Star employees honoured

Their efforts have transformed McMaster. Their service has been outstanding. On Wednesday, May 18, President Peter George recognized 134 employees for contributing to McMaster's commitment to creativity, innovation and excellence.
“Each of your individual efforts,” he said, “whatever the scope of your role may be, continues to affect change at McMaster University. Your continuing efforts bring us ever closer to the desired result of making McMaster the best it can be and ensure that our possibilities are endless.”
The recipients join a list of 560 individuals who have been recognized by President George since the award's inception in 1997.
The President's Awards for Outstanding Service recognizes employees who are non-faculty members, and who are not senior managers, who have made an outstanding contribution beyond that normally expected for their positions to the mission of the University.
Recipients of the President's Awards for Outstanding Service and the Recipient of the Special Achievement Award are:
Ann Hollingshead
Hollingshead is the undergraduate advisor and research co-ordinator for the Department of Psychology. She accepted her appointment and promptly redefined the scope of her position in a way that provided greater effectiveness within the department. She devotes considerable time and energy in making student counseling and liaison the best in the University. Hollingshead has become the linchpin in an array of services offered to psychology students. She is the expert that students, staff, and faculty alike come to for advice and direction regarding the undergraduate activities and curriculum. The students love her; she is knowledgeable, kind, and willing to take extra steps to help them. She shows pride in her work environment and affection for her co-workers and students.
David Kidney
A long-standing employee of McMaster University, Kidney is the manager of Classroom Audio Visual Services. He is committed to continuous improvement at all levels. Whether it is his abilities as a service manager, or working to provide the best possible service to faculty and students, Kidney is committed to excellence. He understands his client's needs and gives high priority to responding quickly and appropriately to those needs. He is very serious about fulfilling the mandate of Classroom Audio-Visual Services by supporting teaching in the classroom with all levels of technology from overheads to data projectors and document cameras. His professional, sincere and friendly demeanor makes him very approachable and open-minded to people's needs. He is the perfect model member of this institution and always speaks of the University with great pride, admiration and respect.
Carol Lavery
Lavery is a senior research technician at the Centre for Gene Therapeutics (CGT). Her tireless dedication and commitment to the CGT is seen in her leadership and outstanding service. She saves researchers time, effort and money by overseeing grant expenditures, managing the media and glass washing facilities, and purchasing major equipment. Her involvement in the process of orchestrating the lab transition from the Health Sciences Centre into the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Health (IMMH) was instrumental in making this transition a tremendous success. Her competence and excellent communication and networking skills allowed for a smooth transition into the IMMH. With subtle grace and charm, she motivates and encourages cooperation and participation within the group. She demonstrates remarkable diplomacy, tolerance and wisdom, and exemplifies patience, compassion, understanding and empathy when assisting others.
Stephanie Lisak
For more than 15 years, Lisak has worked as an undergraduate secretary in the Department of Political Science. She is also a talented artist, whose art has been used for the covers of the six most recent University graduate calendars, as well as for greeting cards sent by President Peter George, the School of Graduate Studies, and for the Department of Political Science. Students, faculty, sessional lecturers, and others come to Lisak with any number of situations, and invariably she helps them with good humour, and thoughtfulness. She is responsive, defuses frustrations and leaves others not only with the information, advice or material they need, but also with the feeling that they have been dealing with someone who cares. Her warm and cheerful presence has lit up the main office for the thousands of people who have passed through it and this is truly emblematic of the spirit that makes McMaster University a community and not simply a workplace.
Anna Robertson
In the environmental engineering area, you will find Robertson working as a departmental technician. Robertson is a superb colleague. She shows outstanding commitment and dedication to the entire Faculty of Engineering. There is virtually no problem she cannot solve, either in a technical sense or a pedagogical/curriculum sense. Robertson has a high level of emotional intelligence – she knows intuitively what people need and has an innate ability to motivate students. Her technical efforts in the lab have been recognized by Ontario's Ministry of the Environment and she, in turn, contributes to McMaster's reputation as a leader in water quality engineering. Robertson's pleasant attitude is widely commented on in the supporting letters from both students and colleagues. With students at all levels, she takes the time to get to know them personally and uniformly shows respect to all. This respect is reciprocated, and it is combined with a level of affection for Robertson that is particularly noteworthy.
