Osborne

Becky Cross – I would be remiss if I left PSU without nominating Becky Cross for a You Rock! award. I've had the privilege of being the Head of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese (and as a consequence the exceptional good fortune of working with Becky) over the past four years, and it is not an exaggeration to say that without her support, wisdom, and dedication, I don't know if I could have handled the range of challenges that we faced. The list of the reasons behind nominating Becky for a You Rock! award is longer than this form will allow me to enumerate, but I highlight a few things here. First, thanks to Becky's analytical skills and problem solving abilities, Spanish has not only been able to rectify a complex and historically problematic workload situation, but also has been able to help the College to overhaul the way in which Departments calculate their annual workload requirements. Second, Becky is, hands down, the best classroom and course scheduler I have ever known. I won't even try to unveil her dark arts here, but I can say that even at the bleakest moments, even in the face of constantly changing registrar's requirements and onerous initiatives from central administration that constrain course scheduling without taking into account the complexities of running an enormous hybrid language program whose time slots do not fit into anyone else's standard models, Becky unfailingly manages to efficiently schedule over 125 sections of basic Spanish alone per year, across even the busiest time slots. Third, in times of budgetary belt tightening and the need to target 100 percent enrollment in all courses, Becky has over the past three years done an outstanding job of tracking basic Spanish enrollments daily throughout summer registration, devising of system of manual overrides of caps, weighted by the time any given Spanish section is offered, in order to approximate 100% capacity AFTER the drop period, rather than at the end of registration. This has allowed us to minimize the total number of sections offered and thus generate savings for the College. Fourth, during a difficult transition to a merged staff in the School of Languages and Literatures, Becky has been a rock solid leader of the student services team in Burrowes, with our students never suffering from the upheaval of an extended internal process of reorganization and staff turnover. Fifth, and perhaps most importantly on the list of the intangibles that Becky brings to her job, she has never hesitated to "speak truth to power." As a Department Head, I cannot tell you how much I have valued her honesty and willingness to give me her unvarnished assessments of the challenges that we face both on a day-to-day basis and in longer term strategic planning. I have always felt that our staff, working as it were on the factory floor, have a tremendous sense of what works best to keep the machines working. I will be forever grateful to Becky for trusting me enough to share her ideas and insights with me. For all of these reasons, I'm nominating Becky for a You Rock! award. I think she should get one every month!  Submitted by Chip Gerfen

Barb Edwards – Barb joined Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies to support the Paterno Fellows Program at the busiest time of the year. (We didn't tell her that when we offered her the job!) Even as she joined LAUS, she continued working for and with her former group in Rock Ethics.  Two jobs in one.  Despite that challenge, she got us all through a wonderful graduation weekend--somehow (mainly through hard work and tremendous commitment.  I'd say we hired the right person!  Submitted by Jack Selzer

May

Sherri Bumbarger - Sherri led out team in the planning, organization, and execution of our most important year-end events: the Liberal Arts Leaders Dinner for those who gave $100,000 or more during the campaign, the Development Council meeting and lunch, and worked with Pscyhology on the Moore Building Dedication. All events occurred within a 24-hour window, were at multiple locations that required adjustments to be "donor ready", and required the briefing of multiple participants. Great work, Sherri! Submitted by Mary Kay Hort

Julianna Chaszar - As you may know, the Paterno Fellows Program is an integral part of the College of the Liberal Arts and as Advisors, we are the first to guide the students to aspire and then once the challenge is accepted, work daily on their progress through the program. The first two years are crucial and ultimately by the student's sophomore year, we have to calculate if they are eligible to be a Schreyers Honors student and continue to aspire to be a Paterno Fellow. This has to be the most stressful time for advisors because every student's cumulative GPA and semester GPA has to be reviewed along with the departmental requirements, and of course, it is not a simple yes or no answser. Well, Julianna saw that the advising team struggled with each scenario and so she worked diligently with Dr. Jack Selzer and Christine Hughes to come up with several different scenarios with the outcomes to help ensure if a student is eligible to move forward or not. The time Julianna took to create such a document makes the task of deciding if the student is eligible or not similar and less stressful! She saved the advising team so much time and energy that I would like to nominate her for a YOU ROCK award because she indeed ROCKS and I am so happy that she is part of my team!   Submitted by Mary Cameron

April

Lisa Pierson - Lisa Pierson has been the driving force behind the success of both the fall and spring alumni events held by the Lador Studies and Employment Relations Department during this last academic year. This is an opportunity for our alumni to visit campus and see what progress the department is making through faculty and student updates. With little help, Lisa is able to work with the venues, alumni, students, and staff to produce successful events time and time again. She is able to do all of this while completing her other daily responsibilities, all with a positive, can-do attitude. Lisa presented herself in such a genuine, warm, and friendly way such that she is truly admired by her fellow colleagues. She is an example of what it means to be a Penn Stater.  Submitted by Jessica Steele, Trisha Everhart, Erin Hetzel, Katelyn Perry, Amy Dietz

