Brown's annual B.E.A.R. Day Excellence Awards recognize staff members for their contributions in making Brown University a better place to work.
We are so proud to see many CIS staff recognized this year. Congratulations also to the 35 CIS employees who are celebrating a milestone service year, from five to forty-five years!
Gillian Bell - Diversity & Inclusion Category
Gillian has established herself as a trusted colleague on topics relevant to diversity and inclusion as demonstrated by her participation in campus-wide initiatives. For example, she was appointed by the Vice President of Institutional Equity and Diversity with advice from the Staff Advisory Council (SAC) to serve as staff representative on the Diversity Advisory Board. Gillian’s work has made a positive impact on CIS staff members. Many of you have joined the the lunch time learn and learn sessions surveys indicate that you are glad you did! The most recent session surveyed resulted in 14 response, 100% replied “yes” to the question “Are you glad that you participated in the activity?” 100% said they would “...attend another session about Diversity and Inclusion sponsored by CIS or the University.” Thank you Gillian!
Gena Burke - Leadership Category
Gena's leadership of the IT Service Center is a primary factor in rendering a wide range of services to the University, developing their staff and student workers, and bringing a strong direction of professionalism and growth to her team. She coaches her staff, students and YearUp interns to master their support roles, and to prepare for their next step in their career. She maintains a culture of shared goals and a focus on active high-impact projects. She skillfully juggles the complex set of services her team supports, and shows trust in her team to deliver positive customer experiences. The environment that Gena helps create leads directly to the great success of the Service Center as a public interface from CIS to everyone at Brown. Thank you Gena!
Kara Kelley - Efficiency Category
Kara Kelley from the Project Management team has been awarded the University Excellence Award in Efficiency with the School of Professional Studies/Salesforce Pre-College program team. Kara's role as a key analyst, project manager and especially leadership coach to the team through a challenging re-implementation was critical to the team's success. Kara's focus, energy and analysis skills are practically legendary and and in very high demand. Thank you Kara for your unwavering dedication to Brown's mission. Congratulations!
South Street Landing CIS Move Team - Spotlight recognition in the Service Category
Over three hectic weekends in Fall 2017, Brown had its largest move in history, as over 420 staff members in 12 administrative departments across campus left their old buildings and moved into the newly-renovated South Street Landing. A huge crew of CISers from a number of teams worked together, above and beyond their usual work, to plan and implement all the IT components of this move. They gave up personal time and met a lot of new challenges together. They deployed new services and infrastructure, packed every workstation in dozens of locations, personally set up every users' computer with a welcome note on every desk, and provided followup training and settling-in support to all our customers. On the longest days, many team members walked over 10 miles each through the endless hallways. This move was a deep source of uncertainty for so many Brown staff members. But it ended up a great success, due in large part to this team's energy, planning, communication, and above all else a deep-rooted care for our customers. Our combined teams helped everyone start in their new space ready to be productive, and with a feeling that they mattered, and they had our full support.
Thank you to everyone who contributed so much:
Gena Burke, Rob Coen, Mike Connetta, Al Coulombe, Amy Cracco, Kevin DaSilva, Jorge Davila, Jim Dorian, Tim Fey, Bob Fletcher, Cindy Jardin, Sherie Josephson, Mike Jurewicz, Pat Kinghorn, Josh Lamont, Rick Lawson, Roberto Lorenzo, Oke Lundin, Gavin MacLean, Peter Mello, Ed Milner, Kate Monteiro, Geoffrey Moran, Suzie Nacar, Pat O'Leary, Stephanie Obodda, Kyle Oliveira, Obasi Osborne, Tatum Ponte, Don Rogers, Eric Scantlebury, Elvis Seth, Andrew Smith, Jeanne Spinosa, Isaac Suon, Steve Vallot, Derek Vieira, Doug Wilkinson, and Denise Wynne.