2015 Awards for Excellence recipients

On April 30, during DASA’s annual end of year celebration, we recognized the notable accomplishments of some of DASA’s hardest working employees. The NC State University Award for Excellence is the most prestigious honor awarded to non-faculty staff members in recognition of meritorious accomplishments, beyond one’s normal job responsibilities.

Fourteen staff members were nominated this year, and three were selected as award recipients.

Dwayne Barnes, University Honors Program

“Dwayne’s recognition is for exemplary performance of his duties including Office Manager for University Honors Program and the Fellowship Advising Office, but also assuming new responsibilities and being proactive at identifying/addressing areas of improvement in UHP. Through Dwayne’s efforts our completion rate has increased, thanks to his dogged pursuit of non­responsive students and his proactive intervention in finding ways for them to complete remaining program requirements. We have put his doggedness to good use in other difficult situations, including with fellowship candidates who can’t quite get all of their information submitted or faculty members who can’t quite respond in a timely manner. Dwayne is always polite and firm, but he gets results!  On his own initiative Dwayne has reworked the UHP facilities to improve the space for the students which increased student usage.”

Justine Hollingshead, DASA Central Office

“February 11, 2015, the NC State community was rocked by news that two alumni and a current student were murdered at their home in Chapel Hill. In the days following, Justine Hollingshead showed leadership, grace, and strength of character in handling this tragic event that brought national attention to NC State. Justine brought together all facets of the university to ensure students were cared for, the families of the victims had university support, and the community at large had a place to heal. She was the conduit through which we were able to host a funeral, a call to prayer, and a candlelight vigil all within 24 hours of learning of the death of “Our Three Winners”. She guided the on-campus response that helped morale on campus and showed that in a crisis, NC State can be an example of what to do on a national stage.”

Mark Tulbert, Center Stage

“Mark’s extreme dedication, beautiful work, strong values, integrity and impeccable professionalism have been in place since day one and remain as strong 20-plus years later. Mark does what it takes to keep Center Stage going with his many permanent duties of design and technical insight.  Mark fully demonstrates the commitment of Center Stage to the land-grant and outreach mission of NC State University. Mark has been instrumental with successful long-term fund-raising and developing marketing materials to increase development activity. We are in Mark’s debt for his excellent, high-quality work.”