February

Jamie Frazell - Thanks to DSAC, especially Jamie Frazell, for the wonderful job they did organizing the Valentine's Day staff luncheon. The food was appreciated and it was a great opportunity to visit with other colleagues within the college. You Rock!   Submitted by the Department of English

Ned Balzer - Kudos to Ned Balzer for the Faculty Search Application. Ned developed the application for the College in 2010-2011 and has provided timely and helpful assistance to both staff and faculty users since then. It is an innovative and well-designed application that vastly increases the efficiency and accuracy of the College's search processes. Among its many useful features, the system saves staff huge amounts of time uploading documentation and provides helpful reporting and tracking tools for search committees. Please join me in congratulating Ned on his excellent work designing and maintaining this important tool for our college. Ned - You Rock!    Submitted by Nicola Kiver

Heather Harter - In order to better promote the enrollment of summer courses for the College, LAUS wanted to create a page on its website that would specifically show the courses the CLA was offering, both online and in residence - a truly daunting task. Heather took this challenge and ran with it, creating a very user-friendly, logical, and comprehensive search site for CLA students and advisors to use. The site can be found at laus.la.psu.edu/summer. It will be featured prominently on the LAUS site and promoted via social media. For her work on this project, and the undoubtedly positive  impact it will have on summer course enrollments, Heather clearly deserves this award. She rocks!  Submitted by John Dolan

January

Elaine Prestia, Wendy Buterbaugh, and Shannon Ranio - In preparing for the Psychology Department move to the new Moore addition, we had cabinets filled and boxes upon boxes of old filing located in the Moore basement that needed to be gone through and purged or shredded, some of the information dating back to the 1950's. This was a daunting task. With Elaine, Wendy, and Shannon's help, it didn't take as long as we had thought. I want to say thank you for their help and THEY ROCK! Submitted by Judy Bowman

Andrea Crews and Tanya Hockman - Andrea and Tanya know everything. Literally. They provide an endless wealth of information to staff and students alike, always with admirable patience and a sly sense of humor. We don't know what we would do without them, and we feel very lucky to have them on the LAUS Team! Submitted by Courtney Orr, Sarah Krupp, and Sarah Derewitz

2011

October 

Chris Hort – The Carpenter Building has experienced a great deal of renovations over the past couple of years. Namely, the 2^nd floor was entirely revamped to accommodate a new technology classroom and the Matson Museum was totally renovated. The Matson Museum project is almost complete and today we started another project on the 4^thfloor involving knocking down more walls to accommodate a lab. Both of these projects required a tremendous amount of commitment, coordination, and involvement on Chris’s part. Throughout the entire process, he demonstrated consistent and persistent direction and follow up and follow through on every aspect. He handled delicate situations with ease and patience. Even though he had the responsibility of a huge building project (Moore) at the same time as our renovations, we never felt like a second fiddle. A big thank you, Chris, from everyone in Carpenter. You “rock”!  Submitted by Faye Maring

August

Mary Fleming, Ben Whitesell and Steph Cramer- I was out of the office unexpectedly after having surgery, and all three did a great job of handling issues that couldn’t wait for my return.  Their willingness to do this made it easier for me both while I was away and after I came back to work.  I really appreciated their help! Submitted by Tracey Melnick

July

Ben Bryan—Ben took the lead on the design and execution of the new digital sign that now proudly hangs in Sparks Building. His creativity and ingenuity resulted in an interactive sign that not only acts as a source of information for passersby, but also allows for social media engagement as well. Great job, Ben! Submitted by John Dolan

Karen Campbell and Betsy Will—The Dean's office was without both a receptionist and a scanning assistant for over eight weeks in June and July. I would like to recognize the superb and tireless efforts of Karen Campbell and Betsy Will who kept the office functioning while we searched for new staff. Unfailingly good humored and professional, they both took on a huge number of additional duties on top of their own work, while also serving on both search committees and completing more than 25 interviews for the positions. I am proud to work with such dedicated and talented staff—they are true assets to the College. Thanks Betsy and Karen—you rock! Submitted by Nicola Kiver

Betty Blair—Carpenter Building has been "on the move" this summer in preparation for the addition of three faculty members and their corresponding lab and space needs. This involved moving and renovating offices, moving items to storage and to salvage, and moving items between buildings. Most graduate students and several faculty members were moved to different areas. When Betty learned that the first move would occur shortly after I returned from a medical absence, she volunteered to coordinate the process during my absence. When I returned, she didn't just hand over the second move but rather continued to work diligently on the project. The second move involved relocating over 100 items and it all went off without a hitch because of Betty's careful planning. Thank you, Betty, I couldn't have done it without you! Submitted by Faye Maring

