OUR VALUES

Laura Carter

Office of Brand and Communication

“When I arrived as a new team member in OBC, Laura made time to show me the ropes, answer my questions, show me where everything was located and introduce me to fellow team members,” says her nominator.

As Production Coordinator, Carter juggles multiple deadlines for numerous clients. “She demonstrates respect and compassion for everyone she encounters,” says her nominator. “She embodies all of our values, but especially Serve Others First, Integrity and Respect.”

Carter does her work with conscientiousness and is the first to volunteer to cover for others when they are sick or on vacation. Also, she takes care of little things that often go unnoticed – like making sure the coffee supply is stocked with favorite flavors.

“She is always dependable and will determine the best plan to accomplish any assignment or project in a timely and efficient manner,” says her nominator.

Part of Carter’s job is getting quotes for printing. “I’ve heard Laura speak with the customer to make certain that she clearly understands exactly what they want and need,” says her nominator. “Then, I’ve heard her speak with the printing company, working with them to get the best product and price possible for her customer. She is a good steward of people and resources, not only in our department, but also with her customers from all over the HSC.”

Laura knows every external vendor that we work with by first name, and they know her. Says her nominator, “I’ve heard numerous delivery people tell her she is their favorite customer! That’s the kind of representation we want from the HSC!”

Nominator: Gayanne Clemens

Valuncha “Nat” Paterson

Vice Provost’s Office

“Nat has been a whirlwind of positive energy for the Faculty Senate since assuming the administrative coordinator duties late last year,” says one of her nominators.

Her efficiency and accuracy is noted by all her nominators. Examples include drafting minutes of Faculty Senate meetings within two working days, collecting timely input from senators to the Provost’s Office on key changes to policies, distributing time-sensitive materials to Senate members and then updating and re-disseminating them.

One nominator says, “Ms. Paterson exudes integrity in her work ethic. She pays attention to detail, wants her deliverables to be presented well, and is prepared for each meeting. Her deliverables are precise and on-time, if not early.”

Paterson compiled and organized all the comments received from the faculty body on the proposed post-tenure review policy during the winter break. She removed all identifiers, organized comments by school and by topic. “She managed to do it superbly within a short period of time on short notice,” says a nominator.

Her nominators note her “poise under stress and coming through with a challenging task.”

“Her enthusiasm is contagious.”

Nominators: Patrick Clay, Marcy Paul, Eun-young Mun and Monte Troutman

Neonisia Brown, Karen Johnson, Janie Rivas and Yolanda Sparks

Finance and Planning

During the annual Finance and Planning retreat, this group came up with an innovative idea to raise donations and support for the Student Food Pantry.

Because each of them felt strongly about food insecurity for our student population, they were able to gather resources and enough people to sponsor a month-long food drive.

Not only did they engage those within our campus community, but they also raised awareness of food insecurity within our student population to the surrounding businesses and communities. Their efforts produced a total donation of 885 pounds of food.

“This is by far the most I’ve seen since overseeing the student food pantry, with the closest donation in weight at 320 pounds for one month,” says their nominator.

This project was the result of people seeking to live out our values in special ways. Their donation sustained the food pantry for three months.

Nominator: Chris Klein

Rozen Gilerman

TCOM Student

Rozen Gilerman goes above and beyond to share his knowledge and resources with his fellow students.

“He uses his experience to help everyone he knows,” says his nominator. “He uses his connections with faculty not just to benefit himself, but to benefit his entire class. He spends countless hours outside of class preparing study materials, organizing review sessions, and providing one-on-one assistance with understanding difficult concepts. Rozen truly serves others first and embodies all of the values of UNTHSC.”

Upon request from several classmates, Gilerman coordinated a review session with Dr. Rehana Lovely, Assistant Professor, Physiology and Anatomy. After word got out about this review session, more than 150 students expressed interest in attending.

In an effort to respect Dr. Lovely’s time and to help as many fellow students as he could, Gilerman developed a sign-up form for the review and scheduled all 150-plus students into a time slot that worked best for them. He coordinated all of this with a smile on his face — on top of his own school work and responsibilities.

Nominator: Brandon Hoff

Ann Smith

TCOM Admissions

Ann Smith is responsible for the Primary Care Pathway Program (PCPP). This is a collaboration with TCOM, the University of North Texas, Midland (Texas) College and Midland Memorial Hospital to recruit medical students, educate and place needed physicians in the Midland-Odessa region.

Her nominator says, “She works diligently to identify and advise students who might not otherwise think of going to medical school because of the many financial and social barriers community college students face in going to medical school.”

To make herself available to participants, Smith works varying hours, day and night. She goes well beyond the normal scope of duties to identify resources that help these pipeline students.

“As a result of this effort, this program has grown immensely and has great potential for future success,” her nominator says. “Anyone associated with this effort knows Ann is the catalyst that drives this program forward.”

For example, “if they have issues with their financial aid, Ann is there to help facilitate a timely solution,” her nominator says. “If students need to reach out and talk to someone about their challenges, Ann makes herself available.”

Her contributions to PCPP include creating a professional development course to help students better understand the practice of medicine and how to apply to medical school, working with the program’s budget to identify funds for additional scholarships, and educating Midland College faculty on how to develop a pre-medical track.

“From the moment Ann took this position, she had a vision of seeing this as a comprehensive pre-professional pipeline program starting with Midland College with the final stop being the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine,” says her nominator. “Not only does she build and prepare activities, she also develops a plan that can be used in future years with training materials and planning documents. This will help as our office will continue to add similar programs with other institutions in the state of Texas.”

Nominator: Mike Kennedy