Do you work with a Business Affairs colleague who consistently goes above and beyond their regular duties? Did a coworker recently go out of their way to help you with a project? Does someone’s positive attitude make the workplace a more enjoyable place to be? If so, show these outstanding employees how much you value their contributions by nominating them for the monthly Business Affairs employee appreciation awards!
All Business Affairs team members are welcome to nominate a peer who exemplifies the Business Affairs culture standards - Collaborate. Acknowledge. Respect. Empower. If selected, they receive $100 and are entered into the pool for employee of the year. This award is $1,000!
Program Overview
This is an employee of the month and employee of the year program that runs on the calendar year (January through December). The selection process is designed with fairness in mind: employees are nominated by their peers and selected anonymously based on the contents of their nomination form.
Since Business Affairs is a large division that performs diverse functions, the staff is divided into two groups of approximately equal size whose employees work in related fields:
- Facilities management, planning and construction, and real estate
- Financial services/controller; resource management; budget and analysis; and administration services
Award Criteria
Nominations should explain how an employee’s actions exceed expectations for their role. When nominating a co-worker consider these criteria:
- Quality
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- Is the employee’s work effective, accurate, and useful?
- Do they take steps to build relationships with customers and colleagues?
- Are they detail-oriented, and do they take pride in creating excellent deliverables?
- Dedication
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Successful employees are proactive in their approach to work.
- Does the employee take extra steps to ensure customer satisfaction or that a task is meticulously accomplished?
- Do they regularly meet and/or exceed goals and expectations?
- Timeliness
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Organization and astute prioritization are qualities that make departments efficient and productive.
- Does the employee consistently deliver service or products on time and/or ahead of schedule?
- Innovation
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Employees who identify problems and create solutions to streamline operations, reduce waste, and lower costs help the university create sustainable practices.
- Is the employee a forward-thinker who identifies practices that simplify processes?
- Do they find ways to help UNLV remain environmentally mindful?
Eligibility
To be eligible for the program, an employee must:
- Be a current UNLV Business Affairs employee
- Have worked in UNLV Business Affairs for at least six (6) months
- Be in good standing (e.g., not in a progressive disciplinary process, last performance appraisal was satisfactory, etc.)
- No self-nominations allowed!
Note: While an employee can be nominated more than once for the employee of the month award, he/she cannot win more than two monthly awards in a calendar year. A nominator cannot nominate the same employee more than once in a calendar year.
Nomination Process
Employees nominate other employees for this award. Only one employee may be included per nomination. Group or team nominations will not be accepted. The nominator does not need to be the employee’s supervisor.
To nominate an employee, fill out the Business Affairs Employee Appreciation nomination form.
Nominations are due by the 25th of each month.
Winners are announced monthly in the Business Affairs Bulletin.
Nominee Evaluation and Winner Selection Process
Nomination Review Committees
Business Affairs employees are divided into two groups. One group is comprised of the facilities management, planning & construction, and real estate departments. The other group is comprised of financial services, controller, resource management, budget & analysis, human resources, and administration services departments.
Each employee group has a dedicated nomination review committee that evaluates nominations and selects monthly winner(s).
- Each committee has at least five (5) members. Committees always include an odd number of members if membership exceeds five.
- Committee members rotate biennially.
- Committee members do not report directly to the senior vice president of Business Affairs. The committees consist of employees’ peers.
- The Office of the Senior Vice President of Business Affairs assists in the selection of committee members as members rotate off the committee.
Anonymity
- Members of the review committees do not see the nominees’ names, which are replaced by an identifying number, when evaluating the submissions.
- Per the nomination form instructions, please do not use the employee’s name in the nomination narrative.
- The committees evaluate nominees based on the nomination narrative.
Number of Winners
- For the monthly award, each group may have one winner, for a possible total of two monthly winners for the division.
- The review committees do not have to select a monthly winner.
- For the annual award, each review committee will choose one winner from a pool of up to 12 monthly award winners, for a possible total of two annual winners for the division.