June

Wendy Shaffer—To say ‘Wendy Shaffer rocks’ hardly does justice to all Wendy contributes to this College. Single-handedly, she can and will move mountains and mountains of rocks accurately and efficiently. That is very nearly what Wendy did to successfully close out this fiscal year. No one would suspect the amount of work and stress our always-cheerful and good-humored Burrowes Tier 2 has been buried in because Wendy keeps everything running smoothly with a smile on her face, (of course, it also helps having the smoothest operators running the show in CLA's main financial office). Wendy always goes above and beyond the call of duty; she's rocking out with a bunch of boulder-sized rocks! Submitted by your Girls in Burrowes

May

The winner of the "Rock" for May is Tracey Melnick, Advising Program Coordinator, Department of English.

Mike Riden—On May 5, there was the smell of something burning on the 1st floor of north Burrowes Building. Mike went through offices trying to locate it and found the office with the strongest smell. He found smoke coming from the refrigerator. When it was being unplugged, flames started to come out of the back of the refrigerator. He unplugged it and took it outside. Thanks for saving Burrowes Building. You definitely Rock!!!! Submitted by Joelle DeVinney

Tracey Melnick and Katelyn Perry—The Undergraduate Advising Staff would like to say a huge thank you to Tracey and Katelyn for the awesome job they did organizing the staff for the upcoming year of FTCAP (First-Year Testing, Consulting, and Advising Program). This program ensures that our incoming freshmen have a great understanding of the expectations of their education at Penn State as well as having an awesome start to the their first year away from home. This year Tracey and Katelyn worked so hard to make the process run smoother—they developed scripts for presentations, created templates for the best way to get prepared for student scheduling, updated our packets that we hand out to LA students, and created a comprehensive folder on our shared drive to make it easy for advisers.  This had to have taken months to get ready, and they did these tasks during fall scheduling, when advisers are the busiest.  We want to thank you for all of your efforts!  We are so grateful to have two great people who took extra steps to ensure that their fellow colleagues have a great FTCAP year! Submitted by Mary Cameron

Ben Bryan—Ben was so very helpful in supporting two big events for Alumni Relations and Development this spring. He took the time to understand our needs and came up with the best possible solutions. He worked seamlessly with our staff and confidently executed the multimedia presentations. Ben, we were thrilled to have your help and are grateful for a job well done. You rock! Submitted by Kristen Marvelle

Missy Price—In preparation for me to move job positions, Missy took time away from her support area to come to Weaver Building and transfer my Lotus Notes email to Thunderbird, so I can take my email with me to my new department.  Missy has always been a great resource for any issues I may have and always has a positive attitude and smiling face.  She is greatly appreciated. Submitted by Jenn Gilbert

April

Missy Price—Missy is a terrific resource for the College. I recently made my third office move in eight months, and she is always ready and willing to help. She is very talented, friendly, responsive, and all around awesome. We are lucky to have her! Submitted by John Dolan

March

The winner of the "Rock" for March is Betsy Will, Human Resources Generalist, Office of the Dean.

Gay Catherman—Gay is awesome! Anyone who's worked with her knows how student-centered and dedicated she is to doing a great job.  She goes out of her way to help others. It is a joy to work with Gay. She is a true asset to the Department of Economics. Submitted by Marie Villefranche

Erica Long—I would like to recognize Erica for her dedication, commitment, energy level, and overall awesomeness in scheduling my “meet and greet” series with the entire College. It was crucial in helping me become acclimated with the College—understanding operationally how things work from both a staff and faculty perspective. This scheduling spanned three months and included over seventy-two individual meetings most of which were rescheduled at least once, if not twice. This does not include the normal weekly, biweekly, and monthly scheduled meetings which she helped to facilitate, as well as her normal responsibilities to Nicola and the Dean. This took a tremendous amount of patience, persistence, and just plain awesomeness. Erica, you ROCK! Submitted by Sean Moeller

Elizabeth Osborne, Stephen Tuttle, Avis Kunz—With the University sponsored Link UP event one day away, I suggested to Avis that this would be a good venue to promote summer on-line courses to students from the Commonwealth campuses. Avis contacted Outreach Marketing (OM) at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday to request a take-away piece and threw the ball to Elizabeth who coordinated the effort with OM first thing Friday morning. OM forwarded a PDF postcard indicating that there was no time to provide professional copies, so we intended to print a few in-house. However, Avis came to my office at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, asking where I would be on Saturday for her to drop off the postcards, as they were sending the job out to King printing. Then, at 4:45 p.m., Avis called to ask me how long I would be in the office, as she had tossed the ball to Stephen who was on his way to King Printing where he waited for the postcards to be printed. Approximately 24 hours after the call went out for a student take-away, Avis dropped off the post cards, hot off the press, literally! They were still warm. Teamwork in action—way to go Outreach! Submitted by Mary Fleming

Lisa Reihart, Sherri Bumbarger, Katy Heltman—After two staff assistants departed in December and January, Lisa, Sherri, and Katy picked up all the additional duties for the Donor Relations and Alumni Relations teams from December through mid-March. This was a huge amount of work during a very busy period of preparation for the College's spring Development Council meeting and various other alumni and development events.  They carried the burdens with calm and grace, and our entire office is very thankful for their dedication and professionalism. Lisa, Sherri, and Katy truly rock! Submitted by Mark Luellen

Mike Riden—Kudos to Mike for his work on the Fasttrack patches on department computers. Over the past few months, Mike has consistently been the first or one of the first IT support staff to have all of his department computers patched at 100 percent. Mike supports approximately 200 computers for the Department of English.  You rock, Mike. Submitted by Missy Price

Betsy Will—Betsy planned, organized, and executed another fantastic staff awards event in February. Already an impeccably well organized event, every year Betsy works tirelessly to improve it still further. This year was no exception.  Several lucky staff won Penn State items signed by Jo Pa and there were over 100 other prizes and 200 candy bars given out to our hardworking college staff.  Betsy, you rock for your enthusiasm, dedication, and hard work—great job!  Submitted by Nicola Kiver

February

The winner of the "Rock" for February was Kim Smith, coordinator of administrative services, Sociology.

Andrea Crews—I think that Andrea is a true asset to our Undergraduate Studies team! Andrea is always pleasant and very helpful. I always enjoy interacting and working with her. She is very knowledgeable and always has the right answer!  Submitted by Whitney Merinar

Angela Hill—Angela has experienced a lot of change in the Department of Political Science over the last few months. She has taken these changes in stride. She has been a great support during our transition to a new adviser and is truly committed to helping our students. Ang, you rock! Submitted by Whitney Merinar

Ashley Neff—Ashley has been an invaluable member of the Undergraduate Studies Office. Ashley’s professionalism, leadership, and knowledge have allowed our Enrichment, Academic Integrity, and Internship programs to flourish. As a supervisor, she has been a constant source of support and encouragement. And most recently, Ashley helped to lead the Liberal Arts United Way Committee to its most successful year to date. She deserves this recognition because she truly rocks in all that she does! Submitted by Jillian Balay

Kim Smith—With little advance notice, Kim, from the Department of Sociology, had to process all the paperwork and attend to many details of hiring an instructor for an additional section of a brand new online course. She executed this complicated procedure without training or experience and ensured a successful outcome because of her attention to detail, tenacity, and perseverance. Throughout the process, Kim continued to ask thoughtful questions to ensure all bases were covered. Thanks, Kim, for all your hard work!  You rock! Submitted by Cathy Holsing and Elizabeth Smeal

Ken Woll—Ken, from ITLA, has been doing many computer hardware repairs for the College. He is a Dell certified technician, and he has not only saved the College money, but he has also earned money back from Dell for repairing our own computer equipment. Ken is fun to work with and is very knowledgeable. The staff, faculty, and grad students in Philosophy, Communication Arts and Sciences, and Applied Linguistics appreciate his fast, dependable service. I am glad to have him as a co-worker, even though he's not a Pittsburgh Steelers’ fan. Submitted by Missy Price

January

The winner of the "Rock" for January was Ben Whitesell, academic adviser, LAUS.

Benjamin Whitesell—Advising staff has always toiled with student registration from the intimidating data warehouse.  Ben recently volunteered to create a data warehouse query that has enabled advisers to more quickly verify student information like semester registration, major interest, and transfers. This query has been especially helpful during the beginning of the semester, our busiest time of the year. Ben gave up some of his time to save time for his teammates. He rocks! Submitted by Mary Cameron

Billie Moslak and Jillian Balay—While Undergraduate Studies staff were displaced during renovations, Billie and Jillian handled all the in-person and phone contacts on top of their normal duties.  This was a huge amount of work and, in addition, because they were not familiar with this area, they had to think on their feet and learn quickly.  They did so with calm and grace.  I am most thankful to them for their help and good will during this period.  They really ROCK! Submitted by Robin Robinson

Billie Moslak and Holly Beaver—Holly and Billie coordinated an event for the first class of Paterno Liberal Arts Undergraduate Fellows that successfully honored both the fellows as well as Joe and Sue Paterno. Joe and Sue attended the event along with President Spanier and it was the front page feature in the Collegian. During the event, Joe was presented with his Liberal Arts Centennial Medal award. An honorable mention "You Rock" also goes to Jack Selzer for his guidance and creativity on this event. Way to go. Submitted by Marilyn Byers

2010

December 

The winners of the "Rock" were Liberal Arts Outreach staff members Lisa Byrnes, Ron Filippelli, Cathy Holsing,Avis Kunz, Kate Miffitt, Sue Niessner, Teri Noll, Elizabeth Smeal, Kurtis Steele, and Stephen Tuttle.

Liberal Arts Outreach—We want to thank the entire Outreach team for the use of some of their space while Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies offices were being renovated. They unselfishly gave up their conference room and an awesome "cubicle" for three weeks. In addition, they generously shared their facilities and made us feel very welcome each and every day. They are a great bunch, and we think they rock. Submitted by Andrea Crews, Tanya Hockman, and Robin Robinson

Heather Summerlin—Heather not only braved the freezing temperatures to hike over to my office in Weaver Building, but she also used her website tech savvy skills to rescue the conference website I had spent days trying to fix. After twenty minutes, all of the errors that I couldn't fix were gone, and the website was working. Thank you for your help and knowledge, Heather. Submitted by Tiffany Mayhew

November

The winner of the "Rock" was Ned Balzer, ITLA.

Ned Balzer—Over the summer, Ned created our amazing new Paterno Fellows Program database. Ned worked around the clock; learning all of the intricacies involved in the Program and ended up creating a highly efficient and effective database. His attention to detail, as reflected in his handiwork on that incredibly large white board, is beyond compare. We suspect that this task gave new meaning to the quote over his desk, "I keep hitting escape, but I am still here." Thanks to Ned for making a rockin' database! Submitted by Jillian Balay and Mary Fleming

Holly Beaver—Holly has been the saving grace for the LAUS unit during our often-times traumatic renovation process. She single-handedly organized, re-organized, and re-re-organized the myriad details involved and kept us all running on a smooth track. From paint to carpet to trying out fifty different chairs, she kept her cool, made sure we all stayed in the loop, and never left a single thing out. Her caring and positive attitude during the move made a smooth transition for the LAUS Staff and has helped create a positive camaraderie among our team. We know that if we have a problem, we can take it to Holly, and she will do anything in her power to fix it. Holly deserves recognition for her hard work!  Thank you Holly! You Rock! Submitted by Andrea Crews and Tanya Hockman

Irene Grassi—Irene rocks! Always in a pleasant mood, Irene will literally walk the extra mile (or flights of stairs) to help get the job done. This true team-player is also a well-informed resource. She has been invaluable assisting the financial folks during the reorganization. There isn't much Irene is unable to answer but there is so much Irene is able to do that keep her areas rocking semester after semester. Thank you so much for all of your great work, Irene! Submitted by the Burrowes Region Financial Office

Cheryl Mohr—Cheryl rocks too! She has made all Department of English visitor and event expenses a breeze to reconcile by providing thorough information and back up. Ms. Mohr is always willing to go the extra mile to help her co-workers and strives to find the most efficient process to get every job accomplished. Though a relatively new staff member, Cheryl's knowledge and output resembles that of a seasoned veteran. Submitted by the Burrowes Region Financial Office

October

The winner of the "Rock" for October was Jamie Frazell, School of Languages and Literatures.

Sherri Bumbarger—Sherri has planned, organized, and executed a fantastic fall of alumni visits, including a flawless Development Council (the College's top fundraising board) weekend. During that weekend, she oversaw the creation of sixty-five individual alumni itineraries, twenty alumni visits with deans and department heads, a dinner of more than thirty-five people at Dean Solomon's home, and the actual Development Council that consisted of more than thirty alumni. She has carried out her duties with patience and grace under fire. Great job, Sherri! Submitted by Mary Kay Hort

Jamie Frazell, Lynn Hepfer, Carol Ritter—Jamie, Lynn, and Carol have worked tirelessly to bring together the Student Services area since the physical merger of the Burrowes Languages group in September. Through all of the packing, the moving, the unpacking, the sorting, and the re-organization, they have all worked under very difficult (and messy) circumstances, while still maintaining positive attitudes and building a real spirit of camaraderie among our team.  I know I couldn't have made it through the last few weeks without them. All three, most definitely, rock! Submitted by Rebecca Cross

Lynn Maggs—Lynn is the new leader of the administration team for the Departments of Applied Linguistics, Communication Arts and Sciences, and Philosophy. She has done a remarkable job in transitioning not only to a new space but also to a new leadership position. She has played a major role in ensuring a smooth transition for Applied Linguistics and the other departments. More significantly, she has taken on a number of new responsibilities for all three departments and has handled them with professionalism and humor. Lynn rocks! Submitted by Joan Kelly Hall

