Staff Honoured at 48th Annual University Awards Ceremony

Prof. Stephen Vasciannie, CD, President, University of Technology, Jamaica, addresses members of faculty, staff and specially invited guests at the 48^th annual University Awards ceremony held May 31, 2018 at the Alfred Sangster auditorium, Papine Campus.

University of Technology, Jamaica on Thursday, May 31, 2018 honoured members of  faculty, administrative, technical and ancillary staff for long service to the institution and for outstanding service given in support of the university’s mission of teaching, research and service, at the 48^th annual University Awards ceremony held at the Alfred Sangster auditorium, Papine Campus.

Long service awards were presented for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years. The President’s Awards for Excellence were presented in the categories of research, community service, customer service, instructional excellence, and for excellence in the ancillary, technical and administrative categories. 

Three special recognition awards were presented – the Distinguished Past Student award to Pharmacist, Dr. Winsome Christie; the Special Recognition Award to  Mr. Fernandez Anderson Lecturer, Faculty of The Built Environment and the Vin Spencer Award to the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in recognition of  support for the development of the University.

Union awards were presented by the three university staff unions.  The Staff Entertainment and Sports Association (SEAS) presented the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards.

President, Prof. Stephen Vasciannie, CD in his welcome congratulated the awardees for giving excellence, long and dedicated service to the university.  He specially thanked the Division of Human Resources and Administration led by Mr. Maurice Lewin “for organizing a fitting occasion in recognition of members of academic and administrative staff.”

Recognizing Excellence

The President specially recognised Professor Vernon Buchanan, Professor of Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Computing and Mrs. Patricia Eves-McKenzie, retired UTech, Jamaica Senior Counselor on being awarded the 2018 Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Service to Jamaica in the field of Education.  Professor Vasciannie also acknowledged members of the university community who had been recently appointed to positions of national leadership and service, namely, Mr. Paulton Gordon who was elected new President of the Jamaica Basketball Association (JBA), Mr. Anthony Davis who was appointed Meet Director for the 2018 annual Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championship and Dr. Sean Thorpe on his election as President, Jamaica Computer Society.

Professor Vasciannie went on to highlight recent examples of the university’s accomplishments in its tripartite mission of teaching, research and service.  Among them, improvements in the framework to encourage more research and publications;  significant improvement in students’ response rate in the evaluation of teaching, enhancement of service delivery with respect to transcripts and the extension of opening hours by the Calvin McKain library to include Sundays. 

The President also pointed to infrastructural upgrades on the campus including the new Shared Facilities Building, the SHTM hotel and enhancements to the Caribbean Sculpture Park, the Drawing Room, the Chapel and  improvements to lighting and the general security infrastructure.  He also commended the FiWi Jamaica community service project and other community outreach efforts being undertaken by  faculty and staff.

In pointing the way forward,  President Vasciannie asserted that the institution  “has had a strong past and has a great future ahead of it,”  and called on members of the university community to “redouble our efforts in the areas of student services, student friendliness; research output, productivity and productive partnerships, and in the management of scare resources as we strive to propel UTech, Jamaica forward.”

“Engage Life with Excellence”

Guest speaker, Dr. Wayne Henry, Director General, Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) makes a point during his motivational address at the University Awards ceremony.

Guest speaker at the celebratory occasion was Dr. Wayne Henry, Director General, Planning Institute of Jamaica who delivered a stirring and engaging motivational presentation focused on pursuing life along the lines of excellence. In elaborating on his thoughts, he encouraged the audience to eschew mediocrity and to engage life with excellence in a holistic way.

He pointed to the importance of maintaining a sense of purpose; persevering and pushing beyond first attempts which may have been unsuccessful; undertaking the imperative of investment in continuous self-improvement through continuous learning, physical exercise and wellness, as well as the pursuit of a spiritual life and investment in others.

Dr. Gaunette Sinclair Maragh, Head, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SHTM) who received the President’s Award for Excellence in Research, responded on behalf of the awardees.  She saluted all the awardees and thanked the University for recognizing the hard work and dedication of staff and encouraged members of the University community to continue to contribute to the pillars of teaching, learning and community service.

