Volume 4, Number 1, Spring 1996
Giving credit
The department establishes a support staff appreciation
award and selects Sandy
Drews as the first recipient
Rahilla Shatto
Editor's note: This spring the Department of Oceanography established a Support Staff Appreciation Award to recognize staff members who distinguish themselves providing service to the department. The reward seeks to recognize the following qualities:
Two times per year calls for nominations will be issued and a selection committee composed of faculty, support staff, research staff, and students will choose a recipient.
Congratulations to Sandy Drews, the Spring 1996 recipient of the Oceanography Support Staff Appreciation Award! Sandy is a Senior Secretary in geological oceanography. The Department of Oceanography salutes her for her outstanding contributions.
Here are excerpts from a letter of citation to Sandy from Department Head David Brooks and Department Operations Manager Ed Shaar, followed by just some of what geological oceanography faculty members had to say about Sandy's disinguished service: Sandy consistently [provides] a level of support far above that expected, earning the well-deserved reputation throughout the department and college, over the last 20 years, as a reliable source of corporate knowledge and administrative expertise, and a self-starter who makes things happen on a daily basis Particularly noteworthy are [her] outstanding contributions regarding student recruitment and retention; tracking student applications, maintaining accurate, up-to-date records and being a friendly source of help and information. Department Head David Brooks
Sandy has been a valuable contributor to department activities for over 20 years [She] is an invaluable resource for our students. She patiently explains to them what they need to do and she helps them get it done Our section faculty are scattered among the O&M Building, at the Ocean Drilling Program, and in the Halbouty Building, so getting section business done is not easy. Sandy handles it with competence and patience Finally, Sandy is always ready to help, even if it is outside the normal bounds of her job description. In my own recollection, she has helped me conduct business from afar while I was at sea She has helped my visiting colleagues to the extent of setting up their apartments and bank accounts, helping them in shopping and learning to pay bills. Geological Oceanography Chair William Sager
In addition to the normal secretarial skills, which she executes rapidly and efficiently, [Sandy] is an invaluable source of information for both faculty and students, and what information she doesn't know, she takes the initiative to find quickly She seems to have unlimited patience with solving the problems that both faculty and graduate students bring her way, from shipping equipment to another part of the world to registering for classes Sandy is particularly adept at communicating with our international students and helping them find their way through the forms to file and doing so in a timely fashion. Sandy always comes through Sandy has been an invaluably positive influence in our section and has helped to make life in a large university much more personal and pleasant. We know we couldn't have been as productive professors in fulfilling our research, teaching, and service responsibilities without her. Geological Oceanography Professors Wilford Gardner and Mary Jo Richardson |
  Sandy Drews |
Comments to: web@ocean.tamu.edu
Last updated February 25, 1997
