Think. Teach. Do. Awards Recognize Staff Excellence.

Think. Teach. Do. Awards Recognize Staff Excellence
The staff awards program acknowledges staff achievements, behaviors, and strong work ethics that embody SPH’s core mission and values.
Several School of Public Health staff members have received the next round of Think. Teach. Do. Staff Awards.
Modeled after SPH’s core purpose, “Think. Teach. Do. For the health of all,” the awards program acknowledges staff achievements, behaviors, and strong work ethics that embody SPH’s core mission and values. It was developed by the Staff Recognition & Awards Subcommittee, an extension of the Staff Senate, in collaboration with Ira Lazic, associate dean for administration and finance.
The program aims to enhance team morale and staff resilience while rewarding staff excellence at the School, and is designed to stimulate innovation and novel approaches to work-related tasks and projects that benefit individual departments, SPH, or Boston University, as a whole. Awards are given to individuals for each of the three categories on a quarterly basis, and both part-time and full-time staff members are eligible.
Think.
The Think. Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated exceptional innovation in research activities, program development, or the creation or implementation of tools and systems that improve processes at SPH.

Maya Dottin, faculty resources operations associate, received the Think. Award.
Since joining SPH in September 2021, Dottin has made significant contributions to the school and the Faculty Resources Office. She has helped create a centralized approach to organizing, conducting, and managing faculty searches, in particular, the Strategic Research Direction (SRD) faculty search, which is the largest search in SPH’s history.
In addition to her work with the SRD search, Dottin has also supported other faculty searches within several departments across SPH. In one of several nomination letters, one of Dottin’s colleagues wrote: “It is because of Maya’s efficient approach and attention to detail that it has been possible to conduct all of these search activities concurrently.”
Throughout her time at SPH, Dottin has stepped up wherever needed to support her colleagues. She has taken on additional job responsibilities while a colleague has been out on maternity leave, and has assisted idea hub with their communication needs. “Maya is incredibly hard-working and also really fun to work with,” wrote another one of Dottin’s colleagues in a nomination letter. “She has approached each challenge with grace, humility, and a sense of humor. We are very lucky to have her at SPH.”

Madeline Crossley, program manager in the Education Office, also received the Think. Award.
In her role, part of Crossley’s work centers around supporting the DrPH program at SPH. Since taking on this responsibility in Fall 2021, Crossley has developed the first internal webpage for the program, complete with a DrPH Guidebook, program contacts, and essential resources and forms, including information for course registration, practicums, upcoming student presentations, and more.
She has also helped to develop an improved tracking system for comprehensive exam topics to make it easier for DrPH committee members to review, and has helped ensure that DrPH students around the world have felt connected to and supported by the SPH community throughout the last several months of the COVID-19 pandemic and the school’s evolving protocols and requirements.
In a nomination letter endorsed by DrPH faculty, committee members, and students, one of Crossley’s colleagues wrote: “Madeline’s dedication to the DrPH program was palpable from the first few weeks of her stepping in to take on some of the admin duties for the program. She alleviated so much of the pressure that comes with navigating the school’s policies and facilitating communication with other departments. Her attention to detail and superb communication skills made students feel more engaged and informed over the past few months. We are lucky to have her on our side.”
Teach.
The Teach. Award is presented to an individual who has taken ownership of key concerns and needs, acted on opportunities, solved problems, or brought people and resources together to make processes at SPH more efficient and accessible for others.

Lunise Joseph, senior academic program manager in the Department of Health Law, Policy & Management, received the Teach. Award.
During a tough year for the department, Joseph has gone above and beyond her expected role to support faculty, staff, and students, ensuring the Health Policy and Law certificate program and all advising efforts continued to run smoothly. In one of several nomination letters, Joseph’s colleague described her as “a pillar of strength, calm, and community-building.”
After the loss of SPH’s beloved colleague David Jones, Joseph worked to proactively fill gaps across the department to ensure no students fell through the cracks, including initiating meetings with academic advisors, effectively and consistently communicating with students, and holding her own weekly office hours.
In another nomination letter, Joseph’s colleague wrote: “Lunise is such a valuable member of our HLPM community, always working diligently and never asking for recognition. It is no exaggeration to say that Lunise has played a huge role in keeping our department moving forward when it comes to teaching and advising.”

Alyssa Faria, training manager for the workforce development training centers in the Office of Lifelong Learning, also received the Teach. Award.
In her role, Faria manages trainings for the Local Public Health Institute of Massachusetts (LPHI), the New England Public Health Training Center (NEPHTC), and the School Health Institute of Education and Leadership Development (SHIELD). As workforce training needs have increased significantly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic across all centers, she has been pivotal in ensuring all course content is professional, delivered on time, and is of high quality.
Faria has also been instrumental in improving systems and processes for the centers, mastering several web-based tools and learning management systems, improving standard operating procedures, creating templates for communication with external partners, and taking on several quality improvement projects.
“As we continue to move training online or into new hybrid modalities, Alyssa works with external and internal teams to make these monumental tasks look effortless,” wrote several of Faria’s colleagues in a combined nomination letter. “She is an outstanding member of our team who consistently goes above and beyond to contribute to the success of the three centers. In addition to her technical skills, she truly cares about partners and colleagues, creating a nice working atmosphere. Her work makes BUSPH shine.”
Do.
The Do. Award is presented to an individual who has created extensive opportunities for others toward community building and making connections through programs, policies, and/or spaces, honoring the experiences of various populations and reflecting the SPH core purpose of sparking social change, fostering a sense of belonging, and building relationships across differences.

Caitlin Brand, academic program administrator in the Department of Environmental Health, received the Do. Award.
In addition to her key job responsibilities of supporting students and faculty in the academic environment, Brand has contributed greatly to her department over the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. She has used her background in mental health and trauma to support students, staff, and faculty individually and collectively, and has been instrumental in bringing in speakers on trauma-informed teaching, intervening when students may be in distress or need support, and serving as an intermediary when tensions rise between faculty and students.
Brand has also played a key role in several diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice initiatives across the department, including recruitment and retention of first-generation students and students of color and bringing equity to the application review and interview process. Brand is serving her second term as the staff representative for the department’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Committee, and also leads the DEI Committee’s Ouch, Oops, Whoa sub-committee, which focuses on engaging department members in the evaluation of the department’s culture and climate efforts to uplift voices, build community, and encourage growth.
In one of several nomination letters, Brand’s colleague wrote: “Caitlin is a role model. She provides input, encourages open and honest communication, demonstrates humility, and draws on her public health education to highlight opportunities for greater inclusion. When Caitlin speaks, students, staff, and faculty listen. She is a true public health professional who thinks, teaches, and does with heart.”

Summer Kaeppel, social media and digital specialist in the Office of Marketing and Communications, also received the Do. Award.
Kaeppel joined SPH in November 2021, and has played a pivotal role in examining the school’s audiences’ attention and engaging in thoughtful and timely conversations on social media ever since. She came into the position well-equipped with knowledgeable and attuned social media training, and has quickly mastered SPH systems to continue to promote and uplift SPH’s presence online.
Through her work, she has repeatedly elevated and accelerated SPH’s reach, recognizing and leveraging research and news where appropriate, including when SPH was featured on Saturday Night Live.
“Summer exemplifies the School’s core purpose to spark social change, foster a sense of belonging, and build relationships across differences with our communications,” wrote one of Kaeppel’s colleagues in a nomination letter.
To recognize an employee for their outstanding contributions consistent with the Think. Teach. Do. credo, please submit your online nomination form. Applications for the next round of award recipients are due by May 2.
Comments & Discussion
Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.