By Tamara Keith, Public Affairs
Posted February 17, 1999

Michael Henry, Sue Whitmore and Teresa Smith share the Lab Mechanicians Team award in the Department of Art Practice. Jane Scherr photo.

Recipients of the 1997-98 Distinguished Service Team Awards and their sponsors were honored Tuesday, Feb. 16, at a Faculty Club reception.

The teams were recognized for successful achievement of a project, initiative or milestone supporting unit or department goals and Berkeley's Administrative Vision, Principles and Values.

The $600,000 in the award fund covered cash awards for the top 49 teams, with each member receiving $2,000 and a certificate of acknowledgment.

The vice chancellors individually reviewed the 60 nominations, ranked the teams and together selected those to be honored based on their individual rankings.

The seven highest rated teams are, in alphabetical order:

"A Guide for Balancing Work and Family": This team produced a resource book on staff and faculty policies, benefits, flexible work arrangements and child and elder care options for campus employees.

Team sponsor Steve Lustig, executive director of University Health Services, said the guide represents "an unprecedented partnership between faculty and staff employees for the benefit of the entire campus community, both in the development of material for the guide and in the creation of the document itself."

Domestic Partnership: The UC Board of Regents' on Nov. 21, 1997 approved domestic partners benefits for staff and faculty systemwide -- in large part because of the efforts of this Berkeley team. The group provided the Office of the President with research, analysis and arguments to support the new policy. It also garnered dozens of faculty letters to the regents, thousands of signed postcards, and extensive faculty and staff testimony at Regents' meetings leading up to the vote.

"The team worked hard for the entire UC System, not just Berkeley," said Professor Jane Mauldon, chair of the Campus Advisory Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns. "Its work affects the lives not just of lesbian/gay staff but also employees with dependent adults in their families.

FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Proposal: These staffers developed and submitted grant applications to the new Hazard Mitigation Grant Program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Because grant applications were prioritized on a first-come, first-served basis, the team had to quickly assemble a large amount of technical expertise and information.

"The results of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program proposals to FEMA have been remarkable," said Vice Provost Nicholas Jewel. "FEMA approved all four applications submitted by Berkeley, for a total of $42 million in grants, exceeding even the team's most ambitious expectations."

Lab Mechanicians: These staffers in the Department of Art Practice set up a program making a clean-up day part of painting students' end-of-semester requirements.

"They solved the problem [of end-of-semester mess] by addressing the issue from a pedagogical and community perspective," said Art Practice Professor Anne Healy. "Clean-up will never be the same."

Launching the SAFER Program: After 27 percent of campus buildings received a seismic rating of poor or very poor, the Chancellor called for creation of a campus program addressing seismic safety. The team prepared for a press conference and produced a written report announcing the 10-point Seismic Action Plan for Facilities Enhancement and Renewal (SAFER).

"A complex body of information had to be quickly summarized in a way that was accurate, comprehensive and still meaningful to a wide audience," said Vice Provost Nicholas Jewell. "The members of the team, from four different units, clearly demonstrated collaborative leadership in working together to provide the Chancellor with the SAFER Report."

Scalable Funding Models for Network Computing: The team prepared a complex report on the current status of the campus computer network, to help determine the operating cost and develop alternative scalable funding models.

"The team exemplified both dedication and persistence in seeing a difficult project through to its successful conclusion," said Vice Chancellor James Hyatt.

Yield Video: On short notice, this team was asked to create and distribute a video to encourage underrepresented, first-generation college students admitted for fall '98 to select Berkeley. Right on schedule, 1,175 videocassettes were mailed out April 7 to admitted applicants, along with personalized letters from Chancellor Berdahl.

"The group had only about eight weeks to interview current students, faculty and the Chancellor, do all the technical work on the video, and then get the message in the mail to students and high schools all over the state," said Vice Chancellor Genaro Padilla. "No one said 'but what about...' or 'we can't because....' They quite simply did the kind of exemplary work we recognize in the team awards."

Distinguished Service Team Awards

Top Seven Teams (in alphabetical order):

A Guide for Balancing Work and Family

Yvonne DeVaughn, Dawn Finch, Meg Garstang, Norma Grimm, Christine Hansel, Carol Hoffman, Kathleen Hyland, Patti Owen, Susan Propst, Kathleen Satz, Emma Scruggs, Margo Wesley, Margy Wilkinson, Alison Gopnik, Judy Gruber, Susana Hinojosa, Lorraine Midanik, Andrew Scharlach

Domestic Partners

Jon Bain, Debi Fidler, Rondi Gilbert, Jessea Greenman, Susan Hagstrom, Pat Hull, Arthur Mahoney, Jane Mauldon, Charlotte Rubens, Janet Villanueva, John Winters

FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Proposal

Judy Chess, Jeff Gee, Tom Koster, Jennifer Lawrence, Tom Lollini, Len Materman, Christine Shaff, Barbara Wezelman

Lab Mechanicians

Michael Henry, Teresa Smith, Sue Whitmore

Launching the SAFER Program

Marie Felde, Jeff Gee, Tom Koster, Jesus Mena, Bob Sanders, Carol Tady

Scalable Funding Models for Network Computing

Angela Blackstone, Yau Man Chan, Vicki Fall, Peggy Flens, Clifford Frost, Karen Gibbons, Timothy Heidinger, Richard Henderson, John McCredie, Susan McKeehan, Jill Moak, Barbara Wezelman, Ann Jeffrey

Yield Video

Maryellen Himell, Thomas Hutcheson, Elizabeth Halimah, Roberto Rivera, Velvia Yvette Gullatt, Katherine Fernandez, John Ollila

February 17 - 23, 1999 (Volume 27, Number 23)
Copyright 1999, The Regents of the University of California.
Produced and maintained by the Office of Public Affairs at UC Berkeley.
Comments? E-mail berkeleyan@pa.urel.berkeley.edu.