Student Affairs staff celebrates 2019 at annual Winter Social

Staff from the Division of Student Affairs joined an array of campus partners inside Hendrix Student Center to celebrate the past year at the annual Student Affairs Winter Social on Wednesday. Following a catered breakfast, Interim Vice President and Dean of Students Chris Miller led a short program that included recognition of the top employees and team of the past year.

Employees earning the top recognition within the division for 2019 were Brennan Beck (Military & Veteran Engagement), Pam Davis (Campus Life), John Michael Lewis (University Housing & Dining) and Jimmy Mullinax (Campus Recreation).

Beck oversaw operations for the Student Veteran Center in its first full year of occupancy in Vickery Hall, where student veterans and military dependents are connected to campus resources. Beck was instrumental in raising money toward scholarships for student veterans and his office helped sponsor the Walk for Veterans, which attracted a record 350 participants in April.

Davis assumed supervision of reservation services and student employee development in 2019, in addition to her role as director of venue and event services. She was described by one nominator as a role model whose approach is “built around positivity, service, advocacy and professionalism.”

Lewis is an assistant supervisor for buildings and grounds working primarily in Calhoun Courts, Douthit Hills and Thornhill Village. He has been described by colleagues as amazing, dedicated and hard-working and is known to keep his work areas clean and well-maintained for students.

Mullinax serves as director of facilities and operations for Campus Recreation and in 2019 oversaw the first full year of the 30,000-square foot Douthit Hills Fitness Center and construction progress of the Outdoor Education Center at Snow. He has also built a student-focused employee structure within the facilities and operations team.

The Team of the Year was awarded to the Student Affairs Business Office — led by Lisa Bona — which not only successfully juggled the financial impact of several departments moving to the Finance and Operations Division, but also managed the implementation of value mapping to tie departmental work into the overall strategic plan for the division. The other employees honored from the team were Kayla Cleveland, Susan Eller, Cheryl Hayes, Wanda Hendricks, Brenda Nicholson, Sarah Reeves, Wanda Rhodes and Kristin Walker-Donnelly.