College of Health

Staff Appreciation Awards

Purpose

To celebrate exceptional performance and commitment to UAA College of Health (COH) programs throughout the academic year.


Eligibility

All COH staff in active positions during the award period are eligible (regular, term, temporary, part-time, full-time). 


2024 Award Recipients

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Excellence in Teamwork Award: Junland Navarro and Katie Walker
Recognizes an employee who collaborates in an outstanding way to achieve excellence. 

"[Junland Navarro] has consistently been willing to step up and take on responsibilities not typically in his role, as he understands the need to provide high quality service to our students. Jun is an efficient communicator, and frequently greets everyone with a smile and kind service. Jun鈥檚 dedication to the HPER Department and its students is clearly evident through the way he adapts to the needs of what is going on around him, and frequently seeks for ways to improve collaboration through systemic process changes that will help us meet our program goals."

"In the four months that I have been employed by UAA she [Katie Walker] has assisted me with onboarding, BB development, gradebooks, computer technology, learning outcomes, syllabus development, and adjusting to life in academics. Katie is literally the jack of all trades. She makes people feel valued, seen, and heard. She is calming force and brings order to situations that feel chaotic. Katie is a superstar and I am honored to work with her and without a doubt she deserves this award..."

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Shining Star Award: Jenifer Leigh
Recognizes an impactful employee who consistently performs above and beyond expectations. 

"So very impressive is Jenifer's persistence in the face of obstacles, and her resourcefulness...Her involvement in finding a technological solution for capturing the many nuances of accreditation requirements is seen as a model by the accreditation body, the Accreditation Council on Human Services Education."

"Jenifer has been a consistent and reliable higher performer. Works well under pressure and is flexible."

"Ms. Leigh reaches out to faculty, students, and peers in proactive ways involving them in major projects tapping into their strengths. She works at the highest level of performance and follows through on assignments providing regular updates and information about the status of projects."

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Resilience Award: Esmatullah Amiri
Recognizes an optimistic employee who demonstrates excellence in adapting to change. 

"Es demonstrated excellence in critical thinking to resolve the multiple challenges of this expense report and engaged in positive communication... Throughout the process, Es was very responsive and helpful!"

"I think of him [Esmatullah] when challenges and change comes my way because he faces life with humor and humility. He is an inspiration."

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Rising Star Award: Emma Jane Park
Recognizes an employee with five or fewer years of experience in their field whose accomplishments distinguish them as an emerging leader.

"Emma has consistently demonstrated initiative and sought out opportunities for increased responsibility since her date of hire. Emma served as building manager for PSB for academic year 23-24 and handled things in an efficient, professional way while maintaining timely communications. She joined the COH DEIJ committee and was recently appointed as co-chair for academic year 24-25. Her enthusiasm and commitment to learning is clearly demonstrated in her stewardship of the committee and passion for DEIJ."

"[Emma's] confidence is strong and she undertakes work through an initiative that is a model for us all... She has taken leadership as building manager focusing on improving the well being of faculty, staff and students through multiple and measurable improvements to the facility.... Her deep commitment to learning about and advancing 熊猫在线视频 Native knowledge, language and culture is reflected in her efforts as co-chair of the COH Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Still her commitment to addressing climate change on campus is resulting in conferencing, seminars, colloquia, and special events that address social action to remedy climate change."