UMUC Grants Three Presidential Awards

By Alita Byrd
Special to FYI Online

Three outstanding UMUC employees received the prestigious 2003 Presidential Award—the University’s top employee award—at a special ceremony October 8, 2003. Barbara DeCoste in Adelphi, William H. Williams in Asia, and Ruby Kelly-King in Europe were all recognized for their “extraordinary accomplishment and performance” in their work for UMUC.

The recipients were nominated by colleagues and the nominations reviewed by a committee of UMUC employees. The final recommendations were sent to UMUC President Gerald Heeger, who presented the awards. In addition to the public recognition, each honoree received $5,000 in prize money.

UMUC President Gerald Heeger with Barbara DeCoste

“I felt very honored that I had been chosen for the award,” said DeCoste. “I have always been very proud to say that I work at UMUC. . . . I enjoy all of my co-workers and my bosses are the greatest. . . . But the thing I like most about my job is our students.”

DeCoste, who works as a coordinator in registrations for Student Affairs, was nominated by three of her colleagues because of her “exemplary performance and distinctive contributions to UMUC through active and consistent involvement . . . that shows a commitment to UMUC as a whole.”

DeCoste’s unit is responsible for manually processing all incoming mail, fax, and Web registrations within 24 hours.

“Barbara is the backbone behind our slick front-end Web registration,” wrote one colleague, in a letter supporting DeCoste’s nomination. “She and her staff, who manage the behind-the-scenes process, make UMUC’s Web registration look as though it is fully interactive.”

DeCoste, who has spent 16 years working for UMUC, said she’d never received an award like this before, and was grateful for it on several levels. She used the award money to put a new roof on her house.

Gerald Heeger and Ruby Kelly-King

Kelly-King, director of Student Affairs in Europe, was nominated by five of her colleagues for her “many accomplishments . . . demonstrating exemplary performance and distinctive contributions.” Most significantly, Kelly-King has held several key positions simultaneously in the last several years “with no interruption in service to employees or students,” working as registrar, PeopleSoft representative, and director of Student Affairs all at the same time. According to the Presidential Award committee, she is “highly respected by her staff and colleagues, not only for her outstanding performance, but for her caring and calm demeanor.” She has been with UMUC for 27 years.

“It seems that I have been with UMUC my whole life,” said Kelly-King. “UMUC is my family. I have so many close friends and colleagues in Europe, Asia, and Maryland, and the best part of all my jobs at UMUC has been watching people grow—students and staff members alike—and feeling that I have had some small part in that growth.”

Kelly-King said that she plans to use the prize money to grow the scholarship she established in her mother’s name in 1998. “This award will go toward completing the scholarship funds and will make the monies available to students much sooner than I had expected,” she said.

Gerald Heeger with William H. Williams

Williams, academic advisor for Student Affairs for UMUC–Asia, was nominated by three of his colleagues because of his “extraordinary achievement on a project of significant and direct importance to the University.” When Korean national students were informed in 2001 that they could no longer attend UMUC classes, Williams spearheaded a campaign to make it possible for Koreans to complete their UMUC degrees. He ensured compliance with all the necessary rules, personally guided Korean students through their curriculum, and developed strong working relationships with relevant Korean officials. Williams has spent 13 years working for UMUC.

Of the three recipients, only DeCoste was able to attend the October 8 awards ceremony. Originally scheduled for mid-September, the ceremony coincided with the arrival of Hurricane Isabel and had to be postponed. Williams had already flown in from Asia, so he was presented with the award in a private ceremony in the president’s office.

Hurricanes notwithstanding, DeCoste, Williams, and Kelly-King are certainly three outstanding examples among the hundreds of talented and dedicated UMUC employees around the globe.