Aimee Ellett receives Kevin Taylor Memorial Service Award

The 2023-24 Kevin Taylor Memorial Service Award was presented to Aimee Ellett, special assistant to Chief Information Officer Steve Hess, during the UIT All-Hands Meeting held online on September 19, 2023.

During a live video stream from 102 Tower, the downtown location for several University of Utah organizations, including UIT, Ellett received a plaque and a symbolic oversized check denoting a $500 honorarium.

“I am truly humbled and honored to be recognized among such an exceptional group of colleagues and fellow nominees,” Ellett said. “Receiving the Kevin Taylor Memorial Service Award is incredibly special to me! I am thankful every day for the support and encouragement that I receive and that I have the privilege of working with such a talented, wonderful, and inspiring group of people.”

The award was established in 2014 to recognize superior service and ongoing contributions by UIT employees. It’s given annually to the UIT staff member who best demonstrates the collaborative spirit and intrinsic service orientation of the late Kevin Taylor (b. 1950, d. 2014), former director for UIT Policy and Planning.

Award committee member Dustin Udy said Taylor was “respected by everyone at the U, especially his UIT colleagues.”

“His leadership style combined kindness, clever yet gentle humor, high standards, and a special talent for listening,” Udy said. “Those skills really came in handy as he helped different IT groups and university leaders come together for the common good. … One of his favorite pieces of workplace advice says a lot about Kevin. He would often remind us, especially in the toughest situations: ‘Be nice. Be nice. Be nice.’”

In their nomination letter, Jennifer Handrop and Jessica Hurtado in the School of Medicine’s Office of Admissions, wrote that Ellett “continuously supported our team over the last three years … to onboard a new customer relationship management platform commonly referred to as AMP, which we worked to integrate with different UIT systems (e.g., Duo single sign-on, Zoom, and a web file transfer process).”

They wrote:

“Aimee has a wonderfully positive attitude and a kind spirit, and she has been instrumental in ensuring key systems are functional to meet the mission critical needs of the School of Medicine. As a recent example, Aimee worked with a representative from the Admissions team to seamlessly navigate the new OAuth 2.0 authorization protocol for Zoom and connected our team with the appropriate Zoom administrators to ensure appropriate permissions were in place for the School of Medicine Admissions Office’s upcoming virtual interview season.

Aimee is a content expert and her commitment to ongoing improvement, creative problem-solving, and a high standard of work is evident. She exudes the profound service excellence and legacy of Kevin Taylor for her superior service and commitment to UIT and to the University of Utah.”

The UIT Leadership team would like to express its sincere appreciation for Ellett and her fellow nominees, Chris Moore and Teri Pearson, as well as the efforts of award committee members Udy, Kariann Hibbard, Trevor Long, Jason Moeller, and Bryan Morris. Visit this website for excerpts from the nomination letters of all of this year’s honorees.

 

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