Five CSE staff recognized for reflecting College values

Five staff affiliated with CSE have been recognized by the College of Engineering for “consistently living the College’s values in their work.”

Recipients Steve Crang, Cindy Estell, Chris Firlik, Linda Randolph, and Rose Sherry were nominated by the EECS Department for the College’s Staff Incentive Award, which recognizes staff who consistently demonstrate the College’s vision, mission and values, with a special focus on creativity, innovation and daring. This program is part of the College’s strategic plan and is directly related to its Culture pillar.

“We are fortunate to have many talented staff at CSE,” said Kelly Cormier, Unit Administrator for CSE. “The contributions made by these individuals have been indispensable as CSE has simultaneously dealt with exploding undergraduate demand while undertaking the activities required to attract top faculty and graduate students to our department.”

Communications Manager Steve Crang has spent the last two years collaborating with many different entities to plan for and develop the new EECS website, which has a new focus on target audiences. EECS is the largest department in the College of Engineering, so this was a monumental task. Steve was commended for his innate ability to work with others as a team, to compromise when necessary, and to see the big picture while paying close attention to detail.

Amongst her other responsibilities, Faculty Affairs Coordinator Cindy Estell serves as CSE’s incredibly efficient ambassador for faculty search, orchestrating and hosting an extraordinary number of search visits each year. She is the primary point of contact for each candidate, organizing their travel logistics, arranging their meeting schedules, handling their reimbursements, and executing other pre- and post-visit administrative tasks. Invariably, candidates will mention that Cindy has been exemplary in attending to all details and in representing the department and university.

Chris Firlik manages the CSE Undergraduate Advising Office, which is quite possibly the busiest UAO in the College given CSE’s 2,000+ undergraduate student population. Chris handles difficult situations on a daily basis as they relate to an incredibly large student population, relentlessly serves as an advocate for students, and represents the College and Department appropriately at all times.

Senior Computing Consultant and System Administrator Linda Randolph is a key figure in the EECS Departmental Computing organization (DCO), where she is a continual beacon for positivity and efficiency. Linda provides excellent customer service with a smile to all Mac users within the department, even as she often has to deal with time pressures and difficult problems. Somehow, she solves the problems and keeps everyone happy, which is no easy feat.

Rose Sherry provides course support for several of the largest undergraduate courses in computing offered at Michigan. She oversees processes that enable the scheduling and execution of the EECS 183 showcase event at the end of each term, which typically involves over 1,000 students, dozens of industry partners, and a teaching staff of almost 50 people coming together in a single day. Rose has shared and developed best practices in administering exams to students in three of our largest EECS courses, and in ensuring that students receive the accommodations they need to be successful for the exams that constitute a large portion of their grades.