Kansas State University

2019 President's Award of Excellence for Unclassified Professional winners

Submitted by Human Capital Services

Five Kansas State University employees have been selected for the 2019 President's Award of Excellence for Unclassified Professionals.

The award fosters excellence in the workplace by rewarding and recognizing unclassified professional staff members who achieve excellence and/or make exemplary contributions to the mission and values of K-State.

Recipients are:

• Lynn Carlin, special assistant to the provost, Office of the Provost, in the Leadership Award category.
• Barb Nagel, assistant registrar, Office of the Registrar, in the Team Building, Group Activity and Service to the University Award category.
• Ashley Nietfeld, marketing manager, Global Campus, in the Productivity, Creativity and Innovation Award category.
• Ethan Erickson, assistant vice president for budget planning, budget office, in the Distinguished Accomplishment Award category.
• Gail Eyestone, office specialist III, anatomy and physiology department, in the Belonging Award category

Carlin is central to nearly all the fundamental initiatives we are implementing at K-State. She has organized and managed project teams for budget modernization and strategic enrollment management, or SEM. The SEM reorganization plan, which will foster collaboration and innovation across our campus, would not happen without Carlin's creative problem-solving and the respect she commands. Her leadership is indispensable to progress in both areas. Her deep understanding of our community has informed the communication plans we need to build consensus.

Nagel is responsible for transcripts, student records, graduation and customer support services in the Office of the Registrar. Under her leadership many strategic changes were made within her areas that have been very beneficial to students and the Office of the Registrar. Not only does she actively encourage leadership building skills and experiences for all staff but is also our cheerleader. This past year she was successful in increasing work productivity within the office by working with our transcript officer in reorganizing the transcript area's day-to-day job printing workload. The changes have had a positive impact on the workload, and we have also seen an increase in the area's efficiency. Outside of the university setting, Nagel was selected as chair of the Kansas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers' annual Summer Drive-In Workshop Committee. The event was very successful due to Nagel's attention to detail and leadership skills. In recognition of her work she was awarded a 2018 Certificate of Appreciation for the significant support she demonstrated on behalf of the association's activities and mission.

Nietfeld's contributions to marketing, Global Campus and to Kansas State University are exemplary and deserving of recognition. She designed and wrote all content for a new viewbook for prospective distance students, requiring her to author 130 new pages of content. The viewbook provides prospective students an immediate, custom set of information based on their interests and is a drastic improvement over our previous generic information. It was her creative vision that drove this project to completion. Nietfeld completely revamped the prospective student communication campaigns with new content and design. She is developing new campaigns for students interested in our most desirable programs which will expand the contact points from five to 16. In addition, Nietfeld developed a weekly newsletter to current distance students, WorldWide Wildcats, which requires writing original content for each edition. This effort won her a UPCEA Silver Award for creative marketing in November 2018. She routinely comes up with great, implementable ideas and then works to make them a reality. Through her leadership we have added staff presentations on best practices, implementation of content marketing strategies and a new recruitment event packet. Nietfeld is an invaluable asset to Global Campus and Kansas State University.

Erickson's leadership has led to modernizing the university's incremental budget allocation model to a hybrid responsibility centered management model. The university's goal is to implement a strategic budget model that rewards enrollment and student credit hour growth, incentivizes and aligns with university priorities, energizes innovation, provides greater financial accountability and transparency, unlocks the historical budget, and preserves K-State's land-grant mission. Erickson's leadership, dedication and persistence has been integral in accomplishing the development of the new budget model. He worked to understand the concepts of the new model, identified best practices implemented at other universities, and persisted through all the questions and concerns raised throughout the process. Erickson is also a valued participant in the Strategic Enrollment Management process. He understands the importance of these projects to the university and how integral the projects are to each other. He is willing to contribute to both projects because he understands the success of both projects is vital to the future success of Kansas State University.

Eyestone is a valuable resource for the anatomy and physiology department's students, faculty and staff as well as the College of Veterinary Medicine and the university. Eyestone routinely assists faculty across departments in addressing issues related to the curriculum management system, Curriculog. She also organizes and coordinates the monthly Red Cross Blood Drives, which is without a doubt one of the most impactful community service activities in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Eyestone's interactions with staff and colleagues enhance the feeling of belonging in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Her longstanding connections with the university and the Manhattan community frequently benefit those around her and are especially valuable in helping visitors, new faculty and students to feel welcome. She routinely assists visiting scholars and international students in finding accommodations and identifying resources in the community to assist them with their transition to K-State, Kansas and the United States. Eyestone regularly goes above and beyond her assigned duties to serve the needs of our faculty, staff and students, thus improving the lives and well-being of those around her.

Please join the Division of Human Capital Services in congratulating the 2019 award recipients. All award winners receive $1,000 for their contributions to the K-State community.