Nominees

Sam Bayley

Nominations:

Sam's job is quite frankly a thankless task. He is constantly being pulled in different directions and has to manage lots of people's different opinions, but he does so with professionalism. He is always on the ball to make quick decisions when necessary but somehow always seems to have the bigger picture in mind. He has grown the team and made it a much smoother running machine, putting in place much needed processes and communication links.
He has been incredibly supportive towards me during a rather turbulent few months and I don't think I would have been back on my feet as quickly had I not had the support from him coming back to work.
Sam probably only hears about things when they go wrong or when people want a favour, so I think it's about time he heard some praise for the fantastic work he does.

Tammy Connor

Nominations:

I'm nominating Tammy under reasons 2, 4 and 5. Tammy started her role in Student Support on 23 March, the day after the University went into lockdown. Apart from a rushed and strange (and unpaid) induction day before lockdown, Tammy has worked entirely remotely, new to student admin, new to York and new to higher education. On 3 November, Tammy - one of our newest and most junior staff members - gave a 15-minute presentation at the Departmental Staff Meeting about improvements she'd made to assessment distribution processes that are designed to reduce staff workload - in response to feedback received from staff. She provided a live demonstration and took questions from colleagues.

Tammy joined the department just before lockdown and didn't get any training in person but she adapted the situation very well and learned her roles so quickly. She's very kind and always offers her help and contributed to the support team and the department. She's created a fantastic assessment document, and I think that will help academic staff and reduce emails and their workload. I'd therefore like to nominate Tammy for this award.

Most of the world's problems could be solved if someone worked out how to clone Tammy. Her curiosity and drive make her an integral part of the team and she's always striving to review and improve the way that we work, as evidenced by her recent assessments process overhaul.
To say that Tammy has made a positive difference to our team would be a gross understatement. She's not only the ever-chipper face of the Department, she's also the queen of all things admin. The team can always count on her to step in and help when things get busy and then come up with a plan to stop us getting overwhelmed again afterwards.
On a personal note, I've been in the building with Tammy for a few weeks now and she's just a great colleague to have. Even in these difficult times and with a hefty workload, she makes the office an excellent working environment and definitely deserves some recognition.

Maria Gehrels

Nominations:

Maria has been making a positive difference in the department since I started in 2017. She always is willing to help students whether they are doing something physical geography-related or not and goes out of her way to help students from undergraduate level up to PhD, whether this is providing training, helping to keep the labs run smoothly, ordering equipment and resources for us and giving us advice. Maria always has a smile on her face and is welcoming to anybody who asks for her help. She is always looking for ways to reduce the environmental impact of our lab, making sure we always recycle and reminds us to keep the fume hoods down in order to conserve energy. Maria is inclusive in and outside of the department and volunteers to help refugees in York. Maria is also a postdoc on the Leverhulme project and is helping to continue Richard's legacy, being involved in numerous projects this year and co-authoring on several papers.

Claire Hughes

Nominations:

I'm nominating Claire under the reason 2 - we make a positive difference. Our excellent Departmental response to the challenges of teaching, learning and assessment during the Covid-19 pandemic has been led brilliantly by Claire. She has created a framework for TLA that has provided clear, comprehensive guidance for staff and students. She has continued to innovate when it would have been easier to fall back to tried and tested methods. She has encouraged colleagues and students with enthusiasm, constructive challenge and professionalism and this has helped our Department raise the bar for the wider University. Claire is always the first person to credit others, so it's time for Claire to get the credit she deserves.

Tamsyn Kiss

Nominations:

It is with great enthusiasm that I nominate Tamsyn Kiss for her contributions to the department in her role with the Careers and Employability team. Perhaps there is no greater example of our core values than Tamsyn, and I don't make that statement lightly.
Tamsyn's role was developed to provide cover as Jenny deals with ongoing health issues. Even though part-time, Tamsyn often works longer hours to deliver terrific service for our students. She has been incredibly flexible rearranging her part-time hours in order to represent the department in key careers events including the Royal Geography Society's recent Career and Employability strategy event.
Tamsyn has demonstrated creative problem solving in helping us deliver an increasingly comprehensive employment offering. From redesigning the Employability Hub to reinstating the weekly newsletter. Tamsyn's influence is seen by our staff and students on a daily basis.
What is most remarkable is all of the activity that is described above goes beyond Tamsyn's main remit of helping develop and deliver our placement year and dissertation with placement programmes.
As stated above, Tamsyn in an exemplar of all of our core values. The following core values are most applicable to this nomination:
1. We are inclusive and embrace our diversity
2. We make a positive difference
4. We are a friendly and helpful community

