Around Campus
Index:
- Environmental Education Pavilion honors Golden- Less energy earns Harris big reward
- Customer service lessons offered at forum
- UNF faculty awards announced
Environmental Education Pavilion honors Golden
For nearly 20 years, John Golden, with his ever-present ball cap, white T-shirt, blue shorts and inquisitive demeanor, was the University’s chief nature trail ranger. The nature trails were his office, and the critters that inhabited the wildlife preserve his friends.
If ever a man was an ideal fit for a job, it was Golden. Even his name conjures up images of sunlight and leaves in late fall. In 2003 Golden died of lung cancer. The University recently honored its longest-serving nature trails ranger in an altogether fitting way: by naming a building devoted to nature in his honor.
The John M. Golden Environmental Education Pavilion is a 1,000-square-foot octagonal-shaped building constructed from rough-wood timbers. It’s not far from the entrance to the nature trails, Golden’s old stomping grounds.
The $258,000 facility will be the site for environmental-education programs, outdoor adventure clinics and will serve as home base for the University’s summer Osprey Eco Camp. The peaceful, serene pavilion features several birdhouses and feeders.
“John’s dream was to see an outdoor environmental pavilion where students, faculty and staff could gather to enjoy the serenity and heightened awareness the nature preserves brings,” said Everett Malcolm, associate vice president for Student Affairs. “John used his home garage to create the original set of interpretive signs [for the nature trails] at UNF. John honestly put an enormous supply of sweat equity into the nature preserves and considered it an honor to so.”
Golden came to UNF from Seattle in the fall of 1984 and served as a volunteer on the nature trials. A month later he was hired to be the nature trails ranger by Becky Purser, who is now the director of Campus Recreation.
“John would feel very humbled by the pavilion being named in his honor,” Purser said. “He was a person that did not want or seek special recognition, but he would be thrilled that the new rangers, who are teaching some of his original programs, have a comfortable and dry place to teach the students when the weather is bad. The pavilion will be used as he would wish for the environmental education programs he developed and designed for K-12 students and our own UNF students.”
Dorreen Daly knew Golden perhaps better than anyone did at UNF. Daly, a coordinator, Division of Student Affairs Public Relations, met Golden not long after he came to UNF. They soon became fast friends. It was Daly who wrote a biography of Golden to go into the program for a memorial service on campus after his death.
"The pavilion concept was something that all who loved and respected John believed could help assure the sustainability of his work,” Daly said. “This facility is a sculptural work of art. It nestles into the woods in a very respectful way."
Daly remembered the cement-block garage at Golden’s house where he worked on nature trail projects, tinkering and sawing while listening to public radio. She also recalled Golden telling her about going to a nature preserve in New York as a child and bringing home animals, which he washed in the sink of his parent’s basement and then cared for.
“He walked the walk, talked the talk and lived what he believed,” Daly said. “His drive came from within.”
Golden received the Mayor’s Individual Award for Environmental Protection during his time at UNF. He was also the recipient of an Environmental Protection Agency Wild Neighborhoods Grant, which made it possible for 850 low-income children to take part in ranger-guided environmental programs at UNF and Talbot Island State Park.
Funding for the John M. Golden Environmental Education Pavilion came from several sources, including Campus Recreation and Student Government. Private donations were used to equip the pavilion. State matching funds boosted those funds to a total of $32,000.
The Golden Pavilion will be available for use by University departments, student clubs and organizations in the fall. Fees, policies and procedures are currently being established.
Less energy earns Harris big reward
A man who was instrumental in saving the University an estimated $500,000 in energy costs has some advice for his fellow employees during these tight-money, bite-the-bullet days.
“The only advice for other UNF employees during these tough financial times would be to separate the wants from the needs when making operational decisions that have cost implications,” said Wallace Harris, associate director of Physical Facilities and winner of an Outstanding Achievement Award in the winter 2007 Excellence Awards Program. “I would also advise departments to look at all facets of the operation for improvement and overall efficiency.”
Which is exactly what Harris did after coming to UNF nine years ago and breathing life into a tired central energy plant, which had been prone to breakdowns. Harris set about creating a central-plant renovation plan that his supervisor, Physical Facilities Director Matthew Taylor, called “second to none.” The hot water and chilled water plant for campus heating and cooling were completely revamped.
The multi-year plan included upgrading the campus chillers and cooling towers, which provide chilled water from the central plant to air-conditioning coils throughout campus buildings. The capacity of the water chillers was also increased. Eighty percent of all campus motors greater than 15 horsepower were either replaced through attrition or retrofitted with high efficiency motors. Many of these motors are used to power air-handlers, pumping systems and cooling towers.
Harris, who earned a master’s degree in public administration from UNF in 2007, implemented a building automation system, making it possible to track utility data and utility problems more easily through the use of a computer program. He and the Physical Facilities staff are in the process of installing more-efficient campus lighting that uses less watts and provides more illumination.
The end result of the completed upgrades and energy-saving measures was a 7 percent reduction in energy costs for the University from 2001-2006. The estimated monetary savings is $500,000, Harris said.
“All the efforts Wallace has placed in the energy management processes of Physical Facilities have a significant impact on energy on the campus,” Taylor wrote in his letter nominating Harris for the Outstanding Achievement Award. “He has been dedicated to ensuring that the University has the most energy-efficient system since initiating the plant renovation plan.”
