Faculty Council Seeks Staff Achievers

Boston University’s Faculty Council is currently seeking nominations for the 2008 Perkins Distinguished Service Awards. The deadline is Friday, February 29.

The Perkins Awards are given annually to three BU nonfaculty members who perform outstanding service. Presented by the Faculty Council, the awards are funded by an endowment from the late John S. Perkins, a former faculty member, administrator, trustee, and treasurer. The awards carry a prize of $500 and a plaque recognizing the service of the recipient to Boston University.

Only members of BU’s faculty can make nominations, and three letters of support must accompany each form. According to Becky Gallagher, director of the Office of University Faculty Governance, members of the council’s Research Activities, Libraries, and Support Services Committee then read each letter independently and recommend four to six nominees. Members of the Faculty Council make the final decision, and letters are carried over year to year so that repeat nominees can be reconsidered.

“The committee is frequently impressed with letters that give strong examples of the distinguished service, as well as letters that represent the wider influence that the individual’s service has on the BU community,” Gallagher says.

Last year’s awards went to Cidalia Cardoso, an evening custodian in the Buildings and Grounds department, Kathleen McNamara, the sociology department administrator, and Denise Mooney, the associate vice president for enrollment and student affairs.

McNamara began her career at the University as a part-time administrative assistant in 1998 and quickly became a critical player in the department’s day-to-day functioning. When Peter Yeager, a College of Arts and Sciences associate professor of sociology, took over as chair in 2000, the department had lost both of its full-time staff members, who had resigned to take other positions. That left McNamara to do the work of two people. “It is not too much to say — indeed it is too little — that our operations and my chairmanship would have collapsed in the fall of 2000 had it not been for Katie’s extraordinary dedication and professionalism,” Yeager wrote in his nomination. “Her very effective work and good spirit buoyed the entire department at the most difficult time of transition in the department’s recent history.” McNamara was promoted to senior program assistant and became department administrator in 2004.

Mooney is a veteran University employee, having started her career in the Office of Residence Life in 1984. She has directed the University Service Center — which helps students with personal, medical, or academic leaves and unique or complex problems that may require cooperation among several offices — since it opened in 2000. Loren J. Samons, the chair of the CAS classical studies department and a former associate dean of the college, wrote that in her role as USC director, Mooney has dealt with the University’s most “challenging and bruising” situations with skill and poise. “She and her staff handled the most complicated and difficult problems encountered by BU students, often involving personal problems, grades, withdrawals, leaves of absence, medical conditions, and (the topper) financial aid,” Samons wrote. “I can think of no single case where I felt they had done anything but their very best for an individual student.” Mooney was named associate vice president for enrollment and academic affairs in 2003.

Cardoso has had a less public role in her years at BU, but as one of her nominators wrote, “Cidalia represents the best of those who work behind the scenes, giving their all with no thoughts of recognition for their efforts.” A custodian at 15 St. Mary’s St., which houses the College of Engineering department of manufacturing engineering and the Fraunhofer Center, Cardoso’s hard work is a critical part of the center’s success. “The Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation is a high-profile company with customers visiting any given day,” wrote Rebecca Livant, the center’s office manager. “The way we present ourselves communicates to our customers the high level of quality we hold ourselves to and directly impacts our success as a business. Ms. Cardoso distinguishes herself with her great attention to detail and the genuine pleasure she takes in doing her job well.”

Faculty members may make online nominations here. All forms and letters must be submitted to the Office of the Faculty Council by Friday, February 29, to be considered.

Winners will be announced on April 1, and a presentation ceremony and reception will take place in May.

Vicky Waltz can be reached at vwaltz@bu.edu.