Employee Recognition

2024 Employee Shout-Outs

• December
  • Spencer Clark, Physical Plant: Perry Hall was struggling to keep up with the recent change to winter weather and Spencer spent nearly 2 days in Perry working on our climate control system. By the time Spencer left, Perry Hall was back on track to keep us all toasty warm! Huge thanks and much appreciation to Spencer for working on the issue until it was resolved!
  • Champ Support Team, IT: A big thanks to several members of the Champ Support team for repairing the Joyce 205 projector on December 2, 2024.
  • Rebecca Cole, IS: Being an instrumental part of the admit release for our Early Decision applicants!!!
• November
  • Pam Crowley, Registrar: I sent Pam student registration requests over the weekend, fully expecting a response on Monday. Pam responded on Saturday resolving all requests sent! Thanks for going above and beyond for our students!
  • Tami Patnode, Office of Financial Aid: Tami is an extraordinary colleague. She steps up help others often. She has so much knowledge and is always willing to learn something new. Not to mention, she is just a brilliant human being in general. Tami, I (and I’m sure others too) owe you a ton of chocolate for all you’ve helped me with!
  • Jennifer Gingras-Green (Public Safety), Ed Schlak (Mailroom), and the rest of the student mailroom team, Public Safety and Mailroom: For their assistance in tracking down a missing package.
  • David Boyle, Elaine O’Reilly, Robin Bissett, Steve Wehmeyer, Leah Miller, Ashley Taylor, Leandre Waldo, Cory Davis: For their generosity in volunteering their time and culinary talents to the 17th Annual Chili Cook-Off. They made it possible for the Library to continue this long-running tradition of gathering the Champlain community to enjoy each other’s company and sample so many delicious chilis!
  • Steve Wehmeyer and Leah Miller: These two knocked it out of the park for the 17th Annual Chili Cook-Off taking home the Judge’s Choice prize (Steve) and the People’s Choice prize (Leah). Congratulations and thanks for bringing your chili A-game!
  • Lisa Mazzariello, Anthony Rivers, and Ethan Garhartt: For offering up their superior palettes to judge the Chili Cook-Off this year. Their careful sampling of all chilis entered into the cook-off and thoughtful deliberations are a critical element of the cook-off and couldn’t be done without them.
  • Ginger Pressey and Sue Ragusa, Information Systems: There is SO MUCH that goes on behind the scenes to support teaching and learning at Champlain that you would just not believe it. Two people who make teaching possible by managing our Canvas LMS are Ginger Pressey and Sue Ragusa. Ginger ably (and in addition to her regular full-time job) stepped in to keep Canvas humming smoothly into the fall semester, following this past summer’s personnel transitions. Sue, who is brand new to Champlain, is already managing with panache the inevitabilities of technology-goes-haywire. When you see them (on Zoom or IRL) give them a (virtual or real) high five!
  • Juliana Burch, Rachel Sayward, Jordan Weeden, Housing and Residential Life: Thank you to Area Coordinators Juliana, Rachel and Jordan for going above and beyond to support residential students. Your care, concern and compassion for all of our residential students is amazing. Thanks for all you do outside of the normal work day!
• October
  • Kelsey O’Connor, Housing & Residential Life: Steadfast dedication to student support, crisis management, and a cool, caring, and compassionate member of Student Affairs. Thanks for all you do!
  • Sodexo Team: Huge shout-out to our Sodexo partners who put so much time and care into what they do for our students and campus guests! From working around the clock to offering creative input for events (and accommodating unique requests when they can), they go above and beyond for our campus community every day. Thank you, Sodexo!!!
  • Nathan Brooks, Physical Plant: Nathan did a great job quickly and effectively solving a fairly complicated lock-and-key issue for my office! He’s truly been a pleasure to work with.
  • Jason Cone, Master Electrician/ Physical Plant: Jason Cone very much deserves a shout-out! He’s been a great help to the Miller Information Commons, keeping our facilities well-lit and sufficiently powered. Even more impressive, he completes this important work with energizing positivity. Thanks for all you do Jason!