Carol Mellott—Although Carol was recognized in May for her work on the filing initiative, DocFinity, she deserves another big thank you for over two years of work leading this project. Carol continued to assist with DocFinity for several months after her promotion in March 2010 with a new job in the Grants and Contracts office. New staff members in the Dean’s office have now taken over the maintenance of the system. Thanks to Carol’s diligence, dedication, and hard work, College-wide use of DocFinity is well underway. Submitted by Nicola Kiver

Connie Stahlman—Connie has been working diligently on the new Finance Office reorganization to set up a workflow within each respective department involved; training the new supervisors in various areas of finance such as reviewing and approving of expense documents, especially ERS; developing charts of the organization for use by everyone involved and constantly meeting with the Tier 2 staff to enhance their knowledge, accept suggestions, and make each one feel comfortable. Connie deserves recognition for her role in this major reorganization. Submitted by Denise Surovec

Brad Winters—Brad supported our technology needs during an extended absence by our technology specialist. When contacted, he immediately responded in person, via e-mail, or by phone. He anticipated our needs and solved our problems without a hitch. He was extremely accommodating, and we appreciate his efforts and pleasant attitude. Thanks Brad. Submitted by Faye Maring

September

The winner of the "Rock" for September was Billie Moslak, Office of the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies.

Suzanne Bennett—Suzanne has been doing an incredible job advising students in Economics. While the full-time Economics adviser is on maternity leave, Suzanne has been holding down the fort, providing quality advising to both her and Marie's rosters. Drop/Add was especially difficult with the sheer volume of students to see, but Suzanne helped our students without complaint and with a positive attitude. Submitted by Courtney Orr

Robin Haynes—Robin deserves recognition for the thankless jobs that she does with office moves and phones. She displayed excellent organizational skills when moving Sonia Stover and me to 231 Sparks and also during the moves that occurred over the summer to bring Lynn Maggs and Sally Arnold into 234 Sparks. Each move she coordinated went off without a hitch. I know personally how much time she took to make sure everything was done correctly and without question. Her attention to detail was remarkable especially during a very busy time. A job well done, Robin! Submitted by Staci Kelly

Billie Moslak—Billie has done an outstanding job in stepping up to the plate in the Office of the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies. While fine tuning her own responsibilities, she has also taken on more tasks within our Unit. Billie's exceptional attitude tied in with her team spirit makes her an outstanding employee.  Billie Moslak rocks! Submitted by Holly Beaver

Katelyn Perry—Katelyn deserves a huge shout out and thank you for helping out in Economics Advising. In addition to her normal advising roster and responsibilities, Katelyn has been helping in Economics during walk-in advising hours and by appointment, and by fielding student e-mails. Thank you! Submitted by Courtney Orr

Jeff Sechler—Jeff recently published a book, A Young Adult's Guide to Safety in the Digital Age, through Sunbury Press.  This book helps young people and their parents assess the risks of participating in the digital world and to avoid the potential dangers.  Jeff is an information technology consultant in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French.  Jeff sets high standards for himself in the work place and obviously carries this through to help the larger community.  Congratulations, Jeff! Submitted by Jennifer Morris

August

The winner of the "Rock" for August was Heather Summerlin, ITLA, Sparks Building.

Tracey Jackson—Tracey Jackson recently helped saved the College $400 by sharing out her printer over the network to a colleague so purchasing another printer was unnecessary. Her money-saving solution is very much appreciated. Submitted by Greg Halpin

Diane Plummer—Diane received five “You Rock” nominations from her team in the Child Study Center in the Department of Psychology. That alone indicates that Diane is a tremendous asset to the CSC. One coworker says, “She is our rock. We all have different projects, grants, and labs, but Diane is our common bond. She answers every question with a smile and a kind heart.” Another says, “The CSC has grown immensely, and Diane is not only the administrative assistant, but she also mans the front desk, which is quite time consuming. She is very pleasant and helpful all the time.” Diane’s coworkers agree that her dedication is tremendous, she is knowledgeable and dependable, and is always ready to go the extra mile. Submitted by: Michele Kelly, Anda Nichols, Cindy Rockey, Tracy Spalvins, and Sandra Stewart

Chris Thomas and Heather Summerlin—Chris and Heather have done a phenomenal job creating the new Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies Web site, that went live early fall semester.  They both put in a lot of hours over the past eight months working on the dynamic site and adapting it to fit our needs. We thank them for their technology skills, creativity, flexibility, and patience. Submitted by: Ashley Tarbet and Jillian Balay

July 

The winner of the "Rock" for July was Charlie Halcomb, ITLA, from Sociology and Crime, Law, and Justice.

