Pierce, Moses, Romani Win Dean’s Staff Awards

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The College of Engineering has selected Judy Pierce and Julie Moses as co-recipients of the 2024 Dean’s Outstanding Service Award. The purpose of this award is to recognize and reward outstanding service by staff members to a department and/or to the College of Engineering. 

Kevin Romani was selected as the recipient of the 2024 Dean’s Outstanding Student Support Award, which recognizes a staff member for significant contributions that enrich the student experience and/or have a positive impact on student development in the College.  

Judy Pierce serves as the Administrative Officer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She is involved in all aspects of finance and human resource management in the department. Pierce is very responsive to requests for service from faculty and staff while exhibiting dedication and a sense of humor.  Her nominators pointed out that she is efficient and direct with questions and directives, and very responsive to work task requests, including indicating when a task will be undertaken. Her extensive work with student societies and her willingness to support students with their budgets, monthly meetings, competitions, and trips overseas are especially appreciated. Pierce's ongoing efforts are an inspiration to her department and the College.

Julie Moses is a pre-award research administrator for the College's Research Development Services (RDS) team. Her role includes assisting faculty in preparing research proposals for submission. In the fall, Moses served as the Interim Director of RDS and, due to staffing leaves and shortages, was effectively the lone member of the team for more than a month. As a nominator indicated, "Her willingness to engage with principal investigators went well above and beyond what would typically be expected as she worked across different levels of the campus community. Simply put, she kept RDS, and in many ways the College of Engineering research mission, afloat." Moses's pleasant demeanor and positive attitude are appreciated by the College. She has earned the highest level of respect from her colleagues both within and outside the College.

Kevin Romani is the Senior Academic Advisor for the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. He serves as the primary advisor for 750 undergraduates and 240 graduate students. Romani is particularly effective at advising students on a wide range of curriculum and career development topics and managing student and administrative issues. He has proven to be a consummate team player. His nominators indicate that he is organized, thorough, exhaustive in his tracking of student progress, and deeply involved in maintaining student pathways to success. Notably, he was praised for assisting students who are returning to the University after an absence plan for degree completion. Romani provides an essential resource for the students in his department.