  • Wylie Garcia, Art Gallery/ Institutional Advancement: Wylie (along with many others) did an amazing job on the 20th Anniversary Game Studio gallery installation even when having to stay home sick a few days. She rallied the community who continued the work in preparation for Champlain Weekend. I’ve heard numerous comments on who “cool” the installation is. Thank you Wylie.
• September
  • Ryan Gillen and John Ware, ITS, Leahy Center, & IS: Thanks so much for all of the work getting Freeman 105 up and running in time for the first day of class! It was a long journey for a lot of folks but the two of you really kicked it in for the last mile.
  • Joan Moya, Marketing, CCO: Thank you for your determination and innovative thinking as we collaborate to craft Champlain College Online’s brand story, engaging both prospective and current students. It’s a pleasure working with you.
  • Meghan Broughton, Office of the Registrar: Meghan was extremely helpful with schedule changes. She is very detail oriented, patient, and responsive. Truly a pleasure to work with!
  • Jen Perlee, IS: The number 42 means a great deal to many, and now it means even more to me. Thank you for your collaborative spirit and steadfast commitment to the students of Champlain College.
  • Hannah Puryear, People Center: Hannah, you’re a *Rock Star*! Thank you for your continued help/support with all things Oracle and time cards/submissions!
  • Wylie Garcia, Office of Institutional Advancement: Wylie was able to secure a free pass for a group livestream for the Game Devs of Color conference, allowing our students, faculty, and staff to attend this important industry event in a collaborative environment.
  • Molly Bove, ITS: For taking time out of her vacation to deal with a surprise lock change.
  • Jean-Marie Severance, SSI: For her assistance with the surprise lock change.
  • Public Safety and Lock Shop: For their help with the surprise lock change.
  • Nick Pierce, Library: Nick Pierce has done an amazing job of onboarding and learning the position of Access Services Manager, during the busiest season for this particular role. In addition to learning this new role, Nick has weathered the onslaught of hiring and training new student and part-time employees to make sure our Access Services team is functioning at its peak. He has done all of this with a smile and good humor. Nick is a fantastic addition to the Library Team!!
• August
  • Zach Harrison, Housing and Residential Life: Congratulations and thank you to Zach Harrison, Associate Director of Housing Operations, for all his work in making housing assignments for all of our new students! Students learned of their Fall 24 housing assignments on August 1. They now know where they are going to live and who they will be living with! Because of Zach’s hard work and careful attention to detail, students are excited and energized about living on campus. Thank you Zach!
  • The Marketing Team: Thank you for all of your hard work keeping students & families engaged! You rock 🙂
  • Colette Penniello, CCO: Some of you may know her and some may not. Colette is a rockstar and works tirelessly to help bring in new CCO students. She puts a great deal of thought into her work and strives for excellence. Champlain truly is a great place with her here. Keep up the amazing work Colette. You truly are awesome.
  • Cullen Bostock, IT: A big Thank you to Cullen for helping the eLearning Production team correct in our Fall, soon-to-be-live, courses and all Parent courses an update that Canvas pushed out that did not work as Canvas planned. Cullen’s masterful ability to understand our needs and write a script that corrected the Canvas courses was a huge time saver and anxiety-buster for us. Thank you Cullen.
  • Hannah Rounds, Marketing: To the MIGHTY Hannah Rounds who has been quietly toiling away recreating all of the emails for trad undergraduate enrollment–bringing a lot of technical sophistication to the work with dynamic content taking full advantage of the powerful tools we use. Hannah, the work you do is so important, and there’s so much of it, and we just want to thank you for your consistent diligence in getting it right.
• July
  • Caroline Toy, Ginger Pressey, and Susannah Eriksson, CLT, Information Systems, and ITS: For their prompt help resolving an urgent Canvas issue!
  • Nathaniel Orvis & Jay Rivera, Compass Student Services: Nate and Jay have been absolute ROCK STARS conducting over 160 New Student Appointments will members of the incoming class over the last two months. They make our new students feel so welcome and supported!
• June
  • Mark Pierce, CCO: Seeing Mark brightens my day – He is always a friendly face and a great presence to be around, and I’m lucky to get to work with him! Mark inspires me with his know-how and ability to approach challenging situations from an operational and determined angle. I’m glad to have Mark as a coworker and friend. Thank you Mark!
  • Joan Moya, CCO Marketing: Welcome to Champlain! We are so delighted to have you on the team. Your contributions will help us succeed, grow, and reach our goals.
  • Molly Pepper, Financial Aid: Thank you for your due diligence and willingness without hesitation, in taking care of our student population & their families – past, present & future! Your knowledge & experience, patience and availability goes beyond extraordinaire! You rock!
  • Sarah Wilson, Ben, and the rest of the library staff, Miller Information Commons: For spending nearly an hour working to solve the Curious Case of the Phantom Printer.
  • J J, Champ Support: For his assistance with the Curious Case of the Phantom Printer, including finding the printer and confirming that it was not printing.
  • Christine Koogle, Student Engagement: Christine works really hard on making fun happen at Champlain. Through their role as Program Coordinator they have the skills and the resources to make things happen but they don’t stop there. From their collaboration with the WGC this past year and their work on the Staff Networking Committee they are always willing to pitch in and bring things together in an organized and fun way. We are lucky to have them at Champlain!
• May
  • Sean Callanan, Media Services: Huge thanks to Sean for his tech support at Staff Council Meetings this year! No matter what unexpected things happen, Sean swoops in with the solution and keeps the show running smoothly!
  • The Staff Council Executive Committee: Kelsey O’Connor, Cory Davis, Ptarmigan Abbott, Emily Rudolph, Kyra Yu, Anthony Rivers, Melina del Castillo, Kevin Duerr, Alex Martin, Carrie Honeman, and Leslie Van Wagner: Thank you to all of you for stepping up to serve our community this year, and for everything you have done to keep our colleagues informed and connected, and to keep things fun!
  • Josh Blumberg, Center for Learning & Teaching: Your expertise with the Canvas LMS both under the hood and above the hood is greatly valued within eLearning. First, you brought to the entire Canvas InstructureCon Community the Analysis Tool and now your skill with crafting scripts is enhancing the efficiency of our production cycle again, and frankly, maintaining our sanity, is truly appreciated. Thank you for your unwavering and invaluable assistance to CCO eLearning.
  • Jenn Stockwell, Registrar: Thank you for all your amazing work completing Credit Evaluations for our incoming Transfer students!
  • Grounds Team, Physical Plant: A big shout out to Conor, Josh and Luis. Campus looks amazing !! Thank you for your hard work.
  • Ezra Demers, CCO: Ezra, you are AMAZING! Always willing to help, and so fast to get things done. And when you can’t help, you are always quick to say why and to offer an alternative. I can honestly say that CCO is soooo lucky to have you, and I look forward to many more years of working with you.
  • Joel Lenoir, Cullen Bostock, and Cooper Fellows, IT: Thank you for all of your last minute on the fly assistance helping me and the Financial Aid Team as a whole work through our incredibly difficult set up this year!!! You have all gone above and beyond answering questions, helping figure out new year set up with all of the countless changes, moving us forward with Adobe Forms, trouble shooting all of the bugs and helping me learn some new software tricks! I would not have been able to accomplish all that I have accomplished in such a short amount of time without your invaluable support and guidance! Hopefully we will all be in the same place at the same time at some point in the future so I can thank you in person.
  • Emily Merrill, Student Resources, Student Affairs: Emily recently held an interview with Vermont Public Radio to share the important and meaningful work being done in Chauncey’s Cupboard, Student Resources, and around the College in order to provide basic needs assistance to students. Congrats on raising this visibility and awareness Emily!
