ASSET 2006: Outstanding Supervisor Nominations

Outstanding Supervisor Nominees

Awarded to the supervisor who is recognized to have that unique blend of human relation skills and knowledge of the organization and its mission, coupled with the ability to apply problem-solving and communication skills to the successful management of their employees. This person is able to successfully balance the goals of the Libraries with the individual goals of the employees.

Sheila McAlister | Anne Marie Hamilton-Brehm | Chandra Jackson | Jill Severn | Beth Thornton

Sheila McAlister (1 of 2)
Digital Library of Georgia

What is the nominee's position?

Assistant Director

What makes this person an outstanding supervisor (technical skills, teaching ability, interpersonal skills, attitude, leadership)?

In spite of a change in title, reflecting her more active role as an ambassador for the Digital Library of Georgia, Sheila continues to perform her previous duties, coordinating the multitude of Digital Library projects.

Is there a specific incident you'd like to cite? For example, has this person led your unit through a difficult change?

Sheila deserves applause for recruiting and personally training two new valuable members of the DLG team. During this transition, she has not lost sight of the needs of her veteran staff members, supporting them in their educational and career development.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

Sheila continues to encourage and enable her staff to take part in training and development. She arranged for her staff to attend a course in cataloging at Solinet, even completing the paperwork for transportation.

Sheila McAlister (2 of 2)
Digital Library of Georgia

What makes this person an outstanding supervisor (technical skills, teaching ability, interpersonal skills, attitude, leadership)?

Sheila always keeps communication open and flexible. I am always given fair warning when a new assignment is coming my way, and am given a reasonable amount of time within which I can complete my assignment

Is there a specific incident you'd like to cite? For example, has this person led your unit through a difficult change?

I think that our unit has had a high volume of projects, often with tight deadlines. I appreciate that I have been led in a constructive, supportive way.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

I feel very comfortable approaching Sheila with questions and/ or advice, and that she works constantly at being accessible and open. She is supportive of my work, patient when she is training me to work on new projects, and conscientiously provides me with an interesting variety of tasks to help keep me satisfied and motivated.

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Anne Marie Hamilton-Brehm (1 of 2)
Digital Library of Georgia

What is the nominee's position?

Digital Conversion Manager

What makes this person an outstanding supervisor (technical skills, teaching ability, interpersonal skills, attitude, leadership)?

She's always very nice, takes on a great number of responsibilites, is a hard worker, works great as the student supervisor/payroll administrator, always has a great attitude and is a great asset to her department.

Is there a specific incident you'd like to cite? For example, has this person led your unit through a difficult change?

Has shown grace under fire and deserves to be recognized for it.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

A very nice, personable hard worker who's very overqualified and underpaid.

Anne Marie Hamilton-Brehm (2 of 2)
Digital Library of Georgia

What makes this person an outstanding supervisor (technical skills, teaching ability, interpersonal skills, attitude, leadership)?

Anne Marie creates a congenial and productive work environment. Through her patient training, our student assistants quickly and effectively absorb new skill sets. They model her commitment to creating an accurate and high-quality product. Anne Marie ably assesses our students' strengths; she assigns tasks that best match their skills. Possessing strong project management skills, Anne Marie is able to troubleshoot and adapt workflows as needed so that our projects meet our often tight deadlines. Yet, Anne Marie has created a warm environment for our student assistants.

Is there a specific incident you'd like to cite? For example, has this person led your unit through a difficult change?

Recently, one of our former student assistants was gravely injured in bike accident. Anne Marie kept others in the department up-to-date on her condition and coordinated the purchase of a gift.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

Anne Marie will begin library school at University of Alabama this fall.

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Chandra Jackson
Serials

What is the nominee's position?

Head of Technical Processing

What makes this person an outstanding supervisor (technical skills, teaching ability, interpersonal skills, attitude, leadership)?

Chandra is extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of her job and she's excellent at teaching these to others. But it's in the ways that *can't* be taught that she is an exceptional supervisor. She balances warmth and down-to-earth humanity with the principles of being fair, clear and focused on efficiency, and that balance is no small achievement! She treats everyone as an equal, pulls no rank, plays no favorites and respects her colleagues by communicating with a balance of directness and dignity that engenders upmost trust and true respect for her. And all of this while simultaneously juggling the demands of her studies (and
soon-to-be completion of her MLS) for several years.

Is there a specific incident you'd like to cite? For example, has this person led your unit through a difficult change?

Chandra herself has seen many changes and reorganizations of this department. She started out as a student employee years ago and has witnessed life in Serials through many structures, systems, personalities and priorities. It's probably because of this that she is able to lead the rest of us through departmental changes with the grace and encouragement that she does. When change happens, she makes sure that everyone knows they can come to her with any and all questions or concerns, and that communication about the change is as clear to everyone as possible.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

She's very funny, and she makes great guacamole!!!

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Jill Severn
Russell Library

What is the nominee's position?

Head of Access and Outreach Unit

What makes this person an outstanding supervisor (technical skills, teaching ability, interpersonal skills, attitude, leadership)?

Jill has so many wonderful qualities that naming one reason as to why she is an outstanding supervisor would be very difficult. Her interpersonal skills are superb. She has a way of making people feel comfortable and she clearly communicates her interest in hearing everyone's opinion. She always stresses communication and collaboration when working with colleagues and has a jovial personality that is quite contagious. In addition, Jill is a true leader in every way! She dreams big and succeeds at the goals she sets forth for herself and her department.

Is there a specific incident you'd like to cite? For example, has this person led your unit through a difficult change?

Our department has recently experienced a lack of personnel so we have had to shift responsibilites and put some projects on hold for the time being. However, this has not phased Jill. She has led the department through this difficult time as well as inspiring all of us to grow with the changes. She has taught us to maintain a positive view of the big picture instead of dwelling on the temporary problems we have recently encountered.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

Jill always has big aspirations for her department and the library. She inspires us all to be more innovative and achieve our professional goals, whatever they may be. She encourages us to participate in professional activities and classes and never hesitates to offer her help if needed. With her supportive demeanor, Jill has the ability to make everyone feel needed as well as confident their skills and talents are truly an asset to the department.

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Beth Thornton
Cataloging

What is the nominee's position?

Head, Serials Cataloging

What makes this person an outstanding supervisor (technical skills, teaching ability, interpersonal skills, attitude, leadership)?

Beth has a great knowledge of serials cataloging; when we have questions she always carefully explains and is always very patient; she is a real team leader, her positive attitude encourages her section to do their best; she led serials cataloging section finished countless projects since print to electronic conversion started.

What else do you think the ASSET Awards Committee should know about your nominee?

She is a nice person to work with.

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