Celebrating the Impact of Faculty Staff
“At the Faculty of Medicine, we want to be sure we recognize the fine work our professional staff do every day,” said Tim Neff, Chief Administrative Officer and event emcee. “Events like this one allow us all to take a few minutes to talk with one another and to take pride in the work of this Faculty, because we all contribute to its success.”
The celebration was also an opportunity for the Faculty’s staff to thank Dean Catharine Whiteside for her leadership and support before she finishes her term at the end of December.
The event also honoured more than a dozen Staff IMPACT Award winners:
The Department of Physiology’s Business Officer, Paula Smellie, received the David Keeling Award for Administrative Excellence for overseeing the five-year renovation of the Department of Physiology’s space.
Anna Naccarato, Manager of Event Administration in Continuing Professional Development (CPD), won the Leadership Award. She improved efficiency and course quality in CPD by introducing new tools and approaches to event management and finished a Standard Operations guide in time for the Department’s successful Accreditation Review.
The New Employee Award went to Digital Communications Specialist Roberta Brown. During her first year in the Faculty’s Office of Strategy, Communications and External Relations, Brown completely overhauled digital communications, created a comprehensive social media strategy and launched a new Faculty website.
Rochelle Allen, Indigenous Peoples’ Undergraduate Medical Education Program Coordinator, received the Fostering an Environment and Culture of Diversity and Inclusion Award. Allen helped increase the number of Indigenous youth in the Summer Mentorship Program and supported several prospective medical students in the Indigenous Student Application Program. She also encouraged children from Nunavut to pursue higher education by coordinating their visit to the university.
Sondra Bahr won the Service in a Laboratory Research Environment Award. Bahr is a Lab Technician the lab of Professor Charles Boone in the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research. She helped map a comprehensive genetic interaction network in yeast, enabling Boone and his collaborators to do unique research. Bahr also maintains large-scale resources, which are shared with researchers around the world.
The Quality Improvement award went to Alim Lalani, Program Manager in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. He helped streamline the Department’s admissions process. As well, Lalani helped attract diverse students, created guidelines for merit and needs-based student awards, and developed financial management guidelines for students applying for bursaries.
The administrative team at the Mississauga Academy of Medicine also received the Quality Improvement Team Award. The team includes Pre-clerkship Administrative Assistant Elizabeth Day, Administrative Assistant Frances Rankin, Financial Officer Govind Singh Khurana, Executive Assistant Kristen Harshman-Best, Student Support Administrator Mark Wlodarski, Curriculum Implementation Specialist Sara Reynolds and Faculty Development Administrator Lori Innes. Together, the group started a clinical clerkship program at two recently merged community hospitals; created a faculty development program; secured faculty appointments for community preceptors; established a new and evolving compensation model for physicians and incorporated new educational models such as problem-based learning and longitudinal placements.
