Seven WSU Vancouver staff members have been nominated for the 2017/18 Chancellor’s Award for Staff Excellence. Come to the Welcome and Campus Update at 4 p.m. Aug. 22 in the Dengerink Administration Building, Room 110 to acknowledge the nominees and congratulate the recipient, who will be announced during the program.
Kafiat Beckley is the Cougar Center supervisor. An active member of the WSU Vancouver community, she genuinely cares about this campus, including its students and employees. As one of the first to greet people in the Cougar Center, students and families have complimented how supportive, helpful and welcoming she is. Kafiat is committed to growing inclusive excellence and equity, and is passionate about dismantling housing and food insecurity, both noticeable by her participation and leadership in campus events, initiatives and committees.
Janet Dewitt is secretary senior for the psychology, neuroscience and foreign language departments. The first to greet anyone coming in, Janet is the cheery, friendly, always smiling face of the second floor of the Classroom Building. She’s an integral part of the psychology faculty, often offering assistance before it’s asked of her, while effectively balancing her large workload without complaint. She’s actively engaged in her job, always offers solutions with a quick response, and is a proactive, dedicated, hard worker. She holds genuine concern for the students she helps, is patient and graceful with all, and often arrives before and leaves after the faculty she assists.
Patience McGinnis is the Student Wellness Center Manager. In her role, she is active on campus and is dedicated to students. Patience is a founder and current co-chair of the Accessibility Council. She’s knowledgeable about student accommodations and participates in workshops that offer faculty information regarding student accommodations and accessibility on campus.
April Tovar is the assistant director of student financial services. She is passionate about helping students achieve their educational goals by ensuring they have the information and resources they need to pay for school. One missed step in the financial aid process could cause a student to miss out on more than $10,000 in grant monies, so April is continuously looking for ways to make sure this doesn’t happen. She’s team-oriented, looks at the bigger picture and is willing to step in to help her team when needed.
Steve Tover is a management analyst 3 in Finance and Operations. He is cross-trained in multiple functions, but is primarily a wizard in financial and student data. Steve is described as a quiet leader and a natural resource for a wide variety of requests from all departments not only on the Vancouver campus, but in Tri-Cities and Pullman, too. He’s virtually flawless in his execution of detailed, sophisticated work, is a team player and has a kind demeanor that makes him a joy to work with.
Shawn Welter is an IT systems specialist III in the School of Engineering and Computer Science. In addition to regular maintenance, Shawn is superior at creative, long-term planning and making efficient advancements to the system. He collaborates with VIT on additional campus-wide IT projects, serves on committees, and dedicates a lot of time to graduate and undergraduate student projects.
Sky Wilson is the Student Diversity Center advisor. He serves on multiple committees and councils. He has elevated the Student Diversity Center as a hub for students to seek support and education. Sky empowers students to use their agency. Students describe him as one to encourage critical thinking and question the status quo. In addition to serving as a mentor, advocate and ally, especially to WSU Vancouver’s undocumented student and family populations, Sky has produced a number of events and programs on campus.
