July Spirit of Excellence recipients recognized

Daffney Pierce, AU Libraries, Coordinator

"One of Daffny's student employees sent her an email thanking her for giving him the opportunity to work in the admin office and, based on his education and required work experience, referring him to the I&RC to be part of the 3D design printing and augmented reality team. He visited us in person and said he got a two-year paid internship based on the experience he gained here at the library's I&RC, which gave him a unique and competent skill set. He said he owes his entire career opportunities to Daffny for being an amazing supervisor."

Willie Trimble, Campus Services/Floor Maintenance, Floor Technician

"Willie has worked as a contractor, and the university eventually hired him. He is a lead floor tech who has worked in assigned areas and on numerous special projects. He has worked on several projects for the university president's residence. He has received high praise from departments, staff, and even students. One student emailed to praise 'Mr. Willie' for his encouraging words that helped her during a low point in school. Willie speaks to everyone and helps others without hesitation. He is very compassionate about the students, staff, employees and the entire Auburn community.

"Going above and beyond, Willie works all home games during football season and his normal 40-hour work week for cleaning and floor work, but he has also worked additional weekends throughout the year to complete floor work when areas were unoccupied. This workload has been sustained for more than five years."

Allison Stadler, Academic Support, Coordinator

"For two years, Allison volunteered on the SACSCOC on-site visit committee, which just concluded its work with a successful visit in spring 2023. Allison played a major role in the on-campus review regarding the logistics required to ensure the review group was able to successfully navigate their review and have a high-quality experience with an impression of Auburn. Her work over those years included logistics related to hospitality, meeting spaces, agenda creation, travel (on and off campus), accommodations, technology, budgeting and vendor relations. She also developed a 45-page branded informational schedule and packet to assist in guiding the visit experience. Her work was critical to the success of the spring 2023 on-campus visit by SACSCOC. She and the committee have been acknowledged by the provost and the president for their excellent work representing Auburn to outside visitors. She continued to collaborate with that committee, where they recently facilitated a pre-conference workshop at the 2023 SACSCOC Annual Meeting. Due to the high quality of her contributions to that committee, she was asked to serve as a volunteer on the committee to plan the 2024 Auburn campus-wide Elevated Education Exchange. The 2024 Elevated Education Exchange event was outstanding and was noted as such by all, including the keynote speaker. Her inclination for excellence, even in areas not required by her job, is worthy of recognition."

Jonah Lasley, AU Libraries, Specialist

"Toward the end of the day on Friday, April 14, I requested Jonah's assistance for a complex project involving preparing a large video for the Digital Wall. The project required collaboration with the Department of Art & Art History's visiting scholar, Kofi Bazzell-Smith, who was preparing for a gallery opening utilizing the Digital Wall space the following Monday evening. Jonah used Adobe video software skills that he had experience with, while I had little. He stayed until the last minute to ensure we could prepare the video to display full screen on the Digital Wall. The final product still needed some edits to be completed by Kofi and sent to Jonah on Monday to adjust the video format for the final display. I was going to be in Birmingham on Monday and couldn't attend to the project or the opening. After some trials, Jonah finalized the video display parameters to ensure a full-screen display on the Digital Wall. The opening was quite successful, and the artist was very pleased with the final product. The work is still in rotation on the display loop, so viewers can continue to see it on the Digital Wall. I think Jonah's time and skills with Adobe video software were invaluable in meeting this goal. We were down to the last 24 hours to complete this task. Jonah's willingness and ability to create a solution for this event in my physical absence and his dedication to his work demonstrate his commitment to the mission of the I&RC and the libraries."