Ah, a good ol’ fashioned Kudos Roundup! It’s been awhile since we’ve done one of these! Kudos for DSF staff can come in many forms, from emails alerting supervisors to a job well done to direct praise from managers in a meeting. We’ll be collecting these kudos for all to see right here in this feature. Take a look!

From Betty Freyre in the Office of the President to Sonny Saadi:
I wanted to let you know that we have been working with Sonny for a couple of months now, and I have to tell you that he has been phenomenal. He found a solution to the outdoor patio doors that required a locking mechanism, he worked with the carpenters to reconstruct the President’s office bookshelves, installed the handrails for the steps to the outdoor patio, and ordered new shades that were damaged a few months ago. He is truly a professional, very kind and easy to work with. We are lucky to have him!

From HR’s Pam Smith to Eslie Murraine:
I will give a proper shout out to Eslie; but wanted to let you know that he has been very helpful to HR. Mainly me but yesterday I fell under the weather and Eslie was able to take over the interview/ applicant that came in for his interview and he also followed up with me today.

He is very much appreciated, especially at last minute’s notice when I was in a jam. There have been other occasions when Eslie is very responsive and willing to move along with the interview process in a timely manner. Kudos to Eslie.

From Richard Donovan to Roger White:
On behalf of everyone in HR at VSTC, especially Diane Conners and Kellie Wall who were more involved in our recent renovations; they really wanted to point out that Roger went above and beyond, was on top of everything and knew what was going on when questions came up.  They said he has a great attitude and was very calm and supportive as things were happening.

From Brenda Bradley with Anthropology to Monet Ballard, Matt Andrews, and Eslie Murraine:
I am writing in my capacity as Chair of the Anthropology Department to let you know how amazing it has been to work with Monet Ballard, Matt Andrews, Eslie Murraine and the rest of the team to relocate one of our faculty offices. The move was difficult for several reasons. It was urgent because there was mold in the space but also stressful and emotional because the faculty member had been in that office for decades and was very attached to the space. She also has a huge collection of books that are irreplaceable and of great academic value. 

Monet and Matt handled the situation perfectly by listening thoroughly and compassionately to the faculty member’s concerns and also working efficiently to move all the materials in short order. Monet and her team also carefully arranged the books in the same order and the faculty member noted that it ‘felt like home’ when she stepped into the new office. 

Matt and Eslie have also been so communicative and helpful in making repairs to the vacated office and preparing it for a new faculty member.

We are extremely grateful for Monet’s, Matt’s, and Eslie’s efforts, care, and attention, as well as their efficiency.

Many thanks to them and their teams!!

The Greenbuild International Conference and Expo (this year in DC) is the largest annual event for green building professionals worldwide to learn and source cutting-edge solutions to improve resilience, sustainability and quality of life in our buildings, cities and communities. As part of this year’s conference, Adam Aaronson and HOK Architects led a tour of Corcoran Hall to talk about the building’s green features, including plumbing fixtures that reduce water use by 41%, lighting power density reduction of 58%, daylight controls in 100% of occupied spaces, all leading to our LEED Gold rating. The tour included people from across the US, Japan, Serbia, and Saudi Arabia! Great to see so much interest in our projects!

Students at Mount Vernon took it upon themselves to thank our Vex drivers earlier this month. We love seeing kudos like these. If you have something similar to share, email us!