Staff Senate News

Gale Garrison Named Employee of the Quarter

Gale Garrison has been named the Employee of the Quarter for the first quarter. Gale is a financial aid specialist in the Student Financial Aid Office.  She has worked at the University of Central Arkansas for more than 34 years.

Gale’s job duties include processing and posting all the athletic, academic and private scholarships received. Gale was described as a loyal and dependable employee by her colleagues.

“It would be a challenge to find another employee on this campus that has as much paperwork  and/or money come across their desk,” one colleague wrote. “…Starting in the beginning of summer and lasting through September, she is responsible for making sure every student who receives a scholarship has been credited with the proper amount (which is posted one at a time).  Her work-week stretches into hours of comp. time.  Her rapport with the students and staff is both professional and gracious.  She always does what needs to be done to assure that each student is awarded properly and takes great pride in her work.  She is a joy to work with as well.”

Other employees nominated for Employee of the Quarter were: Sandy Ahne, Michelle Burgin, Michael Flory, Denise George, Russ Hancock, Joslyn Kuykendall, Jenny Kyle, Jessica Looney, Ashley Love, Veronice Makepeace, Peggy Robinson, and Julia Robison.

This is the first year for the Employee of the Quarter program.  Each winner receives recognition and prizes including $150 in BearBucks. Nominations are accepted for each quarter.

Recipients will be recognized at the annual Awards Reception in April and be invited to attend the Employee of the Year luncheon.

The Staff Senate will recognize four recipients during the fiscal year.   The timeline for the nominations are: first quarter- July- September;  second quarter- October- December; third quarter- January- March; and fourth quarter- April- June.

Any classified or non-classified full-time UCA employee with one year of continuous service as of July 1, 2010 is eligible to be nominated by faculty, staff, students, or alumni.

Nomination forms will be electronically submitted to the chair of the Employee of the Quarter committee. For more information on Employee of the Quarter, visit the Staff Senate website at http://www.uca.edu/staffsenate/eoq.php.

Applications are being accepted until December 31, 2010 at 4:30 p.m. for Quarter II nominees.  Nominations are accepted online only at https://www.uca.edu/web/forms/view.php?id=205.  For more information on the process, please contact Stephanie Hailey McBrayer at haileys@uca.edu.

Voluneeters Sought for Football Games

The Staff Senate is looking for volunteers to work football games.  The money raised by working football games helps support the professional development fund, social activities, the Veterans Day ceremony, Employee of the Year and Employee of the Quarter awards, and other Staff Senate projects that benefit UCA staff members and the UCA community.  If you would like to volunteer, please contact Larry Burns at  lburns@uca.edu.

Volunteers are needed for the following games:

Sat., Oct. 30 – SE Louisiana – Homecoming

Sat., Nov.  13 – Sam Houston

Sat., Nov. 20 – McNeese State

Staff Senate Accepting Applications for Professional Development Funds

The Staff Senate is now accepting applications for professional development funds.  The Staff Senate Professional Development Fund was established to assist a staff employee in pursuing opportunities for professional development.  The senate seeks to advance opportunities of continuing education, advanced or higher education, certification programs, or conference participation.

All full-time classified or non-classified staff are eligible to apply.  The value of the funding depends on the available funds and the number of applicants.  The deadline for the application is Monday, Nov. 1.  The link to the application is https://uca.edu/staffsenate/profdevfunding.php

If you have questions, please contact: Patricia Smith, director of student engagement, UCA Honors College, at  450-5465 or psmith@uca.edu.