2024 Recipients
January
- Cory Martin, Facilities Management
- Karlie Passey, BA Business Partner - Human Resources
2023 Recipients
January
- John Cupo, Facilities Management
- Duane Phillips, Risk Management & Safety
February
- Craig Topple, Electronic Document Services
- Brian Townsend, Real Estate
March
- James Drollinger, Facilities Management
- Nancy Dooley, Cashiering & Student Accounts
April
- Frances Heiy, Purchasing and Contracts
- George Ebner, Shadow Lane Facilities Management
May
- Gary Gray, Facilities Management
- Laura Schneider, Quality Assurance & Financial Compliance
June
- Armando Campos, Facilities Management
- Sang Yi, Administration Technology Services
July
- Gilda Holliday, Facilities Management
- Robert Deaver, Risk Management & Safety
August
- Derrick Monroe, Facilities Management
- Naseem Benjelloun, Administration Technology Services
September
- Edwin Cardona Cortez, Facilities Management, IT
- Hugo Calderon Cortes, Financial Services
October
- Charlie Cisneros, Facilities Management
November
- Kenneth Hughes, Facilities Management
- Nohealani Benicarlo, Vice President’s Office
December
- John Tomola, Risk Management and Safety
- Kathy Adams, Financial Planning, Budget, and Analysis
2022 Recipients
January
- Stephen Valine, senior software developer, administration technology services
- Maisara Abebe, assistant director, facilities management
February
- Rose Cummings, Program Officer, Cashiering and Student Accounts
- Mike Kwiecien, Senior Project Manager, Planning and Construction
March
- Dave Coleman, Facility Manager, Facilities Management
April
- Jarred Achong, Custodial Worker 2, Facilities Management
May
- Bill Knox, Maintenance Repair Worker 3, Shadow Lane Facilities Management
- Daniel Landeros, Fire & Life Safety Inspector 2, Risk Management & Safety
June
- Jeff Lagesse, Parking Operations and Events Administrator, Parking & Transportation Services
- Andres DeLeon, HVACR Specialist 2, Facilities Management
July
- Robin Love, Administrative Assistant IV, Risk Management & Safety
- Haysam Selim, System Administrator, Facilities Management
August
- Kim Seifert, Administrative Assistant III, Risk Management & Safety
- Jeffrey Hahn, Maintenance Repair Specialist 2, Shadow Lane Facilities Management
September
- Kelly Owsley, Senior Purchasing Analyst, Purchasing
- Jeremy Malone, Plumber 2, Fire/ Life Safety
October
- Elora Paik, Principal Systems Analyst, Financial Systems
November
- Jemil Galang, Equipment Mechanics 2, Facilities Management
- Darren Paulson, Director of Telecommunications, Business Affairs - Administration
December
- Kinesha Davis, Project Coordinator Facilities Management
- Deon Day, Safety Representative Risk Management & Safety
2022 Employees of the Year
- Rose Cummings, Program Officer Cashiering and Student Accounts
- Mike Kwiecien, Senior Project Manager Planning and Construction
2021 Recipients
January
- Chris West
Administrative Assistant 3, Facilities Management
February
- Shari McClean
Accountant Technician 1, Planning & Construction - Meliscia Gilbert
Deputy Chief Budget Officer, Financial Planning, Budget & Analysis
March
- Katelyn Brooks
Accountant Technician 2, Facilities Management - Joe Tammaro
Digital Telecom Specialist 2, Telecommunications
April
- John Tomola
Occupational Safety Program Manager, Risk Management & Safety
May
- Duane Kyles
Senior Network Engineer, Telecommunications
June
- Gualberto Rodriguez
Senior Accountant, Financial Services
July
- Jonathan Myers
Senior Network Engineer, Telecommunications
August
- Reginald Stewart
Radiation Safety Specialist/Laser Safety Officer, Risk Management & Safety - James Drollinger
HVACR Specialist 1, Facilities Management
September
- Farayi Dete
University Parking Enforcement Officer, Parking & Transportation Services
October
- Belia Guzman
Senior Purchasing Analyst/Contract Administrator, Purchasing & Contracts - Garrett Hedges
Facility Supervisor 2, Facilities Management
November
- Heidi Welniak
Grounds Maintenance Worker 2, Facilities Management - Caleb Abad
Parking Enforcement Supervisor, Parking & Transportation Services
