Not All Heroes Wear Capes Series – Round 1
Campus is full of people who have played an integral role in keeping the College running during the pandemic. Some may be more behind-the-scenes and some may be out and about on campus heading from task to task to just get the job done.
Last week, we asked you to nominate someone who has made an impact on campus during the pandemic. And you delivered. For the remaining weeks of the semester, College News Highlights will recognize and thank your nominees for their positivity and passion.
Jim Grant, Hannah Olearnick, Mike Katz, and Amber Rice
Athletic Training Staff
When they are not going from field to court for any number of intercollegiate athletics competitions, Jim Grant, Hannah Olearnick, Mike Katz, and Amber Rice are raising their hands to help somewhere else on campus. All four have been a staple at the COVID-19 Testing Center all semester long. In addition, they have been central to ensuring that the NCAA testing requirement for student-athletes has been fulfilled, tracking weekly testing for 700 student-athletes and over 70 athletics employees so Fisher could participate in intercollegiate athletics. They could also be seen testing officials, umpires, and bus drivers for the department. All told, this group has worked tireless hours performing normal job responsibilities along with these other duties.
Eileen Lynd-Balta
Associate Provost and Chair, Spring COVID-19 Advisory Team
Dr. Eileen Lynd-Balta is a regular go-to on campus, and requests for her expertise and efficiency have only increased during the pandemic. She was co-chair of the Teaching and Learning Planning Group of the Campus Reopening Task Force, reimagining the way in which the College could deliver the in-person experience to students last fall. And this spring, she has chaired the Spring COVID-19 Advisory Team, leading daily meetings and discussions around the current campus impact of COVID, policies, and monitoring county, state, and national statistics. In addition, she has been a consistent face on Zoom for Campus Conversations not only for employees but for students and families. She is credited with being “able to bring order and sense to so much of the COVID mystery in an understandable and calm way. She follows the science and doesn’t panic.”
Stephanie Williams
Assistant to the President
and
Meg Flaherty
Title IX Director
COVID-19 Testing Center Co-Supervisors
You don’t see Stephanie Williams and Meg Flaherty without the other too much these days, and you most often find them at the College’s walk-through and drive-through testing locations. Fully masked, and sometimes in full PPE, they have been crucial to the success of the testing efforts this spring. They were tasked with the logistics of the Center, educating themselves on the testing process and protocols, working with OIT on the technology pieces, and overseeing the staffing schedule as well as staff recruitment. Some days, they are also registering students and processing tests. A duo of all trades? Grace, positivity, and patience were all words used to describe them and their work all semester long.
Tony Garcia
Fisher Dining, Cyber Café
Fisher Dining gifts campus with an abundance of smiling faces, and Tony Garcia is among them. As far as campus frontlines go, Fisher Dining employees were certainly front and center and Garcia was no exception. His nominator said “his daily positivity and passion for his job is amazing. He is always in the best mood and makes me happier in the mornings.”
Who is your campus COVID hero? Nominate someone today and you might read about them in next week’s College News Highlights!