Staff is recognized for landmarks of service to university

On Wednesday, March 30 in the A&S Auditorium over 60 faculty and staff members were recognized for their years of service.

Although most of the honorees were just reaching the 10 and 15 year mile-markers, there were four honorees reaching the 25 and 30 year mile-markers.

Peggy Wood, early childhood and middle grades administrative secretary, was honored for 30 years of service and received a plaque engraved with her name and department from the university.

“It feels nice to be honored for being here for so long,” Wood said. “It’s been a wonderful time and I work with a lot of good people. It went by very fast, but it’s been a good 30 years.”

Wood watched the college go through many changes in the last 30 years, with the most memorable one for her being the changes in the education program.

“We went from regular education classes to the cohort program,” Wood said. “It has been a very positive change and I am glad that I was here to be a part of it.”

Nancy Bacon, the international admissions secretary, was honored for 25 years of service. She received a small clock with the university logo as a token of appreciation for her service.

“The time has gone by fast,” Bacon said. “I am on my fourth university president now and I have seen many changes in the focus of the college, the major one being the shift to being a public liberal arts university.”

Bacon feels that the shift of the university has overall been a positive one, although she said there is a downside to it as well.

“I regret that we are not able to fulfill our moral obligation to Central Georgia students because of the liberal arts focus,” Bacon said. “The college was originally designed to appeal to Central Georgia students, but many of those students are now forced to look elsewhere if they are not looking to be liberal arts majors.”

For Bacon, the ceremony was a great time to see so many of the faculty and staff that she normally does not get to see around campus.

“My schedule keeps me in my office and classroom, so the ceremony was a great opportunity to see some of my colleagues and be able to congratulate them on reaching a milestone,” Bacon said.

Bacon said she anticipates she will stay at GC&SU through the end of the calendar year and she then hopes to spend more time with her husband and to do some traveling.

“Maybe once I leave I will have time to teach my English husband how to say ‘aluminum’ correctly,” Bacon said.

David Groseclose, assistant vice-president for business and finance, was awarded a GC&SU engraved desk set pen and paper holder for his 20 years of service.

“It makes me feel pretty good to be honored,” Groseclose said. “It has been very enjoyable for the most part.”

Groseclose was a student at GC&SU before beginning his work at the university.

“I can’t believe that I have been here as long as I have,” Groseclose said. “I have watched the college go through a lot of growth. When I started here there were only about 2,000 students.”

Dr. Sally Hendry, with the Department of Information Systems, Communication, and Marketing, received an engraved business card holder for her 15 years of service.

“It’s nice to be recognized and it has been interesting to watch the college change over the past 15 years,” Hendry said. “We have a higher quality of students now and they have much higher expecta-

tions than they used to.”

Charles Wayne Brooks, with public safety, was one of the 10 years of service honor recipients. He received a key chain and service pin.

Brooks said he has enjoyed his time working in public safety, but loves nothing more than the role he gets to play as chaplain for his department.

“Working through the chaplain program is my high point,” Brooks said. “I enjoy being there for students during rough times and times of need.”

Brooks said he plans to stay for as long as the students and faculty are willing to put up with him.

“I came here with no plans to stay, but I found a home when I got here,” Brooks said. “It is one of the best places I have ever been affiliated with.”

The Service Recognition Ceremony is an annual event that is a collaborative effort between the President’s Office and the Human Resources Department. President Leland opened the ceremony with a short greeting and then turned it over to Director of Human Resources Diane Kirkwood. There to congratulate the honorees were Dr. Beth Rushing, Harry Keim, Dr. Michael Gass, Dr. Bruce Harshbarger and Amy Nitsche.

Honorees said they felt that the ceremony was a positive event and were very pleased with the recognition received for reaching a mile marker.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 8 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry