Washington State University will honor three of its staff members with 2004 WSU President’s Employee Excellence Awards during a March 26 reception and awards presentation.
The winners are Maxine Andrews, assistant to the dean, College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences; Robert Hubner, photographer for WSU Photo Services; and Robert Force, WSU Extension, Learning Center coordinator, Jefferson County.
The three will receive their awards at a new university event, “Celebrating Excellence: An Evening Honoring Our Faculty and Staff” (see related article below).
Andrews joined CAHNRS (formerly the College of Agriculture and Home Economics) in 1962 when it was the College of Agriculture. Since then, she has served in three different positions, including secretary for the Department of Forestry and Range Management (currently Department of Natural Resource Sciences), and senior secretary for Cooperative Extension. She became assistant to the dean in 1981, and has served four deans and four interim deans.
“She is the epitome of excellence in doing the job and doing it with the utmost professionalism, grace and pride,” said R. James Cook, dean of CAHNRS.
Hubner, a WSU photographer for 19 years, has been central to the creation of a positive image of WSU as a world-class university. His photography has recorded the day-to-day history of WSU, its people, research, instruction and outreach, as well as the spirit of campus life and athletic events.
His high-quality photographs have made WSU competitive with other regional and national institutions through his images on recruiting materials and those found on the pages of Washington State Magazine, the university’s alumni publication.
“He never settles for ‘okay, it will have to do’ photographs, as could be expected, even justified, for a photographer as much in demand as he is,” one nominator said.
Force, a WSU employee for seven years, is widely praised for his creative style and is said to be the dean of coordinators. He has built his reputation on his prompt and courteous service to students, county government officials, legislators and university colleagues.
Since he has been coordinator, a higher percentage of county residents has gone on to higher education, especially in the WSU Distance Degree Program. One student credits him with literally saving her life by providing access to the education she needed to become self-sufficient after years in an abusive relationship.
“Robert is the ‘real thing,’ a staff person who is always professional, very caring about the people with whom he works and serves, and he always goes the extra mile,” said one nominator.
The employee awards program began in 1989. A committee reviews nomination material and checks references before it recommends the nominees to the president
