Molly Gottfried, a university services associate 2 for the College of Nursing (CON), has been named the recipient of the STAR Award for November 2009. She has served the University since 2007.

Suzanne Marnocha, the College of Nursing’s traditional undergraduate program director, and Rosemary Smith, the college’s dean, nominated her. Their nomination letters follow.

Marnocha wrote:

“Molly is a valuable employee who has the capacity to work in many different areas. She is flexible and intelligent and, frankly, I fear losing her. She is in a position that is pivotal to smooth workings of our undergraduate curricula. I would like to retain her for an extended time.

“Since financial remuneration is limited, I feel recognizing excellence is very important. I tell her frequently she is valuable, but I believe this award is extremely important. Anyone would be honored to receive the STAR award!

“Molly has stepped into a very complex and difficult position as my assistant in the undergraduate office. All undergraduate student and faculty questions go directly to Molly. She has organized and developed new ways to solve old problems.

“She is a team player and works well with her colleagues both within the office and the wider community. She has stepped up to the plate to generate useful scheduling calendars for the entire CON and suggested ways to better communicate about room schedules.

“Molly is very intelligent and offers ideas to assist me when I need to make difficult choices. She assists with communication with agencies as I seek clinical sites for our students. For example, when I need to change clinical venues and move students, she makes thoughtful suggestions indicating she has a clear view of the entire undergraduate program and our student needs.

“She is honest, creative and fun to work with! She is certainly a STAR in my world.”

Smith wrote:

“Molly brings a maturity and depth of critical thinking to her role in the College of Nursing’s Traditional BSN program office. She continues to streamline processes and procedures in ways that save time and increase organization. Molly is willing to put in extra time to see project through to completion. She reflects pride in her work and can verbalize that the reason why we all work for UW Oshkosh is prominently ‘students.’ Her student-centered values and respect contribute to improved morale with CON undergraduate students.

“Examples of outcomes due to her efforts:

• Improving the registration process for clinical courses.
• Creation and maintenance of a CON ‘master calendar’ of recurring meetings.
• Procedures that assure that scholarship information is widely distributed and applications reviewed in a timely way.

“In summary, Molly Gottfried is a valued member of the CON classified staff. She is dependable, creative and reflects the values of customer-centered communication. Her willingness to go beyond her job description and responsibilities should earn her the recognition of the STAR Award.”

Winners of the STAR Award receive a framed certificate, a reserved parking space for one month and a gift from University Books & More. The award for exceptional performance is presented each month to a member of the classified staff who has worked at least six months at UW Oshkosh.

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