Mary Jane Sayles
Sayles is a clinical trials nurse co-ordinator based at St. Joseph's Hospital. She is viewed by the Canadian and international pharmaceutical industry as instrumental to the delivery of high quality research conducted at McMaster, as evidenced by the large number of industry-sponsored and Canadian Institutes of Health Research-sponsored studies she has coordinated. Sayles has provided dedication and service to the profession, which goes above and beyond her current job responsibilities. She is an outstanding example of a research nurse. Recognized by industry and funding agencies as performing excellent clinical trials, her programs have recently received industry awards for high patient enrolment and retention rates in long-term studies. She has a long-standing history of volunteer activities related to McMaster research programs and its affiliated hospitals. She is certainly one of the “unsung heroes” of our research organization.
Chris Sylvester
On a daily basis in her role as budgeting assistant/advisor, Sylvester demonstrates her commitment to protecting the financial health of McMaster. She has built strong and long standing personal and professional relationships with many of the staff in the areas she supports. She embodies the spirit of community, both within the McMaster community and within the Hamilton community. The time and effort she invests goes well beyond duty and she is an inspiration to all those with whom she deals. She fulfills her responsibilities in a superb manner, offering insight into problems, positive criticism, helpful suggestions and clear policy direction. Sylvester is the quintessential “teacher”. She has a real gift, which is demonstrated by wisdom, unsurpassed knowledge and in-depth understanding of the intricacies of our budgeting process. She brings these same gifts to bear on organizing several charitable activities. The key to her success, and what makes her very special to McMaster, is her ability to make those she works with feel important, valued, and capable of tackling the complex financial issues they face.
Bogdan Wilk
Wilk is a research associate and exercise physiologist in the area of pediatric sports medicine. Wilks fascination with research has earned him an international reputation in the field of pediatric sport medicine, especially through his work with thermoregulatory responses in children. The true staple of his innovation is not only that he is able to creatively solve problems but that his new ideas encourage creativity and innovation in other people. He is very respectful to the needs and feelings of research subjects and patients as well as their families. Additionally, he is always careful to make their comfort the first priority ahead of his research. He is considered a world expert in the area of exercise, hydration, and thermoregulation in children and adolescents. By establishing close connections between experts abroad and McMaster University, Wilk helps to enhance the reputation of McMaster as a scientifically dynamic and friendly university.
Team recipients:
Custom Courseware Team
Media Production Services, in partnership with the Bookstore, has been providing custom courseware to students since 1993. This significantly reduces costs for students by providing only the most relevant material needed. To minimize the cost of carrying unnecessary inventory, the practice of “Rainchecks” was introduced that would allow students to be guaranteed their out-of-stock purchase within 48 hours. To demonstrate the pressure this team was under, in September 2004, “Raincheck” numbers reached 4,076 for the term – more than double the maximum requests in any previous year. To meet the needs of the students requires a tremendous spirit of cooperation between Titles and Media Production Services. This initiative has been so successful that many institutions have modeled their own custom courseware initiatives after McMaster. The Custom Courseware team is a model of effective collaboration that benefits students and the University.
MacLife Team
The MacLife team developed “Prelude to McMaster”. This is an online orientation for new students to McMaster composed of seven online videos and a moderated discussion forum linked from the First Year Experience Office (FYEO) website. This initiative is directly linked to the University's strategic planning document Refining Directions document, which states, “we are committed to creativity, innovation and excellence.” As a result of their excellent teamwork, the academic and social orientation of first year students was greatly enhanced. Launched in September 2004, the Academic Skills Online video website has had more than 3,000 'hits', streamed over 200 hours of academic skills content and achieved a very high user satisfaction rate – 90 per cent ranked the videos as A- or better. The success of the project is the result of excellent leadership, teamwork, and excellent planning and execution. The collaboration of the Centre for Student Development, Career Services and FYEO is a stellar example of achieving excellence through the combination of talented individuals. This group was able to deliver an outstanding product on time and on budget.
Recipient of the Special Achievement Award:
Children's Christmas Party
One could not overestimate the important role the Children's Christmas Party plays in creating a strong sense of community among McMaster University's faculty members, employees, retirees, and their families. Since its inception in 1995, this annual event has grown from 60 children and 50 adults in attendance, to a staggering 350 children and 500 adults in 2004. The work of organizing this event involves employees University wide – and family members that volunteer to lend a hand. The logistics of organizing such a large event takes place within a spirit of cooperation and collegiality that serves as a model for others. Unsolicited feedback on the event is always extremely positive and it is clear that McMaster's Annual Christmas Party has become a “must attend” event.