Twenty classified staff, chosen as outstanding by West Virginia Universitys Staff Council, will be recognized at a 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 17, ceremony at Erickson Alumni Center. One will be chosen as the 14th annual Employee of the Year, the highest award a staff member can receive.

“We really got a lot of great nominations for this years Employee of the Year,”said Sandy McIe, chair of Staff Councils Employee Recognition Program.”Although we can only pick one to be the overall winner, all of our finalists are winners in our eyes.”

McIe encourages both the Morgantown and University communities to attend the ceremony and support some of WVUs finest employees.

“Its important to remember that many of these folks are not only exemplary employees, but outstanding members of our community as well,”she said.”And since WVU is such an integral part of the community, when people at WVU do well, our neighborhoods benefit equally.”

This years WVU Employee of the Year will receive several awards including a $1,000 cash prize and a Mountaineer statue, among other perks.

The public is invited to the Friday ceremony to recognize all 20 employees and to hear the surprise announcement. .

This years outstanding employees and their job categories are:

  • Administrative William Jones, farm operator, Division of Animal and Veterinary Sciences; Nick Lapana, food service supervisor, Dining Services; Sharon Sisler, senior office administrator, Physical Education; Jean Tucker, office administrator, Davis College of Agriculture and Forestry.
  • Professiona l Sandy Christopher, academic advisor, Undergraduate Academic Services; Hayward Helmick, program coordinator, Physical Plant; Paul Martinelli, operations coordinator, Extension Service; Beth Michael, human resources representative, College of Arts and Sciences; Christine Tarabrella, senior administrative assistant, College of Arts and Sciences; Joseph Wiles, administrative assistant, Undergraduate Academic Services
  • Technical Rita Dudley, student records assistant, Davis College of Agriculture and Forestry; Thomas Mersing, student records assistant, Social Work and Public Administration; Becky Snider, program assistant I, Extended Learning; Joyce Tennant, applications programmer, Admissions and Records.
  • Clerical Brenda Higa, administrative secretary, Clinical Pharmacy; Betty Jurick, administrative secretary, Health Restoration; Jodie Lewis, administrative secretary, College of Creative Arts Division of Music; Pam Otto, secretary, Consumer Sciences; Gretchen Riggs, administrative secretary, Animal and Veterinary Sciences
  • Skilled Craft/Maintenance No submissions
  • Service Pat Johnson, food service assistant/interim leader food service worker, Dining Services.

The Employee of the Year program is sponsored annually by Staff Council, WVUs classified staff advisory board. For more information on the Employee of the Year program, or the ceremony, call Sandy McIe, 304-293-4841, ext.3107.