University News
WIU HR Service Award Winners
May 9, 2022
MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – The Western Illinois University Office of Human Resources has announced the University's 2022 Distinguished Service and Community Service award winners. In addition, over 500 employees were recognized for years of service (from 2020, 2021 and 2022).
Employees recognized for years of service can be found at bit.ly/38dPa6I.
John Smith, director of Beu Health Center, and Amelia (Amy) Hodges, office manager for the Office of the Provost and Academic Vice President, received the Administrative and Civil Service Recognition and Service Awards, respectively, while Matthew Clark, of University Technology, received the
Community Service Award.
The Administrative Recognition and Service Award honors one administrator for unusual and significant contributions to his/her profession, organizational unit or other areas within the University and is a reflection of one or more of WIU's core values of Academic Excellence, Educational Opportunity, Personal Growth and Social Responsibility. The Community Service Award recognizes exemplary volunteerism and/or outstanding service to any non-profit community organization and is a reflection of one or more of WIU's core values.
Smith was nominated for the award for the work he did related to COVID mitigation.
"John has overseen the COVID testing operations for the WIU-Macomb campus for the past year, while also serving as the director of Beu. During all of this, John maintained operations at Beu to ensure our students remained healthy and able to succeed in the classroom," his nominator wrote. "Fulfilling these obligations often mean working 60 hours per week and sometimes even more during the peak of the outbreak. Most days he was the first to arrive and the last to leave, ensuring his staff had the support they needed.
"John exemplifies the qualities we should look for in a leader. He is willing to make tough decisions and take the responsibility for those decisions, while remaining a strong advocate for his staff," his nominator added. "He does no ask any of his staff to give more than he is willing to give himself and is the first to give credit to those working for him."
Hodges was nominated for the award for her overall job performance and innovative ideas that have led to more efficient operations.
"Amy has served as the office manager in the Office of the Provost for nearly five years. She has numerous responsibilities that require her to work both collaboratively and independently, which she does with the greatest of ease. Amy's performance in fulfilling so many duties and responsibilities is nothing short of tremendous," her nominator wrote. "She is well-organized and prepared for any and all deadlines, and she achieves all of this with a cheerful and welcoming demeanor.
"On occasions too numerous to count, I've witnessed Amy help people who were angry or upset get to a much calmer place because of her diplomacy and compassion," her nominator added. "Her caring attitude never wavers and she creates a wonderful work environment for visitors and office staff. In addition to her positive attitude, her technology skills has made the office more efficient, such as implementing a new electronic-based evaluation system for tenure/retention/promotion reviews. During the pandemic, she created this system so we could continue to move forward despite COVID-related restrictions. This is just one shining example of her consistent willingness to go well beyond the requirements of her position."
Clark has previously worked as a reserve deputy for the McDonough County Sheriff's Office, where he assisted with such activities as the Bushnell Fall Festival, Macomb Heritage Days and the Colchester Labor Day Celebration. He also previously served as a member of the Macomb School Board. Clark is a part-time police officer for the City of Colchester, serves as an ordinance office and teaches motorcycle safety classes in Macomb and Galesburg. In addition, Clark is active in his local church.
For more information, visit wiu.edu/vpas/human_resources/.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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