Morrow, Ga. – University of Georgia staff members in the university’s Career Center, Health Center and Disability Resource Center were recognized by Hank Huckaby, chancellor of the University System of Georgia, Oct. 3 in a ceremony held at Clayton State University. The teams collectively received two silver and one bronze Chancellor’s Annual Customer Service Awards.
The annual customer service awards were created to honor employees who have gone “above and beyond” their normal job responsibilities in helping their internal and external customers and in consistently promoting service excellence. System institutions submitted several hundred nominations.
“We are extremely proud of the members of these outstanding teams,” said UGA Senior Vice President Tim Burgess, who serves as the university’s customer service champion. “I was honored to join them at the awards ceremony and to see their innovative and diligent efforts recognized. Their achievement reflects well upon the entire university and demonstrates the level of customer service excellence to which we all aspire.”
The 2012 UGA winners are listed below.
The UGA Career Center took home the silver in the team category for service to more than 10,000 individual students per year. Services provided by the center include online resume creation tools and in-person critiques, Intern for a Day program, interview preparation and practice, academic advising certification program, 12 career fairs a year and integrated mobile technology. Team members are Bethany Bagley, Shaistha Begum, Penny Benton, Aaron Brown, Michelle Carter, Andrew Crain, Vassi Deltcheva, Megan Flora, Holly Getchell, LeAnn Golob, Kendra Goode, Debi Grayson, Marian Wells Higgins, Nicole Lechene, Laura Ledgerwood, Lisa Lowe, Darin Parker, Charles Perry, Christie Sanders and Kelley Whisnant with Scott T. Williams as team lead.
The University Health Center’s counseling and psychiatric services received the silver award in the outstanding customer service improvement initiative category for its triage and waitlist redesign. By realigning the staff of social workers, counselors and psychologists into different “pods,” the team increased cohesion, maximized staff expertise and streamlined scheduling. The process change resulted in eliminating the 68-day waitlist for appointments and increased capacity for client visits from 6,300 to 7,200 a year. Team members are Heather Buffington, Kelly Case-Simonson, Tricia Coghlan, Danneel Hubbell, David Lester and Chuck Zanone with Gayle Robbins as team lead.
The University Disability Resource Center disability coordinators received the bronze in the team category. In fall 2011, they created the “Coordinator of the Day” process as a way to prioritize and manage incoming calls and requests. The coordinators each serve a caseload of more than 100 students, staff answer more than 24,000 calls a year, and walk-in visits generate about 500 new case files a year. The coordinator initiative allowed the team to manage this volume and receive a 98 percent “complete satisfaction” rate on its 2012 customer survey. Team members are David Anderson, Carolyn Arnold, Peter Bertot, Tim Carr, Susan Cates, Daley Connelly, Angela Cote, Donald Dicer, Teresa Edwards, Dale Gibson, Amanda Hales, Leigh Jagor, Karen Kalivoda, Sarah Kesler, Molli Scarborough, Diane Shimkets, Marielle Stair, Carla Topp and Margaret Totty with Pat Marshall as team lead.
Also, the University Parking Services team received an honorable mention in the outstanding customer service improvement initiative award category for Operation Safedrive, a free vehicle inspection program. The initiative increases driving safety and promotes university goodwill. Hundreds of students lined up to have their vehicles inspected to help them get home safely for the Thanksgiving holiday in 2011. The team—which includes all parking services staff—is led by Don Walter.
