April 24, 2014
LeAnne Wiles, associate director in First Year Programs, named a Distinguished Staff Awardee
LeAnne Wiles, associate director of First Year Programs, is a 2014 Distinguished Staff Awardee!Jacob Christensen
LeAnne Wiles, associate director in , was recently named a ! Four individuals, including Wiles, and one team were awarded the 91探花鈥檚 top honor for its staff.
Nominees for this recognition demonstrate extraordinary service beyond their basic job description and exemplify university values of integrity, diversity, excellence, collaboration, innovation and respect.
The winners will be honored 3:30-4:30 p.m. June 12 at a ceremony in Meany Hall for the campus and general public.
Letters of support for Wiles came from students she supervises and mentors within First Year Programs, her supervisors, and colleagues across campus.
Students highlighted Wiles鈥� encouragement and respect for them saying, 鈥淪he always pushes me to reach my full potential鈥hich sometimes means doing things that aren鈥檛 entirely comfortable, but help me to stretch beyond my 鈥榗omfort zone,鈥欌�� and 鈥淓ven though I鈥檓 only a student staff member, LeAnne always ensures my opinions are valued and heard.鈥�
UAA Vice Provost and Dean Ed Taylor and Assistant Dean Michaelann Jundt shared Wiles鈥� collaborative work within and beyond UAA and the ways that Wiles 鈥渦ses these experiences to educate colleagues and think about the future of our collective work.鈥�
Among other attributes, Grant Kollet, director of First Year Programs and Wiles鈥� immediate supervisor, pointed out her ability to increase her responsibility, improve current operations, manage programs effectively and efficiently, and exemplify a commitment to diversity鈥攏oting in particular the scholarship opportunities Wiles established for parent and family orientation and students participating in the program鈥檚 outdoor adventure trips.
Faculty members supported Wiles nomination as well. Kollet quoted faculty member Scott Freeman who said that Wiles 鈥渃ombines this big-picture vision thing with good old competence, organization, and humor.鈥� Business School lecturer Christina Fong wrote, 鈥淚n all of my experiences working with her, LeAnne has been a dream: competent, pleasant, goal oriented and inspiring. LeAnne possess one of the most important gifts of any administrator: she is able to make all of her hard work look easy and invisible.鈥�
鈥淟eAnne truly leads by example,鈥� said Taylor upon learning of Wiles鈥� award. 鈥淥ur learning communities are tighter and the undergraduate academic experience is stronger because of her work and leadership and Undergraduate Academic Affairs is a better organization because of staff like LeAnne.鈥�
Kim Durand, associate athletic director for student development, in Student-Athlete Academic Services, was also nominated for a Distinguished Staff Award this year. Undergraduate Academic Affairs colleagues who are previous recipients of the Distinguished Staff Award are: Mona Pitre-Collins, director of the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards in 2008 and Jason Boyd, former academic counselor in Undergraduate Advising in 2005. The Distinguished Staff Awards program was established in 1997.