  • JoAnn Patel, Game Studio: Thank you for your patience, hard work, commitment, and guidance.
  • Silas Farrar, Finance: Silas is always so friendly and responsive to the various issues I contact him regarding. No matter how unusual, Silas always works until he finds an answer to the dilemma. I really appreciate his attitude and willingness to help.
  • Leslie Van Wagner and Carrie Honneman, Academic Affairs: Thank you to Leslie, Carrie, the committee and presenters for organizing a wonderful opportunity for staff professional development.
  • Carrie Honeman, Leslie Van Wagner, and the Staff Welfare Committee: For the last few months, Carrie and Leslie worked tirelessly with their committee to plan and produce this year’s Staff Professional Development Day. They were passionate about bringing a meaningful, impactful day of PD opportunities to their colleagues. They did so with painstaking attention to making the best possible use of available resources and being good financial stewards. The day was a SMASHING success, with excellent, engaged attendance, meaningful programming, and a positive, uplifting spirit. This day was exactly what we needed. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
• April
  • Housing & Res Life Team: Thank you to the Housing & Res Life team for managing returning student room selection! We appreciate all your hard work, responses to students, and efforts to make the process as smooth as possible.
  • Marcelle Langan: In a time of moving pieces, thanks for endeavoring to be a constant, bridging so many gaps. A shout out for constantly supporting staff under your supervision, implementing strategies from above you, and collaborating with clients from across the campus–360 degrees of constant service to your colleagues and to the College.
• March
  • Robin Gronlund: Thank you for being a strong partner and advocate as CCO evolves its visual identity and brand position!
  • Liza Geduldig: For stepping in and stepping up in a big way to support Admitted Student Weekend! Seemingly overnight, Liza learned the ins and outs of the event and meticulously managed a million moving parts. From organizing schedules and speakers to sprucing up our spaces, solving last minute staffing needs, and writing remarks, Liza was a leader in every way. Thank you for helping us shine bright, Liza! We can’t wait to see more of your magic April 12 & 13.
  • Conor O’Brien, Tim Van Woert, Josh Corrow, Darrin Pillsbury, Spencer Clark, Ryan Crowley, and Joey Conti: HUGE shout out to our amazing Physical Plant team who came in on Saturday to clear the snow for our ASD guests, faculty, staff, and students. They worked around the clock to be sure our entire campus was safe by clearing walkways, the courtyard, and all of the stairways, as well as helping the Event Center monitor the CCM terrace tent! They are hard-working, dedicated, and caring folks who do incredible work behind the scenes. THANK YOU for all you do!
  • Megan Everts: For always providing sweet treats to the campus community!
  • Jennifer Gingras-Green, Abraham Rogers, and Darrin Pillsbury: Thank you to Jenn, Abe, and Darrin for their prompt assistance with a new office door lock! Additional thanks to Jenn for separate assistance with a malfunctioning classroom door!
  • Champ Support: A big thanks to the Champ Support crew for their prompt assistance in setting up the new ITS adjunct office!
  • Jean-Marie Severance, Kellie Nadeau, and Carrie Honeman: A huge shout out to Jean-Marie, Kellie, and Carrie for their help wrangling the temperamental Joyce copier!
  • Susannah Eriksson: Susannah always gives stellar support in ITS, but she recently went far above and beyond in facilitating the ITS adjunct office move on short notice! The ITS Division truly would not function without her!
  • Housing & Res Life: Thank you to Housing & Res Life for managing student housing applications. This is a busy time of year as we approach fall housing selection. Your work is important, and certainly not easy! Thank you for supporting students.
  • Kyra Yu: THANK YOU Kyra for being one of the hardest workers on this campus and always doing it with a smile and stellar attitude. Last minute room flips … no problem! Incorrect room flips .. no problem! Room availability … no problem! Double booking … no problem! Lost items .. no problem! Get where we’re going here? You name it and Kyra is out there working like crazy to help meet our needs on a daily basis. Kudos to you Kyra … and thank you from the Core Division!