Charlie Halcomb, Dave Horner, Jasun Lego, Missy Price, Jeff Sechler, Scott Varrassa, Brad Winters, and Ken Woll—We are very appreciative of these individuals. They gave time from their own departments to help us during the critical moves of Moore Building which occurred starting finals week, one of the busiest times of the year for IT staff. With their help, we moved over ninety-four systems to five buildings in three weeks. This would not have been possible in this time frame if it had just been the two of us. Thanks to all of you. Submitted by: Shane Freehauf and Jason Tisdale

June

The winner of the "Rock" this month was Dawn Corman from Psychology.

Robin Robinson, Undergraduate Studies—I was very impressed with the spring 2010 graduation "Tent" event this year. Robin did a great job organizing the event, and her attention to details certainly made this a successful event for our College! Submitted by Kim Keller

Shane Freehauf and Jason Tisdale, ITLA—The Moore Building has begun their addition and renovation project which required many, many moves. With six floors of faculty, staff, and student computers and printers to relocate, Shane and Jason remained at the top of their game. Through the stress of everyone's demands, they handled this move professionally and did not miss a beat. On behalf of the Clinic, we are truly appreciative of your time and 'above and beyond' effort that you provided us. Thank you, Shane and Jason. Submitted by Susan Johnson

Katelyn Perry, Undergraduate Studies—If you look through the nominations for this award, you will see Katelyn's name as the nominator quite a few times. That shows a lot about who she is. She is exceptionally supportive and uplifting toward her peers. Everyone who knows Katelyn can tell you that she is walking sunshine with smiles and cheer, even at the busiest times of year when people are lined up outside her office. We are so lucky to have her taking care of our students! Submitted by Lisa Batchelor

Judy Bowman, Dawn Corman, Jack Mutzabaugh, Elaine Prestia, Psychology—OPP movers recently spent thirteen days moving items out of the North wing of Moore Building to prepare for construction of our new addition. We needed to vacate thirty rooms and relocate the occupants to space at Keller, Ritenour, Thomas, and University Support I buildings. This move could not have been accomplished without the help of Judy Bowman, Dawn Corman, Jack Mutzabaugh, and Elaine Prestia. Jack and Dawn, especially, took on the task of directing the movers and devoted many hours and days to this important task. The move was accomplished smoothly and efficiently due in no small part to their combined efforts. Thanks to all of you—way to go, team! Submitted by Connie Moore

May

The winner of the "Rock" this month was Scott Varrassa from ITLA in Political Science.

Tammy Accordino, Economics, and Brad Winters, ITLA—Tammy and Brad recently gave up their weekend and evenings for the 3rd Annual CAPCP Conference April 29–May 2. I could not keep the conference running smoothly if I did not have them to help with last minute issues, technical problems, and help making the participants feel welcome. Thank you. Submitted by Michele Moslak

Carol Mellott, Research—Carol has done a great job on the document imaging project in the Dean's office and for other departments in the College. Carol has played a key role in keeping the project moving along. She has been willing to make phone calls, troubleshoot the Docfinity software installations and train the staff to use the software. She always has a pleasant attitude and a smile. I really enjoy working with her on a daily basis. She is a true asset to our LA staff. Submitted by Missy Price

Kathy Rumbaugh, Rock Ethics Institute—It seems only fitting that one of the inaugural “You Rock” awards should be bestowed upon the person who has been rocking the place since her first day of employment at Penn State. Kathy, a real gem, was the original staff assistant at the Rock Ethics Institute, established in 2001. As the Institute has built upon its foundation, Kathy’s commitment remains solid as a rock. She performs her many and varied duties like a rock star, always rock steady, and never rocking the boat. Not for any one accomplishment, but for the conglomerate of all that she does, let me share with you what we “Rock Girls” have known all along: Kathy Rumbaugh Rocks! Submitted by Barb Edwards

Scott Varrassa, ITLA—Scott is our IT support for political science. He can always be counted on to answer questions and help out regardless of his workload. He can often be found assisting with computer-related problems that just come up. He never complains about being interrupted and is never frustrated. He is a great team player, and we are glad to have him in the department. Submitted by the staff of Political Science

March 

Abby Benkiran, Political Science—During a recent late-afternoon meeting with an agitated student, Abby demonstrated great concern for my well being by staying late to make sure the student left without incident. I am appreciative to work with someone with such high regard for teamwork. She is a valued employee of the College, and I am glad she is part of my team. Submitted by Mary Cameron

Peggy Bloom, Willard Support—Peggy is a world-class professional baker who makes wedding cakes, etc. She shares her talents with us for FREE, however, on a routine basis and makes gorgeous cakes to celebrate any occasion. Her cakes are almost too beautiful to eat—but that hasn't stopped us from devouring them so far. Peggy's creations have a way of instantly boosting our morale in Willard Building! Submitted by Katelyn Perry

