Awards

Think. Teach. Do. Awards Applaud Staff Contributions

The staff awards program acknowledges staff achievements, behaviors, and strong work ethics that embody SPH’s core mission and values. The latest recipients of the awards are Axin Hua, Marie Bermudez, Caroline McQuade, Kanisha Mittal, Christine Copacino, Jean-Claude Regis, Amanda Velez, Peyton Veytia, Katie Hoskins, Cathleen Prata, and Emily Sisson.

Twelve School of Public Health staff members were recognized during quarters three and four of 2023 with Think. Teach. Do. Staff Awards.

Modeled after SPH’s core purpose, “Think. Teach. Do. For the health of all,” the awards program acknowledges staff achievements, behaviors, and strong work ethics that embody SPH’s core mission and values. It was developed by the Staff Recognition & Awards Subcommittee, an extension of the Staff Senate, in collaboration with Ira Lazic, associate dean for administration and finance.

The program aims to enhance team morale and staff resilience while rewarding staff excellence at the School, and is designed to stimulate innovation and novel approaches to work-related tasks and projects that benefit individual departments, SPH, or Boston University as a whole. Awards are given to individuals for each of the three categories on a quarterly basis, and both part-time and full-time staff members are eligible.

Think.

The Think. Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated exceptional innovation in research activities, program development, or the creation or implementation of tools and systems that improve processes at SPH.

Axin Hua, web application developer at the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center (BEDAC), received the Think. Award.

When SPH tasked BEDAC with overhauling the web infrastructure for the School’s practicum program, Hua led the charge. Over the course of five months, Hua rebuilt the existing system, updated the architecture and technology to improve performance, and incorporated additional functionality to give users greater control. Without [Hua’s] expertise and enthusiasm, reads his nomination letter, the team would not have met the deadline for the project. Hua has even found the bandwidth to mentor a colleague on how to become an effective web developer themselves.

“[Hua’s] dedication to staying up to date with the latest industry trends and technologies has positioned him as a valuable asset to BEDAC,” writes Hua’s nominator. “[Hua’s] ability to collaborate effectively with team members, meet tight deadlines, and adapt to evolving project requirements has not only impressed me but has contributed significantly to BEDAC’s success.”

Marie Bermudez, research assistant in the Department of Environmental Health, received the Think. Award.

Early in her tenure at SPH, Bermudez went above and beyond to ensure researchers at SPH would benefit from the use of x-ray fluorescence (XRF), a technique for chemical and elemental analysis that uses radiation to identify the composition of metals and other materials. After Bermudez conducted a literature review to better understand the applications of the device, she obtained a useable device for the School and organized a department-wide training on its use. By enabling in-house analysis of samples, the device will not only save previous research resources and advance the work of SPH faculty and doctoral students but will also allow Bermudez and her fellow research staff to further develop their technical skills, writes Bermudez’s nominator.

Caroline McQuade, faculty resources operations associate in the Faculty Advancement and Resources Administration, received the Think. Award.

Described as “smart,” “warm,” “detail-oriented,” and “dedicated” by her nominators, McQuade earned recognition for two significant contributions to faculty resources at the School. First, she played a key role in the redesign of the faculty recruitment process, which transitioned the School from department-based search committees to a centralized recruitment and retention committee. The change, her nominators note, greatly reduced administrative burden. Noteworthy also were McQuade’s personal efforts to ensure candidates had pleasant, professional experiences, resulting in improved yield of top candidates this past spring. McQuade’s second valuable contribution involved the implementation of a new appointments and promotions system, where she skillfully troubleshooted issues while smoothly coordinating the appointment of 23 new faculty. “[McQuade] cares about SPH’s goals, is highly productive, open to feedback, and fun to work with,” reads her glowing nomination letter.

Teach.

The Teach. Award is presented to an individual who has taken ownership of key concerns and needs, acted on opportunities, solved problems, or brought people and resources together to make processes at SPH more efficient and accessible for others.

Kanisha Mittal, statistical programmer II at BEDAC, received the Teach. Award.

Committed both to best practices in data collection and processing as well as mentorship, Mittal excels in her role at BEDAC, writes her nominator. With her skills and persistence, Mittal has repeatedly impressed her project team members. Recently, for example, while serving as an interim project manager on one of BEDAC’s most high profile and complex projects, Mittal made “immeasurable contributions” in her short several months on the job. Her nomination states Mittal has also had a major impact on BEDAC’s overall infrastructure. When a software application produced the same unexpected error across multiple projects, Mittal resolved to find a permanent solution and worked tirelessly, through multiple iterations, to apply advanced programming techniques to fix the bug. Her nominator notes that Mittal persevered far past the point where others may have given up, writing “[Mittal’s] continuous pursuit of solutions to this complex problem is commendable.” And Mittal not only tackles tough programming challenges, as a founding member of the BEDAC Employee Engagement and Support Committee, she strives to improve all aspects the BEDAC staff experience. In concluding, Mittal’s nomination letter asserts that she is a tremendous asset, both to BEDAC and the School.

Christine Copacino, academic program administrator in the Department of Environmental Health, received the Teach. Award.