  • Sage King: Finishing the staff migration to Zoom Phone and going the extra mile in doing so.
  • Susan Adkins, Librarian Extraordinaire: If there were a prize for the hardest-working and funniest, most self-deprecating librarian, it would go to Susan Adkins. Susan has had many roles over the years at the Library, and in every single one, she has put people at the center. Colleagues, student workers, students, and community members all come first with Susan. She loves to help people, and she loves a good puzzle. Shout out to Susan for being the G.O.A.T. today and every day.
  • Lori Berthiaume: Thank you so much for being such a delight on campus. You always have a smile and are an amazing co-worker.
  • Jennifer Gingras-Green: Thank you so much for your assistance the other day. It was such a reassurance knowing you were there to help us in our time of need. You rock and keep up the great work.
  • Tara Arneson: Thank you so much for your assistance in our recent time of trouble. It is great knowing we have an awesome team of support around us.
  • Nicholas Szumowski, Kaitie Catanie, Amanda Anderson, Danni Johnson, Alyssa Fabrizio: For their ROLES in the import project. Their AREAS OF EXPERTISE and MAJOR contribution of time made it possible. I will not HIDE my gratitude. Therefore, I bestow this DISTINCTION nay AWARD in this fine PUBLICATION to SHOW my appreciation even if it may seem ABSTRACT to some (and is definitely not within 100 characters or less). IYKYK
  • Anne Allen and Susan Paquette: A massive shout out and heartfelt thank you to Anne and Susan for their incredible dedication and hard work on production and quality control for our online courses. Their attention to detail, tireless efforts, and commitment to excellence have been instrumental in ensuring that our courses meet the highest standards. The value they bring to our students is immeasurable, as their work directly impacts the learning experience and success of those who take our courses.
  • Alex, Kevin, and the Staff Networking Committee: Thank you for organizing a fun, festive, and cozy share the love and leap year event! It absolutely made my day.
  • Danielle L’Esperance: Thank you for making ADORABLE frog cupcakes for your colleagues! You are so generous and kind.
  • Cullen Bostock: Thank you Cullen for courageously jumping into the scary world of Financial Aid reporting. Without your help we would not have been able to submit our IPEDS Financial Aid component and provide other Financial Aid stats to various areas. Thank you for filling in that gap so graciously!
  • Sarah Camille Wilson: Sarah Camille can always be counted on for support and troubleshooting. Her willingness to help make everyone’s life easier is much appreciated!
  • Susannah Eriksson, Annika Hawkins-Hilke, Jean-Marie Severance, Cory Davis, Colette Penniello, Michelle Holtkamp, Josh Blumberg, Kellie Nadeau, Pat Boera, Holly Francis, Ptarmigan Abbott, Susan Adkins, Natasha Murray: Thank you for volunteering at the Lemonade Stand the first week of the spring semester. Your enthusiasm for our students is truly inspiring!
  • James Gebo: A big thank you to James for coming to the rescue at the library when campus was closed on MLK day!
• February
  • Carrie Honeman and Leslie Van Wagner: A huge shoutout and thank you to Carrie and Leslie for their leadership of the Staff Welfare Committee. It’s been a busy month for the committee, and Carrie and Leslie are always thoughtful and principled in their leadership, making sure to include all voices and getting things done!
  • Sarah Moore: A big thank you to Sarah for giving a wonderful presentation on resume writing for student workers in the MIC, and for giving such great answers to all the questions!
  • Melissa Rosenberg: Thank you for being amazing. We are so blessed to have you with us.
  • Melina Del Castillo: Thank you for all your help with the Day of Thanks video shoot. We are so grateful.
  • Tyler Dion: Thank you for helping with the Day of Thanks Video. We appreciate you!