Special posthumous awards were received by family members of recently departed members of staff, Miss Winnifred Almon, late Lecturer, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management who served the university for 22 years and Miss Gwendolyn Haughton, Admissions Clerk, Office of Admissions and Enrolment Management who was recognized for her over 15 years of service excellence to the University.

Mr. Maurice Lewin, Chief Human Resources Officer delivering the Vote of Thanks.

Chief Human Resources Officer, Mr. Maurice Lewin in moving the vote of thanks noted that the 142 members of staff who received awardees amounted to more than 2,000 years of service to the University.  Mr. Lewin thanked all persons and departments for their support in enabling the successful staging of the 48^th annual University Awards, and specially commended Mrs. Elecia Johnson, Executive Assistant, HRM and the organizing team in the HRM Division, Learning Technologies Support Unit (LTSU), Instructional Media Services (IMS), Calvin McKain Library, the Procurement Unit, Finance and Business Services, the UTech, Jamaica Printery,  University Orator, UTech, Jamaica Choir and Steel Band -  Centre for the Arts, MCs Dr. Kamilah Hylton, Mr. Maurice Colquhoun, and Mr. Oswy Gayle, decorator Ms. Bevon March, caterer, Ms Claudette Lewis, Corporate Communications Unit and the President.

President’s Awards for Excellence

Excellence in Research

Dr. Gaunette Sinclair- Maragh accepts the President’s Award for Excellence in Research from Prof. Stephen Vasciannie, President.  Researcher par excellence, Dr. Sinclair-Maragh has presented at several conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals, books and local newspapers on issues in hospitality and tourism management which include ecotourism,  environmental sustainability and economic development.

Instructional Excellence

Mr. Kedrian James (right), Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering and Computing accepts the President’s Award for Instructional Excellence from Prof. Stephen Vasciannie.  Mr. James has demonstrated excellence in his use of research to support instructional improvement and innovation in the teaching of computer science.  His involvement in the wider community through writing, mentoring of students and their participation in competitions locally and overseas,  have also been noteworthy.

Excellence in Customer Service

Prof. Vasciannie (left) presents the President’s Award for Excellence in Customer Service to Mr. Stephen Tyrell, Records Assistant, Division of Student Services and Registry. Mr Tyrell was honoured for exemplary performance of his duties and for significantly improving customer care in the Student Records Office.

Administrative, Ancillary and Technical Excellence

Administrative Excellence: Miss Yanique Townsend, Administrative Support in the College of Health Sciences receives the President’s Award for Administrative Excellence from President Vasciannie. Miss Townsend was acknowledged for her commitment to the advancement of the College, her innovation in creating solutions, and for going beyond the call of duty to assist her supervisor, colleagues and students in the College.

Technical Excellence:  Prof. Vasciannie (left) presents Mr. Terrence Henry, Technologist, Instructional Media Services at the Calvin McKain Library with the President’s Award for Excellence in the Technical Category. Mr Henry was awarded for his unwavering and exemplary service to the University over 25 years in carrying out his responsibilities to provide technical support in setting up and operating the Public Address System and maintaining audio visual equipment for service to the university community.

Ancillary Excellence: Prof. Stephen Vasciannie (left) presents the President’s Award for Ancillary Excellence to Mr. Cecil Williams, Groundsman for going beyond the call of duty in the excellent  performance of his work.

Distinguished Past Student Award

Mr. Richard Powell, Pro-Chancellor, presents Dr. Winsome Christie, Pharmacist, with the Distinguished Past Student Award.  Dr. Christie who has been chair of the UTech Jamaica Pharmacy Alumni Association (2009 -2017) was honoured for her contribution to the development of the university through her leadership in several initiatives including the raising of $5M by the Alumni Association to refurbish a classroom to a lecture theatre and the establishment of an endowment fund on behalf of the College of Health Sciences.

Special Recognition Award

Pro-Chancellor, Mr. Richard Powell, (left) presents a beaming Mr Fernandez Anderson, Lecturer, Faculty of The Built Environment with the Special Recognition Award. Mr. Fernandez was recognised for his contribution in assisting the Faculty and the University on the use of technology to assist in the delivery of modules online and offline.

 SEAS Staff Sportsman and Sportswoman Award

The Staff Entertainment and Sports Association (SEAS) presented the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the year awards to staff members who have distinguished themselves in their involvement in representing university staff in external competition.  Chair, SEAS, Miss Paulette Brown presents the Sportsman Award to Ryan Forrest and the Sportswoman Award to Ms. Mareka Sutherland-Dwyer.