Missy Price, ITLA—I can honestly say that every interaction I've had with Missy Price has been outstanding. Missy is tremendously talented, is a creative thinker, and she seems to have an endless supply of energy when it comes to solving a problem. What's more, she is funny, and she explains technical issues in very accessible terms for those are lucky if they understand every fifth word in any computer-oriented conversation. Missy is simply amazing! Submitted by Katelyn Perry

Betsy Will, Dean's Office—Every year Betsy does an outstanding job in planning the Liberal Arts College Staff Awards Reception. This is a huge responsibility that requires time, attention to detail, coordination, creativity and dedication. Without a doubt, she goes above and beyond and always delivers. Thanks Betsy, for an outstanding job! Your hard work is commendable. Submitted by Connie Stahlman

Deb Auman, Connie Moore, Diane Plummer, Chris Thompson, Department of Psychology—I want to thank you so much for making my first solo year at Graduate Admissions a huge success! If it wasn't for your help, I wouldn't have been able to complete everything before deadline. You ladies ROCK! Submitted by Sherri Gilliland

2009

December 

Betty Blair and Stephanie Rossman—Kudos to Betty Blair and Stephanie Rossman, members of the anthropology staff, who stepped up to fill the void left by a sudden illness. Even though they had not been exposed to some of the areas needing assistance, they eagerly volunteered to learn the duties required. Their assistance enabled the undergraduate area to function during this busy time and their willingness to help out is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Betty and Steph. Submitted by Faye Maring

Maureen Mulenga—I would like to recognize Maureen for the consistent good service she gives our students. I am in the office next to her and often hear students thanking her profusely for her assistance. Recently she went the extra mile for a student who would be homeless over Thanksgiving break by calling everyone she could think of to see if housing could be provided. This is just one example of Maureen's dedication. I'm very happy to work with her. Submitted by Beth Brown

Amy Yearick—Amy has been the billing clerk for the Psychological Clinic for many years and does an exceptional job. Recently, Amy assisted Vicki in the Speech and Hearing Clinic with Medicare and Highmark billing. Thanks to Amy for sharing her expertise and taking the time to assist another department. Submitted by Susan Johnson

October 

Suzanne Bennett and Julianna Chaszar—Kudos to Suzanne Bennett and Julianna Chaszar for always lightening the mood at our weekly advising meetings. Suzanne may have missed her calling in comedy, and Julianna provides frequent singing entertainment. Thanks for making us laugh when we need it! Submitted by Katelyn Perry

August

Shawna Michaels—Shawna helped enter the 2009–2010 undergraduate scholarship awards and was a huge help. This was the first time she'd done this task and completed it with no errors. She helped both Emily Monti and me during a busy time for us. Thank you, Shawna. Submitted by Marilyn Byers

Kim Miller—Kim was nominated for the Penn State University Commission for Adult Learners annual "Superior Service to Adult Learners" award. She received a letter and certificate from Martha Jordan, Director of Adult Learner Advocacy and Enrollment Services, Continuing and Distance Education. Submitted by Faye Maring

Connie Ripka—Connie recently assumed responsibility for reconciling our scholarship clearing account and is doing a fabulous job. She knows when to and what questions to ask. Thank you, Connie. Keep up the good work. Submitted by Marilyn Byers

May

Jillian Baley—Jillian created an LAUS newsletter that is just phenomenal! The newsletter is visually pleasing, wonderful to read, and Jillian does an excellent job of highlighting the activities and accomplishments of Liberal Arts students—rather than focusing solely on departmental or College news. Students who read the newsletter can be inspired by their fellow students, and they might be encouraged to seek out or create similar opportunities for themselves. In short, Jillian's efforts so far have been fantastic, and I'm looking forward to the next edition of her newsletter. Submitted by Katelyn Perry

Christi Daniels—Christi was recently honored with one of five nominations for the Outstanding Adult Student Learner Award. There are currently 12,000 adult learners at Penn State. Submitted by Kim Keller

Heather Summerlin—I wanted to more publicly thank Heather Summerlin for her valuable assistance over the past several months. She helped me to better learn several software packages; all of which I was able to use to improve the staff awards reception. She also went to each of our LA buildings to take all of the wonderful photos included in the Powerpoint slideshow for that event. Additionally, we've collaborated on the creation and implementation of new on-line registration and evaluation processes for our HR Professional Development workshops. She made all of my work easier and even though I've said thank you many times, it does not seem enough. I want everyone to know how helpful she has always been, and continues to be. Kudos, Heather! Submitted by Betsy Will