Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 5, 1991 TAG: 9104060371
SECTION: FOUNDERS DAY PAGE: VT-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
"If one only considered Lynn's normal work tasks, these alone would be impressive both from the standpoint of the breadth of the activities, as well as the creativity and professionalism that she brings to them. Beyond her normal duties, what is truly distinctive is the fact that she is willing to contribute to the larger campus life through her work with the student organizations," said Dean G. Wayne Clough of the College of Engineering in nominating Lynn Nystrom for the 1991 President's Award for Excellence.
Three student groups benefit from Nystrom's willingness to volunteer her time and expertise. It is natural that in her capacity as news director for the College of Engineering, she would work with the Student Engineers' Forum. But what Nystrom does is much more than offer tips on getting the news out, she is their adviser and willingly fulfills all the obligations that entails. She is also the adviser for the university's student newspaper, The Collegiate Times.
"Since I am not a teaching faculty member, I greatly enjoy being able to interact with students through my advisership to the three groups," said Nystrom.
Nystrom helped found the Engineers' Forum in 1982 and has been the group's adviser ever since. According to Clough, under her guidance the Forum "operates in a self-sufficient mode; it serves as a uniquely creative outlet for our engineering students, producing a high-quality magazine four times a year." Through her work with the Engineers' Forum, Nystrom became the chair of the National Engineering College Magazine Association, a position she held for three years.
With Nystrom as an adviser for more than a decade, the Student Engineers' Council has become a very energetic and active group. Each fall it operates its own Expo, which brings major companies and government agencies to campus for interaction with engineering students. This year 144 organizations came. The Expo, in addition to providing this opportunity for interaction, generates income. The income, at Nystrom's suggestion, helps support other student engineering groups, which receive awards based on merit.
The Collegiate Times may owe its existence to Nystrom. In 1977 when she first became the paper's adviser, the publication operated at a deficit or break-even point despite university subsidies. Today, with a budget of more than $300,000, it is self-sufficient and nationally recognized as a superior student newspaper.
Nystrom has won several national awards from the National Federation of Press Women and one from CASE for her work in promoting the College of Engineering.
Nystrom says she could not have accomplished so much without the administrative support she has received. "The support first of Dean Paul Torgersen and now of Dean Wayne Clough have allowed me to win this award. They have provided me with a number of opportunities and given me great freedom in my work at the university."
In addition to her everyday duties as news director for the college, Nystrom has also initiated and organized several one-time programs.
In 1980-81, she organized the Professional Women's Lecture Series which brought to campus eight nationally prominent women. In 1983, she hosted New Horizons in Science and Briefings, which brought 75 science and technology journalists from major publications to campus. In 1988, she brought Arthur Fisher, science editor of Popular Science magazine to campus where, among other obligations, he addressed two engineering classes a day for one week on the art of science communication.
The sheer volume boggles the mind. The Virginia Cooperative Extension Distribution Center stores more than 5 million copies of publications and receives nearly 2 million each year. Last year the center distributed nearly 2.5 million copies of publications and bulletins, 200,000 soil-sample cartons, 231,000 copies of 42 different newsletters and 96 special items involving more than 14,000 copies for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
That is a volume any publishing house or catalog distribution center would envy. But that isn't all Joseph M. Gray, a 1991 President's Award for Excellence recipient, must oversee. As head of the distribution canter, Gray sees that the staff materials ordered from Central Stores by field offices are packed and shipped out, all campus-generated penalty mail is metered and delivered to the post office, and all correspondence and materials are boxed and shipped to field offices.
And then there is the inventory. The center stores, keeps track of and distributes surplus equipment, Extension exhibits and special materials in addition to the publications and bulletins. In the past two years, Extension has made a concentrated effort to eliminate out-of-date material and reduce overstocked items. Gray oversaw the removal of 168 publications from the inventory and the discarding of 135,000 individual copies.
If all this sounds like a model operation, it is. As James F. Johnson, director of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, said in praising Gray's performance, "If Colton was correct when he wrote, `Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,' then Gray and his staff should feel they are the ultimate in publication storage and delivery. They have been visited by Extension representatives from Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas to see how they perform their day-to-day operations. The Virginia way has become way of handling publications in most of these states."
You don't develop a model system like this overnight. Gray has been heading the Extension Division Center for 23 years. He supervised the Distribution Center's move from it's cramped quarters in Hutcheson Hall to its present location on Landsdowne Street in downtown Blacksburg.
Gray says, "I feel I am very fortunate to be in a position of providing service to others as well as having excellent and quality people under my supervision. I am very appreciative to those who feel this award is justified and very honored to have been considered. My thanks to all concerned."
"It would be difficult to find an Extension employee who is more loyal, more dedicated, and who has the betterment of the organization more at heart," adds Johnson.
It's only 7:30 a.m. and the first pot of coffee is already brewed in 112 Burress Hall. According to Vice President for Student Affairs Tom Goodale, that is not unusual but an everyday occurrence thanks to Nora "Esther" S. Barker of the housekeeping staff, a recipient of the 1991 President's Award for Excellence.
"It's great - it feels great," says Barker of the award.
