April 9, 2021
2021 K-State University Support Staff Award of Excellence winners
Submitted by Human Capital Services
The K-State University Support Staff Award of Excellence recognizes exemplary performance and contributions of staff members who consistently excel in their positions and demonstrate integrity and a strong commitment to the mission and values of Kansas State University.
K-State is recognizing three university support staff professionals for their job performance with the university's 2021 University Support Staff Award of Excellence.
Recipients:
- Rebecca "Becky" Marsh, admissions officer, Office of Recruitment and Admissions, in the Office and Clerical category.
- Brent Kolterman, HVAC technician, Division of Facilities, in the Service and Maintenance/Skilled Crafts category.
- Justin Shank, IT support specialist I, Division of Facilities: Campus Planning and Project Management, in the Technical and Professional category.
Marsh always demonstrates outstanding achievement and performance that beats all expectations. This year it is important to recognize her commitment to both our internal and external customers because she exceeded all of her previous years of exceptional work. In the face of organizational transformation, she has maintained steadfast commitment to her assigned roles while assuming new responsibilities on a daily basis. She gracefully and enthusiastically stepped up, performed above and beyond in all of her roles but also in the new tasks she was given. One of the many ways Marsh has refined operations in the unit through innovation and creativity this year was when she dove into the correspondence processes and recognized they needed to be revamped. She not only relearned the requisite actions, she streamlined it to make it easier for others and updated the instructions to ease the learning curve for new employees. She took outdated methods and filing structures and developed an intuitive, easy-to-follow system for the printing of daily correspondence. Additionally, she then updated staff across multiple units to ensure there were no missed steps. These innovations not only included the domestic admissions correspondence, she adeptly applied these revisions to the international admissions correspondence as well. These phenomenal improvements increased the speed and accuracy of these everyday functions. Marsh makes K-State special by more than performing her job functions. Marsh's kind spirit, vivacious personality, warm smile and bubbly personality make her a very special part of the K-State family.
Kolterman has the ability and willingness to work positively, respectfully and effectively with others. His determination to improve customer service is one of his biggest strengths. Kolterman has excellent communication with customers and a positive attitude. He's always looking for ways to resolve all problems in a professional manner. With the COVID-19 pandemic, communicating with departments was a challenge as hardly anyone was on campus. Kolterman always found a way to reach those departments. When facilities changed over from shops to zones, Kolterman put extra effort in to make the transition work as smoothly as possible. Kolterman's work zone, Zone 4, includes many of the older buildings on campus — buildings that require extra repairs. Whether it is working side-by-side with electricians installing classroom ventilation systems, repairing failed fume hoods in labs or communicating issues and repairs to departmental staff, he can always be counted on to be professional, patient and kind. A mind for efficiency and cost savings, he attempts to save K-State money on repairs wherever possible. Providing excellent service all around, Kolterman's goal is that faculty, staff and students feel safe coming to campus, have pride in their campus and are proud to be a Wildcat.
Shank is a valued member of our team and the level of professionalism that he brings to our office has significantly improved our customer relations with departments across campus as well as consultants. Shank has proven his ability to adapt to changing work priorities through his support of classroom set-ups before and during COVID-19. Shank not only continued to manage his everyday data requests but he assisted with furniture relocation and classroom furniture set up, often on days when buildings were shut down and conditions were not ideal. Even during these stressful times, Shank displayed a positive and professional attitude. He is able to work with varied personalities and still complete his assigned projects on time and without complaint. While many employees have had to adapt their work habits during COVID-19, Shank has consistently taken on new challenges and excelled with each of them. Shank's main responsibility within our office is to manage project archives and database information. This information is used for reports at the local and state levels. In the few years that he has worked for the university, he has made significant improvements in the organization of our archives and developed methods and procedures that allow us to better manage and track this important information. With the large volume of data that we manage, Shank has exceeded expectations when it comes to data request responses and his ability to find critical information in a timely manner. Shank's attention to detail and willingness to research previously unknown information has significantly improved our historical data and provided essential information for future planning efforts.
Please join Human Capital Services in congratulating the 2021 award recipients. All award winners receive $1,000 for their contributions to the K-State community.