  • April Mentzer, Skip Harris, Adrienne Phillips: A huge shout-out to April for crafting and guiding a debrief and reflection for the Library and SMART Space student workers after they completed the Kognito training. We’re so grateful to you, April! And thank you for Skip and Adrienne for guiding the small group discussions. The students are so lucky to have such a kind and thoughtful counseling center team to support them!
  • Katie Mumbauer: Katie your sense of humor coupled with your ability to dive in and work through a time consuming and tedious process of getting things ready for 2024/25 financial aid year has kept me motivated and moving forward. Thank you for patiently listening to me “think” out loud! Couldn’t ask for a better teammate to work through this process especially when it is already mid February and we still don’t know what the final federal update will be!!
  • Jimena Huaco: Congratulations to Jimena Huaco for completing the both College Fact Book and the IPEDS winter submission this month. (Look for the Fact Book on the College website to find out everything you need to know–almost–about Champlain!) Jimena does amazing work as our resident Institutional Research expert and IPEDS Key Holder. Being an institution’s IPEDS Key Holder is a huge responsibility and is vital to the College. So, when you see her, thank Jimena for helping keep us in compliance with the Feds!
  • Rachel Lavallee: When I think of Champlain employees who quietly triage, manage, and resolve varied and vast concerns and challenges throughout their work, I think of Rachel Lavallee. Rachel is an indispensable part of the Student Affairs team with her knowledge of how to get things done, a memory that helps keep so many others on track, matched with a humble demeanor that is rare for someone who is so effective, friendly, efficient, and thoughtful in their work. Student Affairs, and Champlain, are better because of Rachel and hopefully she enjoys this small bit of gratitude; thanks Rachel!
  • Sage King: Throughout the process of transitioning the Library phone lines to zoom phone, Sage has been helpful, accommodating, and super responsive. Thank you, Sage!
  • Joseph Conti: Thank you to Joey for his outstanding and reliable help in getting faculty offices moved around just as the semester started. I can always count on Physical Plant to get the job done and I remain grateful.
  • Jason Trahan: Many thanks to Jason Trahan in Marketing for his beautiful redesign of the CCM Honors Poster. I’m so proud to hang this in our hallways.
  • Champlain College Public Safety, and Melissa McDuffie: Thank you so much to Public Safety for their quick response to a distress call by a community member. Thank you so much to Melissa McDuffie for covering a community member with warm blankets during the short wait for the arrival of Public Safety.
• January
  • Kim Moran: Kim is such a delight to work with! Today I had a whole slew of questions around different aspects of student hiring and budgeting, and a rush hiring request. Kim talked through everything with me with patience and kindness, and she asked great questions to bring issues I wasn’t aware to my attention, and made sure those issues were resolved. Thank you, Kim!
  • Donna Swartwout: Thank you to Donna for assisting the Office of Accessibility as we begin the spring semester. Your work and outreach to students is greatly appreciated!
  • Zach Harrison and David Boyle: Thank you to Zach Harrison and David Boyle who shoveled snow outside and around Skiff Hall on Monday morning. Many of the Physical Plant staff were out sick and these two folks saw a need and picked up a shovel and got to work. Thank you for your efforts!
  • Matt Farnham and Josh Corrow: Thank you Matt and Josh for helping to put up and take down holiday decorations at Sears Lane! We had a festive office and I greatly appreciate you!
  • John Earp: John is extremely helpful and responsive with special requests for new hires and e-mail account creation. When special circumstances arise, and even if he isn’t the “point person,” he always responds quickly and will direct me to the right person. During heavy hiring periods, it is good to know that someone is on the other end ready and willing to help in whatever way he can. Thank you, John, for all that you do!
  • Ed Schlak: Even with the hundreds of packages that flow through the mail room on a daily basis, Ed did not hesitate to help me with a special request. Thank you, Ed!
  • Professor Mike Kelly & Professor Brian Hall: Thank you so much for acting in the SMART Space’s new film clips! We really appreciate you partnering with us to create these tips and tricks. We can’t wait to see them during Student Success Week in January.