2019 IT Student Leadership Awards–Star Performers

A little appreciation goes a long way, so imagine how far a lot of appreciation can go! And a lot of appreciation is what members of the UMass Boston IT Department have for their student workers.

Launched in 2015, the IT Student Leadership Awards recognize outstanding work and valuable contributions made by a student employee. Staff members in each IT office get together to agree on one exceptional student to nominate for the award. Given the quality, skills, and work ethic of IT’s student employees, many, if not all, are worthy of such recognition, making the selection process a difficult one.

The challenge is that effective leadership is about so much more than talent and skills, though both are essential. Effective leaders are also motivators of self and others and understand the importance of working hard to achieve stated goals.

The 2019 IT Student Leadership Award winners include Lina Cruz-Benavides, ’20; Yogi Bhatt, ’19; Nik Costello, ’21; Damla Fari, Donna Kimmel, ’21; Michael Kohouri, ’22; Chaolin Mei, ’20; Devin Murchison, ’20; and Michael Panchu, ’20; Nicholas Trefonides, ’20.

Nomination letters for each of these award-winning students speak to how the nominee demonstrates the qualities of an effective leader, as illustrated by the following two excerpts.

John Mazzarella, manager of Training, Communication and Marketing, says, “Lina Cruz-Benavides brought such amazing creativity and talent to her work with the IT communications and marketing team … I came to rely on being able to present an early idea to her and, together, we would flesh it out into a solid plan. In the end, the projects she worked on became the best implementation based on our combined ideas … Lina is a valued member of my team and a great benefit to the IT Department and the university.”

In nominating Donna Kimmel, one of The Makerspace student employees, Mazzarella says, “Donna consistently does an exceptional amount of good work for The Makerspace, in both quality and quantity.”

Then there is Yogi Bhatt, who has worked for IT’s Classroom Technology and AV Service Department as a classroom technology support technician and student leader since fall 2015. Rosa Oculto, instructional media specialist and supervisor, shares an impressive list of tasks performed by Bhatt.

“Yogi’s duties are to provide instruction, consultation, and technical support for faculty, staff, students, and external clients engaged in using a wide variety of audiovisual and technology in classrooms, auditoriums, and conference areas,” she says, adding praise for Bhatt’s technical skills and customer service.

In the three days building up to the awards ceremony, which takes place annually during National Student Employment Week, each IT student employee is personally thanked. Salina AllenSharpp, executive assistant to the vice chancellor for information technology and CIO, created the Student Employee Recognition Program several years ago.

The tokens of appreciation were hand-delivered and creative. Day One, students received a small gift box with their name and a hand-written note that read, “IT appreciates you to the moon and back.” Inside this gift box? A moon pie.

Day Two, the message read, “Great customer service is how we roll. Thank you.” Inside that gift box? Two Tootsie Rolls tied with ribbon string.

Day Three, the message was simple and to the point. Each student’s full name was printed on a label with the words “You Rock!” The label was placed on one pack of Pop Rocks in three different flavors.

“Each trinket was hand-delivered to each of IT’s 80 student employees,” says Allen-Sharpp, a simple gesture to acknowledge jobs well done.

On the fourth day, all IT student employees were presented with certificates of appreciation. The winners of the IT Student Leadership Award were announced and presented not only with a certificate, but also with a crystal award engraved with the words “With our greatest appreciation, the IT Department at UMass Boston hereby presents [name of student] the IT Student Leadership Award for outstanding work and valuable contributions made as a student employee.”

Additionally, each winner received a signed letter of recommendation, created from the individual nomination letters. The fourth day is a celebration of all IT student employees, who were treated to a student luncheon with pizza, soft drinks, and cake for them to enjoy.