Staff Excellence Awards - 2004
Thomas Cooper, Erica Wilcher

Each of the 2004 Excellence Award recipients received two nominations each, and both have previously been nominated. The winners were announced at the Staff Appreciation Day lunch recently and will be honored at Commencment 2005 next May.

THOMAS COOPER

Thomas Cooper is recognized for his excellence in working with students and faculty. His originality and creativity has included the creation of the Blended Program brochure, one of the key elements in recruiting students to the program.

He also developed a one-page handout describing the two majors in the upper division program, using photos of Hutchins students. Thomas worked to compile, format and send the SB2042 standards documentation to the CCTC for the pre-credential programs, an incredible 900-page document!

He has excellent leadership skills and is a valuable team player, which includes effective collaborations with the School of Education and outreach with local high schools and community colleges. He does a professional job of representing the Hutchins program at events, as well as for the students whom he advises.

Thomas provides a significant contribution within the Hutchins Program in the "impressive amount of time that Thomas has devoted to meeting with our students," which includes 311 student meetings over a 6 month period. He has taken a particularly strong role in advising the pre-credential students, and in tracking and managing both current and newly admitted students. This is a testament to the value and importance of Thomas' roles in the Hutchins program.

Thomas has a "special touch" in relationships with the faculty, which has included his arrangement of group trips to baseball games at the Oakland Coliseum, which has "done wonders for faculty morale." He is also an involved member of the SSU community as a union steward for APC and serves on the Academic Advising Subcommittee.

ERICA WILCHER

Erica Wilcher is recognized for her ingenuity, resourcefulness and leadership. She consistently strives to contribute "highly ingenious and valuable suggestions for improving work." She completely revamped the school's course scheduling process, obtaining support from all 14 department chairs.

The new process has been hailed as the "best ever instituted in the over 20 years" the school has been in operation. She is the webmaster for the School's Web site, serves on the SSU Web Team, and developed a Web page with resources to directly assist the school constituents.

Erica leads by example, modeling exceptional performance.Her leadership and solid reputation earned her the selection by all five Schools as their representative on the Provost's Academic Affairs Strategic Planning Committee. She was also selected for the Academic Administrative Staff Workload Committee, where she was nominated as chair. She readily volunteers when help is needed, and does not place limits on the scope of her position.

Erica is an innovative thinker, and when she saw a need for a tool to provide administrative staff with a reliable source of information, she researched the issues, drew up an outline, and began the process of developing a top-quality on-line manual for all aspects of the School's administrative process. She is praised as an inclusive team player who knows how to inspire her co-workers on campus and has earned the respect and trust of others through her uncompromising integrity and openness.