We are excited to announce that two staff members – Kathy Parrish, MBA, and Christina Hendricks, MA – have been awarded 2020–2021 UF Superior Accomplishment Awards for their outstanding contributions to our department and institution during an especially challenging year.
The Superior Accomplishment Awards recognize faculty and staff who have shown efficiency or economy in their work, contributed outstanding and meritorious service, or improved the quality of life provided to students and employees. Each winner is nominated by supervisors, peers, or customers. The award comes with a $200 cash prize, a framed certificate, and a commemorative coffee mug.
Kathy and Christina won in Division 5, which encompasses the six health colleges. They will be considered for university-level awards, which also offer cash prizes, and recognized at a virtual ceremony.
Christina has served as a Web Designer and Administrator for our department for the past four years. She has increasingly taken on more responsibilities and demonstrated excellence in all areas of her duties, including creating high-quality graphics for various publications and presentations, shooting videos, photographing events, designing website content, and managing social media accounts. Christina is meticulous and highly attentive to the needs of faculty and staff, rising to exceed expectations on every request.
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Christina demonstrated an outstanding commitment to our faculty by creating and maintaining a web presence for the Center for Safety, Simulation & Advanced Learning Technologies (CSSALT) open source ventilator project and filming video tutorials for our alternative mask project. This fall, she produced several professional videos to showcase our residency program during virtual open houses. She also recently completed the Managing at UF Supervisory Challenge.
Kathy transitioned to her current position as Executive Research Administrator (Research Administrator II) this past spring during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and has consistently demonstrated an impeccable work ethic and commitment to a superb quality of work. During the pandemic, she worked tirelessly to assist the CSSALT team on the open source ventilator project, sometimes working 12 to 15 hours per day to keep up with the workload. She was instrumental in drafting and completing the ventilator’s Emergency Use Authorization proposal to the Food and Drug Administration.
Since joining the research division, she has made a noticeable and positive impact, playing a key role in the coordination of several key research projects. Kathy’s skill set and fastidious administrative abilities are an asset to our research faculty and our department as a whole; in a short time, she has become a central point of contact and a vital resource for research questions.
Both Christina and Kathy have gone above and beyond to serve our department while consistently demonstrating professionalism, accountability, and excellence. Please join us in congratulating them!