UNION AWARDS

Special recognition awards were given by each of the three Unions.

UTASA: Mrs. Dennise Haldane, (left), President University of Technology, Jamaica Administrative Staff Association (UTASA) and Administrative Support, presents the award for dedicated service to the Association to Miss Marvette Hall, Administrative Support 2, School of Engineering.

UTASU:   Mrs. Michelle March, Vice President, UTASU, presents Mr. Fernandez Anderson, Lecturer, Faculty of The Built Environment with the University of Technology, Jamaica Academic Staff Union (UTASU) award which he accepts on behalf of Mrs. Joan Lawla, Immediate Past President, UTASU .  Mrs. Lawla was recognized for her outstanding service to the Union.

UAWU: Mrs. Bridgette Johnson-Smith, (left) Chief Delegate, University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) presents Mrs. Stancy Mighty-Dixon,   outgoing Chief Delegate and Laboratory Technician, College of Health Sciences with her award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the Union.

UAWU: Mr. Clayton Williams,(left),  Deputy Chief Delegate, University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU) presents Mr. Orlando Clarke, Technician, UTech, Jamaica Printery with his award for his outstanding contribution to the work of the UAWU.

LONG SERVICE AWARDS

35 YEARS

Chancellor, the Most Honourable Edward Seaga, ON, PC presents citations for 35 years of long and devoted service to the University of Technology, Jamaica to from left, Mrs. Enid Dennis-Barnett, Lecturer, College of Health Sciences, Mrs. Theresa Easy, Lecturer, College of Business and Management and Dr. Glendon Newsome, Lecturer, Faculty of The Built Environment.

30 YEARS

Mr. David Drysdale, University Librarian presents Mrs. Angela Isaacs-Brown, Accommodation Officer  and Dr. Claudette Williams-Myers, Associate Professor, College of Business and Management with their long service awards for 30 years of dedicated service to the University.

  25 YEARS

Mr. David Drysdale, University Librarian presents awards for twenty-five (25) years of service to Dr. Andrew Isaacs, Vice-Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Computing and to Mrs. Simone Scott-Rhone, Business Services Coordinator, Technology Innovation Centre, Joan Duncan School of Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Leadership.

20 YEARS

Professor Colin Gyles, (left) Deputy President presents Miss Denise Allen, Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering and Computing with her 20 years long service award.  At right, Mr. Philmore McCarthy, Council Member presents Mr. Patrick Vassell, Supervisor, UTech, Jamaica Printery with his long service award for 20 years.

 15 YEARS

Mrs. Karen Lewis (right), Office Attendant is a picture of happiness as she accepts her award for 15 years of service to the University from Miss Lisamae Gordon, Legal Counsel.   Mr. Gerald Scale (right), Lecturer, Faculty of Science and Sport accepts his award for 15 years of service from Mr. Ronald Sutherland, Council Member.

  10 YEARS

Professor Vernon Buchanan, Professor of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Computing presents long service awards for ten (10) years to Miss Akeilyah Buckley, Administrative Support 2, Finance and Business Services Division and Mr. Lebert Langley(right) , Lecturer, Faculty of The Built Environment.

Entertainment

The UTech Jamaica Steel Pan band (left) and the UTech, Jamaica Choir led by Hugh Douse, Choir Director, provided superb musical entertainment.

Singer Everton Pessoa of Taylor, Pessoa and Friends engaged an appreciative audience in singing along with him as he performed a medley of well-known reggae songs, much to the enjoyment of Chancellor the Most Honourable Edward Seaga (left) and President, Professor Stephen Vasciannie.

‘Congratulations to all Long Service Awardees.  The full list is presented below.

  UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, JAMAICA

 2017 LONG SERVICE AWARDEES

Ten (10) Years of Service

Fifteen (15) Years of Service

Twenty (20) Years of Service

Twenty- Five (25) Years of Service

Thirty (30) Years of Service

Thirty-Five (35) Years of Service

  End.

Contact:
Michelle Beckford (Mrs.)
Corporate Communications Manager
University of Technology, Jamaica
Telephone: 970-5299
Email: mbeckford@utech.edu.jm