2017-18 Kevin Taylor Service Award winner and nominees
The UIT Kevin Taylor Memorial Service Award program was established in 2014 to recognize superior service and ongoing contributions by UIT employees. Congratulations to all of this year's nominees, and thanks for all that you do.
Winner: Tyler Sauer (Network and Communications Infrastructure)
Nominees: Elliot Fenech (Service Management), Rob Lake (University Support Services), Trevor
Long (Network and Core),
and Warren Malupo (Information Security Office)
From left: CIO Steve Hess and 2017-18 Kevin Taylor Service Award nominees Trevor Long,
Rob Lake,
Tyler Sauer (this year's winner), Elliot Fenech, and Warren Malupo.
Highlights from Tyler Sauer's nomination letter
Tyler has taken the initiative to not only increase his understanding of the University and its functions, but uses his people skills to increase collaboration with other UIT groups and external vendors.
He is rapidly developing a well-documented record of mentoring others. Since his time here as a student employee, he has always taken time to look out for the well-being of those around him.
He often invites others to join him as he works on a problem so all can benefit from knowledge gained. He never seeks to claim credit for jobs well done. He instead often humbly defers recognition to those he works with.
Excerpts from letters for the other nominees
Elliot Fenech, Service Management
Elliot is a great asset to the University and is always actively making work more efficient and more rewarding.
He continually works to make the environment for his team more enjoyable and collaborative. He has an open workspace in which his employees engage one another in fun conversation, as well as project collaboration.
Elliot is constantly looking for ways to improve the pro-activeness of the University via monitoring and logging. He is also looking for ways to improve the student experience and opportunities for them post-graduation.
Elliot is an excellent worker, mentor to his staff and student employees, is a forward-thinking individual, and personable guy.
Rob Lake, University Support Services
Robert goes above and beyond in his position as a security administrator at the UIT – USS Department. He has demonstrated great customer service skills in dealing with requests.
He has helped explain to others when they have questions regarding PeopleSoft. Robert will always put in whatever work is necessary to get jobs completed that must be completed, including staying late, working at home, or even working weekends just to ensure big projects get the permissions they need to function.
He is very diplomatic in dealing with problems and situations. As such, everyone around enjoys working with him as he is very easy going and friendly.
Trevor Long, Network and Core
The writer commended “Trevor’s quiet, consistent, partnership spirit,” and went on to write: Trevor has facilitated the completion of one of our largest fiber and connectivity projects – the ACC project.
He facilitated the network and wireless strategy with associated approvals from governance. He has been key to the development of a campus-wide network connection agreement, and we now have agreements with all the college deans for the first time in University history.
With all the stakeholders and perspectives involved with a campus-wide service like the University network, Trevor’s ability to respectfully work with people from every background reflects one of Kevin’s core traits.
Warren Malupo, Information Security Office
What makes Warren special is his gift for recognizing the humanity in others, and seeing ways to make others feel at ease, so that even in the most stressful and charged moments, people can take a breath, refocus on what’s important, and proceed positively and collegially.
With a warm smile, kind words, a small joke or a chuckle, Warren’s kindness and humility have a way of gently influencing other employees for the better.
On every occasion I’ve observed, he has shown attention to quality and proficiency, taking initiative when it’s his role to do so, and always striving for ways to improve processes and results.