Barker has been on the Virginia Tech staff for 33 years, 14 with the laundry and the past 19 on the Burress Hall housekeeping staff. Anyone who has occasion to visit the first or third floors of Burress Hall cannot help but be impressed with their immaculate condition, a result of the care and pride Barker and her co-workers take in their work.
As Lou Ann Phipps, executive secretary in the personnel and administrative services office explains, "Burress Hall requires extra care with its many guests and important visitors and all the special events held here. Often the custodial staff must come in very early - sometimes at 4 a.m. - and work weekends to prepare for these events and guests. I have never heard her complain, even when faced with an increasingly heavy work load due to personnel cutbacks."
Goodale adds, "During the day she will pick up scrap paper, she will dust, she will clean far beyond that which is expected. Often she will make suggestions of how we can be of assistance to her."
Phipps agrees, saying, "Esther is always willing to help, even if it creates extra work for herself or is not something that is necessarily part of her job. She often comes by just to see if things are okay, or to ask if there is anything she can do."
Barker makes life more pleasant for everyone who has business in Burress Hall. Student, parent, staffer or university president, Barker has a smile and a kind word for all of them, according to Phipps.
"I like people and I like to reach out to other people if I can help. It's my university, too. I want to do my part for it. So when parents come, they say `I want my son or daughter to come here,' " Barker says.
"In over 30 years experience at six universities, I have never worked with a person in a position such as hers who takes more pride in their work than Esther," says Goodale. "Offices are occupied by people, and Esther recognizes that and cares for the facilities as if they were her own home . . . Perhaps, however, Esther's cheery and bright outlook makes everyone around her just feel good. A long-time employee of this university, she has given totally of herself - unselfishly. She is fiercely loyal and commited to excellence in all that she does," he notes.
Since its founding in 1872 as a land-grant school, Virginia Tech has had as one of its missions improving agriculture for Virginia and the rest of the nation. For the past 35 years, Allen M. Price, agricultural manager in the Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Services, has been instrumental in the fulfillment of that mission.
In nominating Price for the President's Award for Excellence, Carl A. Griffey, an assistant professor in crop and soil environmental sciences says, "Price has devoted more than 35 years of his life to the advancement of agriculture and the betterment of mankind. His contributions have not been made as a casual observer, but, rather, as a dynamic and integral participant."
Thomas M. Starling, the W.G. Wysor Professor of Agriculture emeritus, adds his praise for Price: "From 1955 through 1988, it was my good fortune to have Mr. Price work for me . . . Mr. Price has worked diligently, efficiently and effectively for 35 years and throughout this period has shown a dedication, determination and enthusiasm that far surpassed reasonable expectations. He always searched for better and more efficient ways of doing things and accepted new approaches."
For most of his career Price has worked with the small-grains breeding project in the agronomy department.
"To conduct this project, it was necessary to annually grow plants in the greenhouse for use in making from 100 to 200 crosses; to package seed for 10,000 to 20,000 plots; to develop planting plans and plant from 10,000 to 15,000 plots; take notes on each plot for several traits; and harvest, process and weigh the grain from 2,000 to 5,000 of these plots," says Starling.
After a few years with the project, Price assumed responsibility for many aspects of the research, including the training and supervision of hourly employees and graduate students.
During Starling's one-year term as associate dean of the graduate school and the 20 months he was interim head of the Department of Agronomy, Price assumed the responsibilities of project leader.
At the end of 1988 when Starling retired, Price again served as project leader until the postition was permanently filled. Price stepped again when Curtis W. Roane retired from the Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science.
Starling adds, "Price currently serves as the primary leader of the Barley Breeding Project . . . The program has been retained largely due to his willingness to take on this additional endeavor. Practical experience is of utmost importance in plant breeding and genetics education. Price works with graduate students on research projects, and instills in them the basic knowledge, skills, and expertise needed to conduct scientifically sound research."
Betty Y. Greene's title, according to the personnel office, may be program support technician senior, but to everyone else she is the Associate Dean L.A. Swiger's secretary. And with her dedication to that position she is a reminder of just how important a good secretary is to any organization.
In nominating Greene for the President's Award for Excellence, Swiger, associate dean for research in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, says, Betty Greene epitomizes the very best qualities of our support staff. "A decided strength is her ability to communicate upwards, downwards and sideways. Everyone is equally important to Betty: students, field hands, faculty, custodians, university administrators; each is made to feel important."
Greene, on hearing that she is a President's Award recipient, said, "This is the nicest professional compliment I have received since coming to work at Virginia Tech in 1968. There are so many deserving people that I can only say that I feel very honored to have received the award."
Greene's attitude toward her job, her hard work, her willingness to pitch in and her high spirits are contagious and uplift everyone in the college, according to Swiger.
Beyond this, he said, "She conveys a willingness to help and a friendliness that make both visitors and telephone callers feel good because their concerns are met, rather than steered to another office. One day a young lady, a student, came in crying because she had missed the transit bus. When Betty learned that she was missing a doctor's appointment, she took her in her own car."
Swiger says Greene has taken on the additional duties of handling the personnel records for the college's nearly 900 employees, including the responsibility for computer reports and summaries of the personnel base. He adds that he has come to appreciate her even more as the college adjusts to personnel reductions. "Betty provided a cool head and contributed significantly to the deliberations, he notes.
by CNB