Tamsyn has been a fantastic addition to the student support team and works extremely hard in her role to support the careers and employability team both in house and centrally in careers and placements.
Tamsyn goes above and beyond her role to offer both staff and students support and works with enthusiasm and great care to offer the best service possible to end users.
Tamsyn take care to work in an inclusive manner (CV 1) striving for the best experience for all students regardless of their accessibility needs. She is mindful of WP and protected characteristics when producing content, working with individuals and delivering workshops.
Tamsyn has made a positive difference (CV 2) since day one in her post. She started her role remotely at a time when I had only just had returned to work after an extended period of illness which meant we were faced with a backlog of issues to work through (some dating back months) whilst navigating working and delivering content remotely and learning whilst on the job. She faces all challenges with positivity and drive and it's wonderful to work with such a great colleague.
Tamsyn works in a student facing role and I regularly receive feedback about how friendly and helpful she is (CV 4) from those she has worked with. Working with Tamsyn is a joy, she is a wonderful colleague and represents the true values of the department through her actions and drive.

Core values: 1 - we make a positive difference; 4 - we are a friendly and helpful community; and, 5 - we are curious and always learning.
Tamsyn is a fantastic colleague. She always make a positive difference in her work and is friendly and helpful. She always has a very positive attitude, no matter what task she's being asked to undertake. Tamsyn ran some of our year 1 team building induction activities this year. This was a completely new activity requiring us to work in the socially-distanced classroom for the very first time. Tamsyn did a really fantastic job of running the workshops. During our meetings to prepare for the sessions Tamsyn was very positive even though there was much uncertainty around how the session would run in the socially-distanced classroom and how students would engage with the linked online materials. Recently Tamsyn has stepped in to cover some teaching for a colleague who is off-sick. Again she approached this task with a really positive attitude and is doing a fantastic job. Tamsyn's positive attitude suggests that she sees every new task, no matter how daunting, as an opportunity to learn new skills and develop existing skills.

The MOOC Team - Ellie Jew, Josh Kirshner, Karen Parkhill, Dave Rippin, Brett Sallach, Bryce Stewart

Nominations:

1. We make a positive difference
  The MOOC "Tackling Environmental Challenges" (https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/tackling-environmental-challenges) is a fantastic shop window for our degree programmes. The quality of the course is exceptional, and feedback has been extremely positive. To date, 2706 persons from around the world have enrolled on the course.
  3. We strive for environmental sustainability
  The course highlights environmental challenges facing our planet and suggests solutions in an engaging, attractive and very informative format.
  4. We are a friendly and helpful community
  The team was asked to create the MOOC in a busy summer period. It was extra work on top of normal duties and the team took to the task enthusiastically and with great purpose. A lot of hours went into the effort.
  5. We are curious and always learning
  The course targets a pre-University audience, but is interesting throughout and based on the latest research. It showcases what we do and what we have learnt in a very accessible format that attracts students from around the globe.
  Some excerpts taken from reviews:
  "The course covered a wide range of topics, but in a depth that provided more than just the usual perspectives."
  "Interesting, informative and understandable. Well written and presented. Right level and good content spread."
  "A great introduction and overview with the right amount of content to the environmental challenges we face but set within the social, health and economic consequences of the issues we need to address if sustainable future changes we need to face up to globally are to be achieved."
  "The course was incredibly comprehensive and informative. The further we delved in to it, it just got more interesting."
  "Thought provoking and also stimulating especially by connecting the bigger picture to local, personal concerns."

The Admin Office Team

Nominations:

The admin team have really gone above and beyond their duties during these challenging times. Not only have they maintained their essential services to a high professional standard and risen to new challenges with positivity, the team have been instrumental in fostering a friendly and helpful environment in the department which makes all our working days easier and more enjoyable. From the upbeat, thoughtful and useful newsletters, continuing the regular coffee breaks online (keeping us all connected), creating a fun and helpful away day for professional staff, to the smiles and waves from the office windows when we enter the building. The team really does make a positive difference, helping all staff feel part of a supportive team working together on a shared challenge.

The Student Support Team

Nominations:

On core value 4. They've made my new role of Chair of Board of Examiner really easy for me. Helpful, responsive and engaged in the process. They've been patient with me in learning the ropes and friendly and helpful throughout. Big thanks to them.