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Sabovik, Parisi, and Anderson picked for Perkins Awards

By David J. Craig

COM graduate students who enter Micha Sabovik's office usually bring complicated questions -- regarding financial aid, housing, or course requirements.

But to Sabovik, they're hardly a burden. For the assistant director of COM's graduate services and financial aid office, there is little as satisfying as watching students leave her office with their questions answered and the knowledge that they are welcome to come again for help with any school-related issues.

	Micha Sabovik. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky

"I have an open-door policy, and I think students appreciate that," says Sabovik (COM'92), who acts as COM's graduate student advisor in addition to overseeing its graduate admissions process. "I really enjoy it when I'm able to solve a problem for somebody. Probably the best part of my job is when my office is able to help students find some scholarship money that they need."

Sabovik's efforts to improve the recruitment and admissions process of COM's graduate program -- and generally make the college as student-friendly as possible -- this year has earned her one of three John S. Perkins Distinguished Service Awards, which since 1981 have been given annually to members of the BU community who perform exemplary acts of service to the University. The awards have been funded since 1984 by an endowment from the late John S. Perkins, who served the University for more than 50 years as a faculty member, administrator, trustee, and treasurer. Also receiving the award this year are Denise Parisi, senior program coordinator of the CAS psychology department, and Jodi Anderson, executive director of All-University Functions. The awards, which bring a $500 prize and a plaque, will be presented at a ceremony at the Castle on May 1.

Giving admissions a human face

Sabovik began working at COM full-time after graduating with a degree in photojournalism in 1992. Since being promoted to her current position in 1999, according to other COM administrators and faculty members, she has implemented several new and successful policies. For instance, now she personally contacts as many applicants as possible to make sure they have all the information about the school they need.

"Many students have told me that [Sabovik] was the reason they chose to come to Boston University," COM Journalism Professor Caryl Rivers wrote in a nomination letter.

Sabovik also revamped the office's Web site so potential students can easily access information about the school online. In February, when she informs applicants whether or not they were accepted to COM and fields frantic questions from potential students, she typically works 16-hour days.

"Everyone knows she can be trusted to get the job done, and students, faculty, and staff depend on her willingness to put in long, hard hours," reads COM Professor Emeritus and former Interim Dean Walter Lubars' nomination letter. "She's probably the most caring and thoughtful person I know."

Psych department's den mother

As senior program coordinator of the CAS psychology department since 1996, Denise Parisi's primary responsibility is to administer the graduate program of the department's brain, behavior, and cognition group. Most of her time is spent overseeing student recruitment, disseminating information about course requirements to students, and arranging weekly colloquia for faculty and students. But, her coworkers say, she's never too busy to interrupt what she's doing to assist others in the department.

Denise Paris. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky

"Always with good humor, always with poise and charm, [Parisi] has become a therapist for faculty, a den mother for students, and is ever present [to attend to] that emergency that needed to get done yesterday," wrote a coworker in a letter nominating her.

"During preregistration, when our department is filled with anxious students seeking to get into courses, Denise's office serves as a safe haven for dazed and confused undergraduates," wrote another coworker, who also praised Parisi's kindness, patience, and wisdom. "She dispenses accurate information about course requirements and offers gentle and wise advice about how best to go about registering for courses."

Behind the big top

If an event is big and held at BU, you can bet Jodi Anderson made it happen. As executive director of All-University Functions, Anderson coordinates almost all large social events and ceremonies at BU, including the University's annual Commencement exercises, which consist of dozens of convocations, cocktail receptions, and dinners, as well as reunion activities, and involves thousands of staff and volunteers.

	Jodi Anderson. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky

She coordinates hundreds of other events each year as well, such as alumni dinners, award ceremonies, and welcoming events for visiting dignitaries. To make the festivities come together smoothly, the efforts of staff from BU's Physical Plant, Dining Services, and many other departments and outside vendors must be seamlessly organized.

Anderson, who has worked at BU for 10 years, is "the heart, soul, and logistical genius of every major function held at Boston University," according to one of her coworkers.

"The logistics involved in organizing such activities are almost beyond imagination, yet Jodi manages these events with an amazing alacrity," reads another coworker's nomination letter. "The high degree of professionalism she brings to her responsibilities is evident to anyone who has ever been to a function she has organized. . . . She is fiercely protective of Boston University's image, and will not accept anything other than the best."

Everyone in the BU community, except faculty members, is eligible for the Perkins Awards, including administrators, staff, students, alumni, benefactors, and trustees.

27 April 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations