On January 17, 2019, five Marymount University employees were honored with “Saints Making a Difference” awards during a ceremony at the Main House. The awards were sponsored by the Marymount University Staff Council.
The nominations and awardees are as follows:
COMMON GROUND VALUES – Jen Crystle
Since coming to Marymount, Jen Crystle has worked diligently, embodying our university’s common values. Through workshops for faculty and staff, she strives to increase intellectual curiosity, asking how we as a university can define global learning and extend this outside of just the CGE’s work. She pushes our students to be more responsible and to take chances on different opportunities abroad that will help them become not only better students, but better people. She dedicates time to the Strategic Planning theme groups and took on the challenge of teaching a First Year Class focused on the global perspective. Jen strives to foster intellectual curiosity, hand-in-hand with the global perspective and that is why she would be a perfect candidate for this award.
OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP – Jennifer Webb
Jennifer Webb has proven over and over again to be a great leader. Communication is key when it comes to our office, and she always does her best to make sure everyone is included in the communication. We’ve had quite a bit of staff change over the past few months, so great leadership is needed now more than ever. Instead of falling to pieces, she brings us together to solve any issues we face. They say the difference in stepping stones and stumbling blocks is how you use them. She always looks for a way to bring our team up. Quite a few decisions in our office are made as a team, and that is because of her. Not every office or team lets you have a say in how things are done. It makes us feel more comfortable approaching her with difficulties we may be facing as we know she is there to support us. I know she’s fairly new to this role, but her experience and openness has really been key in making this office successful.
STUDENT EXPERIENCE COMMITMENT – Mary Galvan
Mary Galvan could have been nominated for a number of these categories. Her commitment to the Veterans, not only on campus, but throughout the community is admirable. She continually goes out of her way to plan and execute a multitude of volunteer opportunities for our student body, i.e., Valentines for veterans living in Veterans homes, packages for deployed troops, letters for deployed troops, Wreaths Across America, etc. She is committed to providing students with the “student-centered” experience that encapsulates Marymount’s identity, mission and vision by promoting the culture of service to others while working tirelessly to ensure that student success is at the forefront of her personal mission. Her humble and quiet commitment to not only our internal Veteran student body, but to Marymount and our community Veterans as a whole is not only worthy of recognition, but inspiring and admirable.
TEAMWORK AND COLLABORATION – Ana David
Ana David is a person at Marymount you know you can count on to help you. She strives to work with others and to help other offices with their needs even when it is outside of her requirements. She has gone out of her way to participate in focus groups, to attend different sessions around campus, and to be a support and resource for people around the university. She collaborated with our office to bring the Ambassador to Macedonia which was a unique and important opportunity for the university. When you work with Ana, you know things will be done carefully, thoroughly, and in cooperation which makes her an amazing person to work with.
GOING THE EXTRA MILE – Sarah Martin
Sarah Martin is an Area Coordinator in the Office of Campus and Residential Services
(OCRS) at Marymount University. During this past year, Sarah has truly gone the extra mile through many staff transitions in OCRS. From January to June 2018, Sarah stepped up to serve as Interim Assistant Director of Residence Education. Her willingness to take on the extra responsibilities while keeping her current responsibilities was inspiring and highly regarded in our OCRS family. After Sarah returned to the Area Coordinator position full time, her position shifted to overseeing all residential buildings, instead of half of them. This change required an increase in time and effort on Sarah’s part including overseeing the full RA staff and three part-time professional staff members. She handled it with utmost grace, perseverance and strength while still keeping residents’ needs as her first priority. Sarah is a quiet leader, and is often found working late nights in her office to ensure that each task is completed with care. Her trustworthiness in the department make her one of our most reliable assets. Sarah’s precision, attention detail, and effective organization skills allows residents to be able
to rely on her to resolve any problems they may have with ease. She delegates with care, and is knowledgeable of our policies, procedures, and processes within the department. She communicates and builds relationships with other departments with whom OCRS works, all while maintaining a profound sense of professionalism. Whenever a staff member needs a listening ear, Sarah drops whatever she’s working on to take time to listen, encourage, and support her supervisees. She nurtures us and builds us up to make sure we are a well-oiled machine throughout the semester, even when the days are long and the nights are short. OCRS would not be the same without Sarah, and we value her talents in her position as well as her presence with each person who walks into her office.
Pictured, from left to right: Dr. Irma Becerra, president of Marymount University, Jen Crystle, Mary Galvan, Sarah Martin, Diana Talbert, and Ana David.
