News Archives - 2009
Augsburg Employees of the Year
Recently the Augsburg Staff Senate hosted the staff recognition and Employee of the Year event. Staff members with five, 10, 15, 20 and 25-plus years at Augsburg were recognized. The ceremony also included Employee of the Year awards for each division of the College. Nominators read their accolades (excerpts below) for the winners:
President/Campus Ministry/Athletics - Lil Maunu
Student Affairs - Cyndy Rowe
Institutional Advancement - Kathy Rumpza
Academic Affairs - Kathy Fagen
Enrollment Management - Carrie Caroll
Finance and Administration - Bruce Rowe
Pictured [L to R]: President Paul C. Pribbenow, Lil Maunu, Cyndy Rowe, Carrie Carroll, Kathy Fagen. Not pictured: Bruce Rowe and Kathy Rumpza.
Lil Maunu, Campus Ministry Secretary
Comments from Pastor Sonja Hagander
Lil always acts on the verses from Paul's Letter to the Romans, that "nothing, nothing at all will separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." She lives out this hospitality to all whom she meets. Lil has a deep respect for all people. She treats the one who walks into her office and the one who has no place to lay his head at night with the same hospitality and warmth as a visiting laureate. She has Sisu!
Cyndy Rowe, Housing Specialist
Comments from Sarah Griesse
What make Cyndy's performance remarkable and outstanding are the intangibles. Often she hires a student worker to assist her over the summer and during the year. Cyndy teaches the student how to perform the specific job required. However, I watched Cyndy teach the student about office etiquette, what it means to be professional in any role, how to be respectful when a parent is very angry on the other end of the phone, and how to take pride in one's work.
It is for many of these reasons and others that Cyndy keeps relationships with students well beyond their graduation from Augsburg. She attends weddings and shares meaningful moments over the years. Cyndy talks to students for hours about roommate relationships, roommate expectations, and how to make it work. Well-supplied with Kleenex, Cyndy listens, consoles, and gets students to laugh during their mid-college career crisis.
She is truly one of the College's most loyal and trusted stewards. She goes above and beyond daily and lives out Augsburg's mission in all of her work.
Carrie Carroll, Assistant Vice President for Admissions
Comments from Carola Thorson
Our office is an amazing place to work because Carrie sets the tone. Our guests enjoy the atmosphere because Carrie allows us to be ourselves—we are not stuffy, we are fun and smart; we take our work seriously but know when to have a good time. And the cherry on the top is that our office loves to laugh...and Carrie's laugh is usually the loudest.
Please know how deserving Carrie is of this award, not only because she is dedicated, trusting, and flexible, but because it is the culmination of so many wonderful qualities that make her the amazing individual that she is. I am blessed to have Carrie in my life, and believe that I am one of the luckiest people because I get to work with her and call her my friend.
Kathy Rumpza, Creative Director
Comments from David Warch
Kathy's creativity and seemingly boundless energy is infectious. This fiscal year, the volume of projects managed by the Marketing Office will double from 900 projects to over 1,800. Thus far, Kathy has been able to maintain exceptional quality while at the same time improving processes. She keeps her team positive and focused on the right priorities.
While the tangible outputs of Kathy's work are so visible throughout campus, it is her other qualities that I value the most. She is a strategic thinker, creative problem solver, and a thoughtful supervisor. I count on her leadership in our division on a daily basis. She has become an important change agent for our department—willing to question everything we do and propose and implement improvements.
Bruce Rowe, Campus Groundskeeper
Comments from David Draus
Bruce is responsible for the care and maintenance of 24 acres of campus. The Augsburg campus exterior consistently rates high among all who work, live, study, and visit our campus. Each growing season the Augsburg campus grounds transform into an inviting and welcoming green oasis in the midst of our urban environment.
This is all possible through the leadership, dedication, and hard work Bruce provides along with all the associates of the entire grounds crew.