Copacino, who joined SPH early last year, “promptly positioned herself as a core staff member in our department,” writes her nominator. Thrown into the deep end by starting her position during the hustle and bustle of admissions season and the course scheduling process, Copacino consistently rose to the challenge, swiftly coordinating the logistics of a day for prospective doctoral students to visit campus and deftly scheduling courses around numerous instructor and faculty retirements and transitions. Unfazed, Copacino took on additional tasks as well, including identifying teaching assistants, reviewing enrollment numbers, supporting updates to the doctoral student handbook, and helping to update the department’s website. When it was unclear who take the lead on a task, Copacino often took ownership, following through to ensure the task was completed and, according to her nominator, “making everyone’s lives easier in the process.” Her nomination letter reads, “[Copacino] exemplifies excellence in all that she does, and her persistence, precision, willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty, and overall good nature should be recognized.”

Jean-Claude Regis, senior budget and financial analyst in the Administration and Finance Unit, received the Teach. Award.

Regis, a previous Think.Teach.Do awardee, is a true partner to the Dean’s Office. Staff who frequently interact with Regis share that he is unwaveringly supportive and for that, they are incredibly grateful. “We would be lost without JC,” reads one nomination letter. “He is always patient and kind, and he addresses all of our questions thoroughly. I am not exaggerating when I say that my team says ‘let’s ask JC for help’ daily.”

One nominator recalls how when she was struggling with a particularly thorny reimbursement for expenses incurred during travel to France, Regis spearheaded communication and helped through completion of the process from beginning to end. Reflecting on the experience, she writes, “Jean-Claude is truly someone who puts others and the school before himself, like any immaculate teacher does. I am so thankful to have him as a colleague, a ‘teacher’ of finances.”

Amanda Velez, executive director of strategic education initiatives in the Office of Education, received the Teach. Award.

With the development and launch of the new Online MPH program this past year, Velez has created new opportunities for prospective students where they never existed before. The complicated undertaking was challenging at times and Velez had numerous other educational programs to shepherd simultaneously, but she did it all with grace and professionalism, reads her nomination letter. “The Online MPH would not have launched, nor would it continue to progress, without Amanda’s leadership.”

Do.

The Do. Award is presented to an individual who has created extensive opportunities for others toward community building and making connections through programs, policies, and/or spaces, honoring the experiences of various populations and reflecting the SPH core purpose of sparking social change, fostering a sense of belonging, and building relationships across differences.

Peyton Veytia, grants manager in the Department of Environmental Health, received the Do. Award.

When her department was short-staffed over the summer, Veytia stepped up to cover other’s job responsibilities in addition to her own, earning her great respect from her colleagues and capturing the attention of her nominator, who noted that they have received a variety of emails elaborating the ways in which Peyton was responsive and resourceful during this time. Peyton’s willingness to try new things and take initiative were memorable for multiple members of her department.

Katie Hoskins, assistant director of admissions in the Admissions Office, received the Do. Award.

Following a colleague’s departure from the School, Hoskin volunteered to run weekly review of applicants to the MPH program, the School’s largest application pool, for the Admissions Committee. With at times more than 200 applications to process per week, it was a tremendous undertaking, but Hoskin’s meticulous attention to detail quickly demonstrated she was the well-suited to the job. She smoothly assigned applications to colleagues for review, collated the reviews into a roster for the Committee, took notes on the committee’s decisions, and, ultimately, processed all the admissions decisions and scholarship offers. Concurrently, Hoskin also took it on herself to single-handedly organize and successfully execute a weekend visit for 15 prospective students in the Select Scholar program, resulting in many strong students choosing SPH for their education.

“[Hoskin’s] willingness to step in and up to cover these major processes and events in addition to her existing portfolio of responsibilities is commendable. Her flexibility and forethought to adjust these processes to suit her abilities and bandwidth dramatically streamlined office operations, many of which were legacy based and ‘had always been done that way,’” writes Hoskin’s nominator. “This innovation, while out of necessity, positioned the Admissions Office to adapt our practices for a world both coming out of COVID procedures and the current generation shift from Millennial applicants to Gen Z applicants and be better suited to respond to this challenging market.”

Cathleen Prata, grants manager in the Department of Epidemiology, received the Do. Award.

Prata, also a previous Think.Teach.Do Awardee, was again recognized by her colleagues for her dependability. From grant submission through post-award management, Prata ensures that junior faculty and veteran faculty alike have a smooth experience. Quick to offer her help and mentorship, she has aided both new staff and temporary student employees quickly get up to speed on all things grant management. With the introduction of a new chair for the Department of Epidemiology, Maria Glymour, Prata proved instrumental in transferring Glymour and her team’s numerous grants to BU and training them on BU procedures. Meanwhile, enthusiastic about learning and eager to contribute to innovation, Prata also simultaneously worked on a university pilot for a new grant projection dashboard, known as FRED. “[Prata] is always willing to go that extra mile. These examples are just the tip of [her] willingness to go above and beyond for the department and the school,” reads her nomination letter.

Emily Sisson, director of statistical programming at BEDAC, received the Do. Award.

As BEDAC has grown and expanded over the years, Sisson has steadily ascended the ranks of leadership. First hired as a senior statistical programmer, she progressed to statistical programming manager and then assistant director, before recently assuming her position as director. Her nomination letter, from a colleague and mentee, praises the confidence, competence, and grace of Sisson’s ascent, highlighting Sisson’s dedication to ensuring that staff always feel included, supported, and heard. She holds a vision for a connected, engaged BEDAC that is both optimistic and realistic, reads her nomination letter, holding space for staff to provide feedback on all facets of the center’s culture and structure. In concluding, her nominator exclaims, “Overall, I am amazed that [Sisson] continues to balance everything on her plate, and to do so skillfully.”

To recognize an employee for their outstanding contributions consistent with the Think. Teach. Do. mantra, please submit your online nomination form.