Think. Teach. Do. Awards Celebrate Staff.
Think. Teach. Do. Awards Celebrate Staff
The staff awards program acknowledges staff achievements, behaviors, and strong work ethics that embody SPH’s core mission and values. The latest recipients of the awards are Jeanette Kaiser, Patrick Decoste, Joseph Anzalone, Nathan Finney, Heatherly Mitch, Terrance Logan, Kelly Culnan, Olivia Owens, Tenbit Mitiku, Cathleen Prata, Ashley Scott, and Olivia Stenger.
Twelve School of Public Health staff members were recognized during quarters three and four of 2022 with 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.
Jeanette Kaiser, research fellow in the Department of Global Health, received the Think. Award.
Since coming to SPH in 2015, Kaiser has grown from student to research assistant to research fellow; although, several nominations submitted on her behalf were quick to highlight that the scope and quality of her recent work is closer to that of a co-investigator. “[Kaiser] is invariably professional, timely, dependable, and produces the highest quality of work,” wrote a colleague in one of several nominations submitted on Kaiser’s behalf.
Kaiser contributes a range of research skills spanning study design, management, and analysis as a key team member on several large studies. When a surge in COVID cases threatened data collection for the Scaling Up Early Childhood Development in Zambia (SUpErCDZ) project, Kaiser spent two months in the field coordinating the successful completion of 1,100 household interviews. Not only did she deliver the data on budget and ahead of schedule, her strategy for minimizing COVID transmission risk to researchers and participants was used by the BU IRB as a model of best practices.
Patrick Decoste, administrative director of the Department of Global Health, received the Think. Award.
The award recognizes Decoste for his innovative development and implementation of a suite of process for improving efficiency both in his department and across SPH. For example, he created an “Intent to Engage” form to ensure that the required approvals and paperwork are in place before a new employee begins work. The form enables faculty to quickly hire research staff to meet urgent project needs and deadlines. He also streamlined the processes for submitting grants and purchase orders. His colleague notes, “[Decoste’s] overall performance is already exceptional in all categories—so it is clear that the intent to engage form is beyond the call of duty.”
Joseph Anzalone, assistant director of advising in the Career Services and Practicum Office (CPO) received the Think. Award.
While Anzalone’s main role is student advising, when the CPO was short-staffed while processing several new hires, he jumped at the opportunity to support his colleagues. He surmounted a formidable learning curve to quickly master the skills necessary to assist in the collection, cleaning, and analysis of graduate employment and practicum data. His nomination letter highlights the gratitude and admiration of his colleagues, “Joe is a gem in our office… He is always pulling the community together if it is not for a group meal, for a quick breathing break.”
Nathan Finney, senior data manager at the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center (BEDAC), received the Think. Award.
According to his nomination, Finney excels in anything and everything he does. Most recently, he applied himself to the complicated task of creating a template for tracking proposed and awarded projects at BEDAC. He researched and selected formulas that would automatically pull numbers together into monthly financial reports.
Finney also works on BEDAC’s data lake project; he schedules meetings, creates meeting agendas, takes minutes, files documentation, and generally keeps the team organized. While this work is new to him, he was eager to learn and committed to taking ownership. His colleague reports he is “always there to helpful and very trustworthy.”
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.
Heatherly Mitch, grant manager in the Department of Global Health, received the Teach. Award.
In her role, Mitch manages a complex portfolio of both domestic and international grants from both traditional and nontraditional funders. Her expertise has not only benefited the faculty and staff of her department; the Dean’s Office has also relied on her insight to improve grant-related policies and procedures across the school.
Mitch consistently goes above and beyond her responsibilities to positively contribute to the SPH community. She is involved her department’s mentorship program, community building group (CommComm), JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) committee, and decolonizing global health working group. During the most challenging periods of the pandemic, she brought together and motivated her colleagues by sharing useful tips, uplifting messages, and a playlist of music she compiled based on everyone’s recommendations.
“It is very clear that Heatherly sees herself as part of a team,” wrote one of her colleagues. “She rarely wants to take credit for the amazing work that she does and is the first to give credit to others.”
Terrance Logan, associate director of admissions in the Admissions Office, received the Teach. Award.
