Julie Cnare-Ring won a University Staff Recognition Award and an Administrative Improvement Award (both UW–Madison)
Julie Cnare-Ring, HR Manager on the Biomedical Research Model Services (BRMS) Team at the School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH), recently won not one—but two—awards!
On March 29, 2019, she won a 2019 University Staff Recognition Award, sponsored by University Staff Shared Governance. This award is conferred by a five-person University Staff Awards Selection Committee for outstanding achievement among University Staff.
Julie had several nominators who suggested Julie for the award to honor her for her contributions. This includes her oversight of the security system upgrade in more than five major biomedical research facilities across campus; her meticulousness in keeping schedules for upper management and assistance with safety training scheduling; her administration of the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) Program Accreditation for SMPH; and providing assistance with benefit and payroll issues.
On April 16, 2019, Julie and the other seven members of the BRMS Leadership Team at SMPH also won a 2019 Administrative Improvement Award, sponsored by Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Laurent Heller. This award celebrates the dedicated, but often unnoticed, work of those who strive to improve administrative processes and service delivery.
The BRMS team of eight were nominated by Neuroscience Professor Dan Uhlrich for improvements to SMPH’s BRMS Team, and received a $2000 cash prize, divided equally among team members. The award also enables the team to apply for up to $10,000 in funding to support further administrative or process improvement work.
Julie said of receiving these awards: “I was very pleased to win the University Staff Recognition Award and was surprised to find out from my co-workers that they have been nominating me for several years! I feel very honored that my co-workers think so highly of me and value my work that I put in to making our department successful.
“I was also thrilled to be a part of a great leadership team where all members are working hard to improve our relationship with the researchers in SMPH. We are very proud of the great strides that we have made as a team and look forward to continuing to make improvements!”
Mary Hegge: University Staff Distinguished Achievement Award (School of Education)
On April 18, 2019, Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) HR Manager Mary Hegge, was nominated and won the School of Education University Staff Distinguished Achievement Award.
Mary’s supervisor and primary nominator, Rebecca Kohl (WCER Director of Business Services), wrote that Mary “is lauded by WCER staff for her integrity, equanimity, transparency, discernment, advocacy, negotiating skills, effective communication, and her unconditional regard for all with whom she interacts. [In] addition to her agility with the University’s personnel policies and procedures, [Mary’s] behavior is a model of social equality in action.
“Mary is fully engaged with the School of Ed and UW campus in a number of ways. In 2017, she volunteered to participate in the University’s pilot program for the UW–Madison HR Competencies Program…. She [facilitated the move] to PMDP and moving to online ‘self-service’ for staff leave reporting and approvals. [Additionally, Mary] serves on…stakeholder interviews through the University Staff Congress.”
Robert Mathieu (School of Education Associate Dean for Research), nominated Mary as well. He wrote that “Mary is the most effective and influential Human Resources Manager that I have met in my 32 years at the University, in several units and departments.
“Ultimately, human resources management is not about rules and procedures, it is about people. Amidst the inherent stress and flux of her work flow, Mary is always remarkably cool, calm and collected, and handles her position with wonderful graciousness.”
Merideth Trahan (WCER Researcher and WIDA Chief of Staff) also nominated Mary, of whom she wrote: “Over the last 13 years, Mary Hegge has been a consistent voice of wisdom, reason and calm. She embodies the term ‘civil servant’—civil, because regardless of the pressure or the demands on her time, she remains the consummate professional who is level headed and good humored. And ‘servant’ because she is dedicated to providing excellent service to every project in WCER.
“[She] is an exemplar of equity and equanimity in her role as employee relations consultant and advisor. …She advocates for people serving in leadership roles to…first assess the degree to which employees are receiving consistent and clear guidance on job expectations and delivering feedback that would allow employees to grow and improve.
“[Her] institutional knowledge, strong relationships, and willingness to research and challenge assumptions are one of the central ingredients in WIDA’s expansion and greater impact.”