Staff Award Winners, Talent Show Highlight Christmas Luncheon

Hundreds of University employees had the opportunity to applaud and honor the award winners as well as witness the talents of fellow colleagues at the Dec. 23 Holiday Staff Awards Luncheon.

Employees celebrating milestones of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of service were recognized during the event.

In addition, the following 2015 Staff Award winners were announced:

• Madelyn Gibson-Antonich, School of Nursing—The President’s Distinguished Service Award
• Don Maue, Computing and Technology Services—The Consumer Service Award
• Stephen Groves, the Mary Pappert School of Music—The Innovation Award
• A.J. Palumbo Center maintenance team of Bryan Baumbach, Jim Cerda, Joe Cerminara, Jim English, Jeff Hoff, Brian Huber, Tom Hubinsky, Ken Jones, Jim Moran, Jim Motts, Andy Novak, Matt O’Neil, Joe Pollack, Stan Prizner, Mike Riccitelli, Jon Short, Bob Smith and Keith Wunschel—The Teamwork Award.

Gibson-Antonich, the clinical coordinator for the School of Nursing, has many responsibilities for the clinical education of 739 undergraduate and 262 graduate students, including obtaining student clinical placements at health care facilities; serving as a liaison between clinical sites and student preceptors; and initiating and maintaining affiliation agreements with health care facilities and the nursing school. In addition, she made three trips to Bethlehem Haven to deliver donated items in conjunction with the School of Nursing’s Sixth Annual Rita M. McGinley symposium. Gibson-Antonich also organized the collection of books for local children in need, crochets infant blankets for stillborn infants so that they may be presented to their grieving family members in a loving manner and much more.

As director of computing support service in CTS, Maue is steadfast in ensuring his team meets the needs of its clients and works collaboratively with others on campus. In the past year, he organized a tech life event for students at the beginning of the fall semester and worked with the Spiritans to incorporate aspects of living the mission into the event. Maue also—on his own time—created a series of videos for the new Division of Management and Business website that highlight how employees within the division support the University’s mission.

Groves, manager of musical events in the School of Music, created a reserved seating format for the school’s current Schubert on the Bluff and future annual concert series. When general admission and the popularity of the previous series resulted in overflow crowds and safety concerns, Groves researched different options. He then led a team in creating a system that has resulted in sold-out performances for this season’s concerts, with less stress and a more enjoyable experience for audience members. In order to promote smooth functioning of the new reserved ticket system, Groves picks up unsold inventory of the series’ tickets at the A.J. Palumbo Center box office at 10 a.m. on the day of a performance and prepares the box office for opening at 1:30 p.m. He also oversees advance ticket sales and is in charge of booking and supervising the reception after the concert.

Due to restructuring, the A.J. Palumbo Center maintenance staff now oversees the care of all academic buildings on campus in addition to the Power Center, both University garages and the Palumbo Center. Even with these new responsibilities, the team continues to solve problems that arise and improve the facilities of the Palumbo Center. The team proactively offers new ideas for improvements and has saved the University tens of thousands of dollars by doing work that, in the past, has been contracted out. Some of these projects include renovating a meeting room into a theater-style film room for the athletic teams; converting a small locker room into office space; and adding a new entryway into the building off of McCloskey field.

The Holiday Staff Awards Luncheon also featured a special talent show of a number of performances that included singing, tap dancing and Provost Dr. Timothy Austin reprising his role from the 2014 holiday video by again wearing the famous A Christmas Story bunny suit.