Harris sees the energy savings as a team effort. “I can’t take all the credit for it. Without the [UNF] directors agreeing this needed to be done, it couldn’t have happened,” Harris said.
He has similar feelings about the Outstanding Achievement Award. “This was a department endeavor, and I am thoroughly honored as well as appreciative of the recognition that the award brought not just to me, but the department efforts as a whole.”
Harris received $800 with the Outstanding Achievement Award, which is presented to an employee for sustained, long-term achievements that result in significant benefit to the University.
To nominate someone for the Outstanding Achievement Award, download the appropriate form from the Excellence Awards Web page, complete the form, gather the required signature and submit the packet to Vivian Senior, chair of the Recognition and Reward Committee, by the published deadline. The Web page address for the Excellence award program is http://www.unf.edu/unfinfo/awards/. Self-nomination is not accepted for this award.
Customer service lessons offered at forum
Nothing sends more shivers down the spine of any service employee than the words: "This guy at the front desk is mad about something, and I can’t seem to calm him down. Can you talk to him?"
At the recent Professional Development Forum in the University Center, presenter Susan Ridge offered some tips on turning those potential hostile, teeth-gritting confrontations into opportunities for creating a satisfied customer.
Ridge, who has 16 years of experience conducting workshops focusing on verbal and written communication, taught a 90-minute session titled Providing Exceptional Service to Angry or Difficult Customers. Ridge has master’s degrees in English and counseling from UNF.
Early in her presentation, Ridge cited a sobering statistic on customer service. “The average person might tell two or three people about a good experience, but will tell 10 or 12 about a bad experience,” Ridge said.
The following are four steps Ridge talked about for turning customer complaints into compliments.
- Acknowledge the complaint and respond with empathy and/or an apology.
- Clarify understanding of the problem by paraphrasing or asking questions.
- Provide helpful information and, if necessary, collaborate on a solution.
- Check for understanding and agreement on actions to be taken.
Susan Gregg, an educational programming assistant at the Disability Resource Center, said she attended the session because the clients she works with are under a lot of stress and she needed to learn how to help alleviate their stress.
"Ms. Ridge’s session reinforced much of what I already knew about providing helpful customer service, but she provided several useful suggestions," Gregg said. "I found her suggestions for turning complaints into compliments to be helpful. Ms. Ridge did a good job of reminding us that we all expect good customer service when we’re away from UNF, and it is our responsibility to reach that level of expectation with the customers we meet every day on the job."
This was the fourth Professional Development Forum. Sponsored by the Center for Professional Development and Training, the forum featured 10 workshop sessions on topics which included, in addition to Ridge’s presentation, Mastering Creative Problem Solving Techniques, Effective Workplace Communication and How to Stay Happy and Healthy in a Stressful World. In addition, the University’s Excellence Award winners were honored during a luncheon at the forum.
UNF faculty awards announced
The following UNF faculty members recently were selected to receive the 2007-08 Faculty Awards.
Dr. Pamela S. Chally, dean of the Brooks College of Health and professor of nursing, received the Distinguished Professor Award, which is presented annually to a faculty member who has a balanced record of distinction at UNF and in all three areas of teaching, scholarship and service. The award includes a $5,000 honorarium, a commemorative plaque, the listing of the recipient’s name on a permanent University plaque, and an invitation to deliver the Fall Academic Convocation address.
Biology professor Dr. Gregory A. Ahearn in the College of Arts and Sciences was the runner-up for the award.
The Outstanding Faculty Scholarship Award was presented to Dr. William F. Klostermeyer, a professor in the College of Computing, Engineering and Construction’s School of Computing, and Dr. Jeffrey E. Michelman, an associate professor of accounting and finance in the Coggin College of Business. This award recognizes faculty members who perform meritoriously in scholarship, and includes a $2,000 honorarium and a commemorative plaque.
This year’s Outstanding Faculty Service Award winners are Dr. Candice C. Carter, an associate professor of childhood education in College of Education and Human Services, and Dr. J. Patrick Plumlee, an associate professor of political science and public administration in COAS. The award recognizes faculty members who perform meritoriously in service to the University, the community, and their profession, with a special emphasis on service to the University. Two Outstanding Faculty Service Awards are awarded each year. The award includes a $2,000 honorarium and a commemorative plaque.
The Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award was presented to Dr. Lynne Carroll, COEHS professor of Leadership, Counseling & Instructional Technology, and Dr. Christine Rasche, associate professor of criminology and criminal justice in COAS. This award, which recognizes excellence in graduate teaching during the previous two academic years, comes with a stipend of $2,000.
Nine Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Awards in the amount of $2,000 each were also presented to faculty who performed meritoriously in undergraduate teaching. Those recognized for this award include: Dr. Faiz B. Al-Rubaee (COAS, Mathematics & Statistics); Dr. Peter Scott Brown (COAS, Art & Design); Dr. Dale Casamatta Jr. (COAS, Biology); Dr. Matthew R. Gilg (COAS, Biology); Dr. Karen B. Patterson (COEHS, Exceptional Student & Deaf Education); Dr. Ping Sa (COAS, Mathematics & Statistics); Dr. Dong-Yuan Wang (COAS, Psychology); Dr. Christine L. Weber (COEHS, Childhood Education); and Dr. Sharon T. Wilburn (BCH, Public Health).
The awards are funded through unrestricted gifts to the UNF Foundation and Academic Affairs.