Our Award-Winning Staff

As a member of our Business Office, Debbie is a outstandingly conscientious caretaker of our physical resources and facility. Always results-oriented, she takes many initiatives to save Graduate Division money, time, and aggravation wherever possible, and through her always cheerful, patient, and collaborative approach, she fosters well-being, safety, and teamwork. We appreciate you, Debbie!

Last semester Maria continued to hold down her old job duties while stepping up to manage the Fellowships Office as its new Supervisor. While ensuring that several crucial project deadlines were met, Maria learned a new job, trained three new employees, guided the new Director of Graduate Services during the reorganization, and worked collaboratively with staff across several units. Maria, we are grateful for your many contributions.

Literally, none of us could be here without knowing our Human Resources Analyst! In recent months in particular, Sandy has helped Graduate Division through many staffing transitions – including hiring more than a dozen new employee and the reorganization of three units – by balancing “kindness and sympathy with professionalism and sound reasoning… endless energy… and wise counsel.” She has “gone the extra mile” to provide “constant support to the staff… gracefully and with unparalleled enthusiasm.” We are all very grateful to have Sandy in our midst.

Patrick is yet another essential member of the Communications & Events office. As Graduate Division’s web developer and programmer, in this past year he has executed no less than three very major projects – while on only a half-time schedule as a new father! Patrick led the team that redesigned Graduate Division’s entire website, making it far more user-friendly, accessible, useful and attractive. He also revamped the Graduate Council Lectures website with multimedia pages and historical archives. As if that weren’t enough, Patrick was called upon by Deans Mason and Szeri to build the highly informative campus website for our NRC Assessment that was a critical priority of the entire university. Dean Mason knows personally how generous Patrick is in being an exceptional team player and in sharing his knowledge and skills, even with neophyte learners. Patrick, we are all in your debt!

Erin is essential to the Admission Office team. Since joining the unit, her colleagues have known her always to show initiative and leadership qualities – but recently she has been gone beyond to become instrumental in training, advising, and guiding quite a number of new staff, especially in the complexities of international evaluations. In her very conscientious yet modest manner, Erin has managed her own workload while pro-actively taking on new responsibilities to successfully integrate her new colleagues into the office’s work. Thank you, Erin!

Although Linda is ensconced in the inner reaches of the GSI Teaching & Resource Center in her role there as Senior Publications Coordinator, thanks to her efforts, everyone can know where they are in the Graduate Division! Her voluntarism in creating the new signage for the Division and, in fact, for the rest of Sproul Hall “can serve as a model for us all” in demonstrating a spirit of collaboration and commitment to the collective benefit. This project went well beyond Linda’s normal responsibilities and testifies to her “unwavering commitment to go beyond the call of duty in making sure a job is done to perfection” – with artistry and excellence. We are very appreciative of your efforts, Linda.

For those who may not know, Bob oversees our Appointments area. In addition to his regular hours and while short-staffed in his unit, Bob devoted countless hours to the reorganization and move that affected 23 people in 8 offices. He developed detailed, scaled layouts of the entire 3rd floor floor-plan – and took the initiative to present and illustrate myriad alternatives, with very quick turn-around times. Without his truly devoted and inspired efforts, the success of this project would not have been possible. Thank you very much, Bob.

Vivian is a core member of the GSI Teaching & Resource Center, dividing her time between Sproul and Dwinelle. In the last year, her usual quiet reliability and professionalism were exemplified by extraordinary contributions to the Language Proficiency Program. Not only did she step up to assume duties not normally hers due to a staffing gap, but she handled two very delicate and challenging situations involving students with impressive skill, patience, thoroughness, and empathy. With a spirit of willing collegiality, Vivian demonstrated outstanding problem solving skills and commitment to the students we service. Vivian, we thank you!

Gina’s colleagues consider her to be invaluable to the Fellowships Office team. Not only does she administer her programs independently and with exceptional performance, gaining high praise from students and staff alike – but since the merging of student service units in Graduate Division, she has volunteered to supervise all of the work-study students in the new merged office – hiring and training them, organizing their schedules and assignments – all done in an outstanding manner on top of her other duties. Gina, you are appreciated!

Ariana is the Student Assistant in the Fellowships unit of our Student Services Office, having previously assisted the Graduate Diversity Program. During the Fellowship Competition this year – always a stressful and pressured process – she demonstrated a remarkable sense of responsibility and commitment above and beyond the normal call of duty. Her colleagues praise her as resourceful, efficient, dependable, and an exemplary team player. Thank you, Ariana!

As most of you know, Jane is the front-desk assistant in the Dean’s Office. We wish to recognize Jane for the collaborative spirit and tremendous initiative she showed while the Dean’s Office was critically understaffed last fall. She managed the overwhelming e-mail accounts of all the Deans and took on additional work responsibilities with great enthusiasm. Thank you, Jane!

A member of the team supporting the Dean’s Office, Rondi went above and beyond the call of duty this spring in handling the new Sarlo Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards. She coordinated complex arrangements for the nominations, reviews, ceremony logistics, and most crucially, ensured clear communications among the Graduate Council, Graduate Assembly, and Graduate Division – showing in vivid relief her customary initiative and keen problem-solving abilities. We appreciate you, Rondi!

As another member of our Business Office, Elaina is an extraordinary steward of critical business processes and procedures that safeguard and serve Division and campus policy objectives. Elaina trains Graduate Division staff in effective and proper ways of managing travel and handling expense billings and reimbursements, and in so doing, she fosters clarity, efficiency, and teamwork. Thank you, Elaina!

Usually toiling behind the scenes in the Dean’s Office institutional research unit, Andrew has taken on “Herculean” labors for the Graduate Division and the entire campus by taming several of the most critical features of the gargantuan gorilla currently in our midst: the NRC Assessment of Research Doctorate Programs. Andrew has applied his keen intelligence, technical prowess, and tactful interface with dozens of professors in the service of capturing and checking data essential to the UC Berkeley’s presentation of the outstanding qualifications and productivity of our faculty in more than 60 of our graduate programs. Andrew, we are in your debt!

Kirsten oversees key aspects of our Business Office — but, above and beyond this, she too played a key role in the 3rd floor move as the Project Coordinator. While working efficiently and productively, Kirsten continually exhibited “great care, concern, and patience” to staff throughout the challenges of the move. Kirsten went the extra mile and “always kept her cool” during the most difficult moments. In the same period, Kirsten assumed responsibility for the management of our Graduate Student Lounge in Stephens Hall, coordinating facility and student staffing and helping to elaborate and implement policy, which has resulted in tremendous improvements in these operations. For all this, we thank you, Kirsten.

An indispensable member of the Communications & Event unit, Arnold is well-known among us for his artistic eye and hand that produces graphics of the highest quality. Arnold creates invitations, programs, signage, brochures and magazines that brilliantly represent the visual face of the Graduate Division to the campus and beyond. But what may be less well known are the many ways in which Arnold goes the extra mile to anticipate needs, to do the leg work to research on-the-ground logistics, and to be on site whenever needed — even if it is a Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m. – as he did for this year’s Graduate Student Diversity Visit Day. As his nominator wrote, “Everything Arnold touches is beautiful.” Arnold, we appreciate you!