December
- Harry Schiffman
Electrician 3, Facilities Management
2021 Employees of the Year
- Chris West
Administrative Assistant 3, Facilities Management - Joe Tammaro
Digital Telecom Specialist 2, Telecommunications
2020 Recipients
January
- Joshua Payne
- HVACR specialist 2
- Nathan Frieders
- Accountant
February
- Erin Messer
- Associate Budget Director
March
- Alexandra Nikolich
- Executive Director, Financial Systems and Special Projects
- Beau Barnett
- Landscape and Grounds Manager
- Landscape and Grounds Manager
April
- Rebecca Paulson
- Senior Software Developer
- Orlakdy “Dee” Douangprachanh
- Custodial Worker 1
May
- Jason Hargis
- Occupational Safety Program Coordinator
- Leslie Matys
- Assistant Manager, Rebel Recycling
June
- Gilda Holliday
- Supply Technician 2
July
- Julie Moos
- Safety Training Specialist
- Antonia Contreras
- Custodial Worker 1
August
- Nichole Staker
- Project Manager, Planning and Construction
- Betty Nielson
- Systems Analyst, Cashiering and Student Accounts
September
- Liliana (Lily) Magana
- Benefits Manager
October
- Lori Church
- Deputy Controller
- Ronald Rieger
- Equipment Mechanic 3
November
- Bridget Hahn
- Real Estate Property Manager, Real Estate
- William Smith
- Fire & Life Safety Inspector 2, Risk Management
December
- Johannes Pikel
- Associate Software Developer, Administration Services
- Georgi Batchvarov
- HVAC Specialist 2, Facilities Management
2020 Employees of the Year
- Lori Church
- Deputy Controller
- Leslie Matys
- Assistant Manager, Rebel Recycling
2019 Recipients
January
- Dana Tasso
Accountant Technician 2, Financial Services - Ray Figuerado
Custodial Supervisor 3, Facilities Management
Honorable Mention
- Kinesha Davis
Construction Project Coordinator 1, Facilities Management - Lori Church
Deputy controller
February
- Shelley Simon
Project manager, Planning and Construction - Elizabeth Deveraux
Accounting Assistant 3, Accounts Payable
Honorable Mention
- Fabian Mendez
Electronics Technician 2, Facilities Management - Kahaunani Hernandez
Senior Accountant, Financial Services
March
- Vanessa Hogan
Fire and Life safety Inspector 2, Risk Management and Safety - Jarred Achong
Custodial Worker 1, Facilities Management
Honorable Mention
- Caleb Konner
Business Systems Analyst/Functional Architect, Workday Support Team - Sandy Ziegler
Assistant director, Parking and Transportation Services - Juan Lino
Plumber 1, Facilities Management
April
- Joan Ludwig
Personnel Technician 3, Salary Administration
May
- Elizabeth Deveraux
Accounting Assistant 3, Accounts Payable - Racquel Rodriguez
Accountant Technician 2, Accounts Payable
Honorable Mention
- Arturo Baltazar
Personnel Analyst 1, Benefits
June
- Steven Joseph
HVACR Specialist 4, Facilities Management - Chelsea Meggerson
Senior Purchasing Analyst/Contract Administrator, Purchasing
July
- Patrick Castellano
Senior Project Manager, Planning and Construction - Michele Washington
Claims Administration Coordinator, Risk Management and Safety
Honorable Mention
- Rebecca Paulson
Senior Software Developer, Administration Services - Gaspar Arana
Maintenance Repair Worker 3, Facilities Management
August
- Michael Swearingen
Grounds Maintenance Worker 5, Facilities Management - Tad McDowell
Director, Parking and Transportation Services
Honorable Mention
- Shelley Simon
Project Manager, Planning and Construction - Brenda Peters
Personnel Analyst 2, Benefits
September
- Myke Molina
Programs Coordinator, Cashiering and Student Services - Robert Lucas
Custodial Supervisor 1, Facilities Management
October
- Derek Jones
Equipment Mechanic 3, Facilities Management - Eric Compton
Business Analyst, Workday Support Team
Honorable Mention
- Bethann Carrington
Accountant Assistant 3, Accounts Payable
November
- Victor Reza
Accounting Assistant 1, Accounts Payable
December
- Connie Gamble
Property Manager, Real Estate - Elaine Rojas
Administrative Assistant 4, Financial Services
2019 Employees of the Year
- Michael "Myke" Molina
- Programs Coordinator, Cashiering and Student Accounts
- Jarred Achong
- Custodial Worker 1, Facilities Management