Jill Fallin and Mandy Melton earn The Chemistry Extra Mile Award
September 27, 2022 | By UNC-Chapel Hill Chemistry Communication
We are pleased to share that Jill Fallin and Mandy Melton are recipients of The Chemistry Fred Young Extra Mile Award.
The annual departmental award recognizes individuals for nurturing a positive environment, demonstrating crisis leadership, embracing collaborative problem solving, innovating new ideas and encouraging team-thinking. This award is given in memory of Fred Young who exemplified these characteristics during his tenure in the department of Chemistry. Just like Fred Young, the awardees go the extra mile in so many ways and their efforts are appreciated by faculty, staff, students, and postdocs.
In the past year, Jill has done an excellent job in handling the Student Services unit all by herself since the departure of her team member. During this time, she has exhibited impressive problem-solving skills to learn new tasks and manage her increased workload. Even with an increased workload, she has been very dependable and helpful to anyone that needs issues resolved. “Jill kept a positive environment and ensured things were getting done even when the workload was overwhelming, all while learning the graduate student rules and guidelines and handling the work of two people. She was a true problem solver by efficiently researching solutions to new problems. Jill deserves accolades for everything she did to keep the academic mission of the unit running, I’m not sure it would been possible without her” said Laura Yurco, Associate Chair of Business Administration. She was recently promoted to Chemistry Student Services Manager in March 2022.
In the past year, Mandy Melton has done a wonderful job in handling a heavy workload for the administrative team during much staff transition. She has exhibited going the extra mile on numerous occasions including learning a new travel system, leading numerous trainings for new staff, creating a system for the automated electronic distribution of contracts previously managed in email and creating new electronic workflows to help streamline requests to the administrative team. “Mandy ensured that tasks were getting done effectively even when the workload could be overwhelming due to staff shortages. Mandy went the extra mile in ensuring she understood how systems work so that she could best support the faculty, postdocs, and students in the department. She also went the extra mile to share knowledge with her teammates by spending hundreds of hours answering questions and training the team. Mandy deserves recognition for going the extra mile” said Laura Yurco, Associate Chair of Business Administration. Mandy was recently promoted to Public Communication Specialist in June 2022.
Jill and Mandy are much admired by their colleagues and are truly deserving of the Extra Mile Award.
Congratulations Jill and Mandy!