Staff honoured at the inaugural DCU Staff Recognition Awards
Twelve members of staff at DCU were honoured at the inaugural DCU Staff Recognition Awards earlier today. The awards were established to recognise individuals and teams who consistently make outstanding contributions to the university and who, through their actions every day, exemplify its mission and values.
In welcoming everyone to the virtual event, Director of Human Resources, Marian Burns said:
“Since the launch of our current strategic plan in 2017, our focus has been on the delivery of our goal ‘to value and develop our staff community’. We consulted widely with every faculty and department through the ‘Our DCU’ initiative to understand the factors that help staff feel valued. Recognition was identified as a key factor and so today’s ceremony allows us to do just that - to recognise and reward outstanding contribution, those living the DCU mission and values, and supporting the DCU strategic plan.”
The 2020 award recipients are as follows:
1. Billy Kelly, Office of Vice President Academic Affairs: Billy’s contribution to teaching and learning at DCU has been, and continues to be, immense. He is the constant source of wisdom on these matters and an exemplar of outstanding dedication. Billy quietly but effectively navigates the complexities of how we create, deliver and assure ourselves of the quality of a DCU degree. His never-ending generosity in supporting others to make their contribution is inspiring.
2. Teresa Leeper, Trispace Catering: Teresa is being recognised for her professionalism, her warmth and her ability, in the course of carrying out her work with Trispace, to act as an ambassador for DCU, exemplifying the spirit and values of the University community. Calm and unflustered, her quick eye will quietly pick up where something is amiss and corrective action is never far behind. She is the very essence of DCU.
3. Martin Leavy, Human Resources: Martin is an exemplar when it comes to living the DCU values. His pride in his work and his place of work, his collegial spirit and his leadership and empathy in supporting colleagues is testament to this. Through listening, building confidence and paving the way for change he has had a major influence on many complex projects across the University that have enabled us to advance our mission considerably.
4. Goretti Daughton, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences: Goretti’s consistently exceptional contribution and leadership have seen dramatic and on-going innovations across the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. She is a genuine problem-solver, always seeking to anticipate where the challenges will be, and works in a collegiate manner to deliver an immensely professional service across three campuses.
5. Paul Leahy, Estates Office: Paul takes great pride in his work and demonstrates creativity in approaching issues and persistence in seeking solutions. Paul demonstrated great flexibility in adapting to the changes brought about through the Incorporation process and in providing continuity in a period of great change. He makes an outstanding contribution to DCU and especially the community who work on the St Patrick’s Campus
6. Aisling McKenna, Quality Promotion Office: Nominated for her outstanding work ethic, her infectious positive attitude, her exceptional communication skills and unlimited ability to achieve the desired outcome collaboratively and inclusively. On so many occasions she has played a pivotal role in getting institutionally critical projects and proposals across the line. Aisling is an inspirational role model who generously lends her time in support of the development of others.
7. Joe Travers, School of Inclusive & Special Education: Joe encompasses so many leadership qualities to an exceptional level. He is always approachable, he listens and he responds in a considered, fair, enlightened and decisive manner. While his vision has influenced the agenda within the University and nationally, some of his greatest achievements are quite invisible but invaluable to his school, his faculty and the university as a whole.
8. Liam Gaughran & Seamus Keating, Estates Office: Liam and Seamus are long standing colleagues in DCU who consistently work quietly but very successfully as a terrific team behind the scenes of many important University events and are truly deserving of this staff recognition award. They have provided an outstanding contribution to the successful planning and delivery of DCU examinations and especially graduation ceremonies for almost two decades and consistently demonstrate their commitment and belief in the DCU values of collegiality, openness, and collaboration.
9. Ian Spillane, ISS: for his outstanding contribution and leadership in ISS to ensure that students and staff always receive the highest quality of service through huge changes. Ian embodies the DCU culture in his approach - Open, Collegial, Collaborative, Student-focussed and Ambitious. The respect in which he is held by his colleagues is a testimony to his exceptional contributions.
10. Ann Largey, DCU Business School: the constant efforts displayed by Ann in creating and promoting the DCU-PNU brand as a highly respected and world-class global University in the Middle East deserve the highest recognition. In addition to performing her job at an exemplary level, Ann embodies DCU’s culture and demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to DCU’s values. She provides exceptional support and service to new faculty and staff and provides flexibility and constant encouragement as a supervisor and mentor.
11. Mick Burke, Faculty of Science and Health: Mick is an invaluable member of our community with an outstanding level of expertise and skill. Through unwavering commitment and extensive institutional knowledge he has delivered the highest standards of facility management in support of both research and of teaching. But he is much more than that and never flourishes more than at a time of crisis. His calm assurance, his professional diligence, his wisdom and his supportive personality have all contributed greatly to this University.
12. Mary Colgan, President’s Office: in every successful organisation there are people outside of the limelight of leadership who play a critical and pivotal role in advancing that organisation. Mary is one such person. In fact her impact is in inverse proportion to her public profile. Over most of the past decade she has worked diligently in both developing major initiatives and ensuring that every major event being managed by the President’s office was carried out to the highest professional standards. She embodies DCU’s commitment to operational excellence in everything she does.
Speaking at the event, President of DCU Professor Brian MacCraith, said:
“The establishment of these awards as we celebrate DCU’s 40th anniversary is long overdue because, over those four decades, it was, and is, our staff who have made DCU what it is, and have made it such a great place in which to learn and work.
In my almost 34 years at DCU, the greatest sense I have had is one of community. One that pulls together and supports each other. A community that believes in and lives out the mission of DCU to transform lives and societies. If ever we needed a confirmation of that, the actions of DCU staff in the past few months has provided this in spades.
Within that wonderful community, there are always those individuals who stand out; who embody our mission and values on a daily basis without even thinking about it; who are the great citizens of DCU across our five campuses; whom we can always rely on to go above and beyond the call of duty. And today is about those individuals.”
25 members of staff in total were nominated for today’s Awards. Other nominees included: Gillian Barry (Registry); Stephen Blott (School of Computing); Maurice Burke (Nano Research Facility); Anne-Marie Caherty (DCUBS); Ger Cannon (ISS); Justin Doyle (ISS); Yseult Freeney (DCUBS); Aengus Gordon (Academic Systems Unit); Muriel Keegan (DCUBS); Liam MacGabhann (on behalf of the Covid Contact Tracing Centre Team); Martin Molony (School of Communications); Paddy Boyle (DCU Invent); Keith Rochford (School of Biotechnology).
To view a recording of the event, visit https://www.dcu.ie/hr/presidentsawards