When the Admissions Office lost a key team member, Logan volunteered to take over many of her responsibilities on top of his existing portfolio. He assumed leadership of the admissions committees for two of the School’s masters programs (Applied Biostatistics and Population Health Research) which entailed responding to all related inquiries and communications as well as obtaining and learning to use a purchasing card. He also became the team’s point person for WebAdmit, the application interface faculty use to view and evaluate applications. In his nomination letter, Logan is described as “kind,” “patient,” and “helpful.” His nominator admired his willingness to come forward when the office needed it most.
Kelly Culnan, digital media and writing associate in the Office of Marketing and Communications (MARCOM), received the Teach. Award.
In her role, Culnan spearheads the creation of SPH This Year, the School’s annual print and digital magazine showcasing the meaningful and groundbreaking work happening in the BUSPH community. A nearly year-long process involving many contributors and moving parts, bringing the 2022 issue of the publication to print would not have been possible without Culnan’s “creative input, diligence, and organization”, reads her nomination letter. Culnan also regularly contributes her design skills to enrollment marketing for admissions, including producing materials for the Select Scholars and Preferred Partners programs.
Olivia Owens, assistant director of admissions in the Admissions Office, received the Teach. Award.
Like her colleague Logan, Owens also stepped up when the Admission Office lost a key team member. She volunteered to run weekly reviews of applications to the MPH Program, which some weeks entailed processing over 200 applications. She also single-handedly designed and executed the first Select Scholars visit weekend, welcoming to campus 15 prospective students from leading undergraduate institutions across the country. When the busyness of the application season died down and two new admissions officers joined the team, Owens took her new colleague Katie Hoskins under her wing helping her to take over the full portfolio of Doctoral programs.
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.
Tenbit Mitiku, operations coordinator in the Graduate Student Life Office, received the Do. Award.
According to her nomination letter, by 10 am each day of New Student Orientation Mitiku had already hit 10,000 steps on her FitBit. In both the week leading up to orientation and the week of orientation itself, she was often the first person on site and the last to leave. Rather than concern herself with what her assigned responsibilities were, she focused on what needed to be done to ensure the experience was worthwhile for students. Her colleague wrote, “[Mitiku’s] unwavering dedication and cheerful demeanor” were invaluable to the successful execution of the event.
Cathleen Prata, grants manager in the Department of Epidemiology, received the Do. Award.
While some faculty are well versed in grant writing and budgeting, others need support and guidance each step of the process. Prata uses a system of spreadsheets to track grant finances and initiate regular check-ins with each investigator. She makes the process as painless as possible for everyone—an impressive feat, reports one of her colleagues in their nomination letter. Between juggling numerous complex portfolios, Prata still finds time and energy to devote to department citizenship; she serves on the department’s JEDI and anti-racism committees and volunteered to participate in a more intensive anti-racism boot camp.
Ashley Scott, project coordinator in the Department of Epidemiology, received the Do. Award.
In her nomination letters, colleagues praised Scott for her contributions to building community in the department, especially for her instrumental role in crafting an inclusive and mutually beneficial experience for last summer’s intern with Down Syndrome. Scott found a suitable project, created accessible materials, and, at the end of the internship, coordinated a presentation and reception to celebrate the intern. Her nominator wrote of the experience, “I am always impressed by Ashley’s work, but seeing how caring and patient she could be in helping someone else thrive was the highlight of my summer.”
Olivia Stenger, program assistant in the Lifelong Learning Office, received the Do. Award.
Stenger is the program assistant for three Workforce Development Centers: School Health Institute of Education and Leadership Development (SHIELD), Local Public Health Institute of MA (LPHI), and New England Public Health Training Center (NEPHTC). Her nominations highlight positive feedback from both the centers and their partners for her communications work. For example, NEPTHC reported improved engagement as a direct result of Stenger’s redesign of their email communications and website.
Stenger has also independently represented the centers at multiple state public health conferences. Her colleagues praise her ability to build trusting, collaborative relationships both at the school and beyond. One of her nomination letters reads, “Perhaps most importantly, Olivia is a colleague whom everyone enjoys working with… She consistently is a delight and a great morale booster.”
To recognize an employee for their outstanding contributions consistent with the Think. Teach. Do. mantra, please submit your online nomination form.
