March 13, 2024
LaBerge, Cano, Crowell and Emry selected as recipients of the January Staff Spotlight Award
Candace LaBerge, office specialist II in the Faculty Senate office, Brian Cano, former admissions representative at K-State Salina, Regina Crowell, office specialist III in the psychological sciences department, and Rebecca Emry, executive associate to the dean and CEO at K-State Olathe, have been selected as the January recipients of the Staff Spotlight Award. The award highlights staff members — university support staff and university professional staff — each month for their service to the K-State community.
LaBerge's nomination noted, "Everything Candace does is above and beyond expectations. With her in-depth knowledge of the university handbook inside and out, as well as the faculty senate constitution, she can skillfully add to conversations in meetings and even in full senate to make sure we all understand where something is found or how some process works, as well as things that have been tried or done in the past." Another acclamation states, "Candace is a wonderful team player. She contributes to everything Faculty Senate does and goes above and beyond in supporting the Faculty Senate team."
Cano was recognized for his efforts in the K-State Salina admissions office. "With a background in mentoring and assisting youth from difficult backgrounds, Brian took incredible initiative and advocated for K-State Salina materials, videos, and ads to be translated into Spanish within the first couple of weeks on the job. He not only insisted this would be necessary for his goals for outreach to underserved populations but also translated nearly all of the physical materials, videos already created by our Marketing and Communications department, and digital ads, all within a matter of two weeks."
Crowell's dedication to the students and faculty in psychological sciences goes beyond normal expectations. "Regina expends an enormous amount of effort actively listening to what our undergraduate and graduate students say they need, and she responds directly to help them excel at K-State and function more effectively as scholars and as people. Additionally, Regina's dedication to building a real feeling of community among our students and our faculty is amazing."
Emry's nomination stated, "Not only does she flawlessly manage all the things that the CEO/dean for our campus needs, Rebecca also assists with managing responsibilities for the entire administrative team. From the largest event — our strategic planning launch to the day-to-day meetings, she always has everything covered. Her highlights really came with the strategic plan launch for the Olathe campus. In an event that hosted city and state officials, colleagues from all three campuses, senior administrators from other university and college partners, advisory board members, and industry executives — K-State Olathe dazzled."
Anyone can nominate eligible employees — student employees and faculty are not eligible for award. Nominees will be reviewed by a university staff leadership committee of UPS and USS representatives. Winners will be featured in K-State Today and will receive a $100 — minus applicable taxes — from the president's office. Please submit your nominations by the first of each month.