Award and Nomination Information

The 2023 UCSC Staff Excellence Awards Ceremony was held on Oct. 6, 2023 at The Hilton Inverness in Englewood, CO. Nominations began on Aug. 1 and closed on Sept. 6. Any CU employee may nominate a colleague for this award, which recognizes staff members who have gone above and beyond their job duties and have surpassed expectations. 

You can view the CU Connections article about the 2023 Staff Excellence Award Event at this link 

  • Eligibility: All members of staff, including classified and university staff across the four campuses and at the system offices, may be nominated for this prestigious award. There is an execption for staff who have been awarded within the last 3 years, they are not eligible to be awarded this year.
  • Award details: Two winners from each campus will be chosen, totaling 10 winners. Each winner will receive a $250 award presented by a member of each campus’ leadership team at the UCSC Staff Excellence Awards Ceremony.
  • Award ceremony: All awards are presented in person at the Staff Excellence Awards Ceremony.

2023 Recipients

Staff Excellence Awardees 2023

Awardees and Presenters

Awardees and Presenters from L-R: Kenny Nelson, Kara Bajdas, Carlos Garcia, Tawnya Boulier, Kenny Sisco, Kristina Mendez, Chrissie Bailey, teri engelke, Lisa Testaverde, Ali Faraz, Jennifer Thurston, Ilana Dubin Spiegel, Lesley Smith, Terri Carrothers, Felicity O'Herron, Frank McNulty

Kenny Sisco

Kenny is the IT Director in the College of Engineering, Design and Computing; Interim IT Director in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at CU Denver.

Tawnya Boulier

Tawnya is the Assistant Director for Strategic People Operations in the Human Resources Department at CU Denver.

 

Kristina Mendez

Kristina is the Learning Design Manager for the Financial Services & Solutions Team in the Office of the Controller in the System Administration Office. 

Faraz Ali

Faraz is the Lead Cloud Applications Engineer on the Integrations Platform Team in the University Information System Administration Office.

Bree Orozco

Bree is the Assistant Director of Advising at the Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder.

Kara Bajdas
Kara Bajdas

Kara is the Geological Sciences Graduate Program Administrator at CU Boulder.

Kristina Coggins

Kristina is the Director of Chancellor and University Events in the Chancellors Office at UCCS.

Chrissie Bailey

Chrissie is the Assistant Director of Wellness Promotion on Recreation and Wellness Team at UCCS.

Jennifer Thurston

Jennifer is the Academic Services Program Director for the Modern Human Anatomy Program in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology on the CU Anschutz Campus.

Lisa Testaverde

Lisa is the Associate Director of Research Administration for the LEAD Center (Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes) on the CU Anschutz Campus.