ITS Recognizes Employee Years of Service and Customer Excellence Awards
University of Kentucky Information Technology Services has recognized employees who celebrated milestone years of service during the year 2021. These 49 employees, ranging from seven different ITS divisions, combined for a total of 760 years of service at UK. ITS also honored student workers who have worked with ITS for two or more semesters.
ITS additionally recognized student, faculty, and staff recipients of their Customer Excellence in Leadership in IT Advancement Award. These award winners were recognized for their leadership in technology and their commitment to furthering IT advancement at the university.
Student recipient Samantha Valentino, senior Journalism major in the College of Communication and Information, was recognized for being one of the original hosts and creators of the Bowman’s Friends podcast and Instagram account. Samantha showed great leadership on these projects and has since taken the role of overseeing the rest of the content creators. One highlight of her work in 2021 was the podcast episode where she interviewed President Capilouto along with other great leaders from UK.
Dr. Susan Odom, faculty member of Chemistry College of Arts & Sciences, was a valued collaborator with ITS - serving on the IT Advisory Council. Dr. Odom was committed to mentoring and supporting women in STEM fields. She co-founded a group to encourage girls to pursue their academic goals and served on the Kentucky ACE Women’s Network. ITS was honored to present the faculty Customer Excellence award to Dr. Odom’s family in memoriam this spring, as she tragically passed in April 2021.
ITS recognized staff member Adam Smith, Executive Director for Academic Advising, for his key leadership and collaboration with Enterprise Applications product development and launch efforts in the Student Support and Advising areas. Adam has created an inclusive, collaborative space for technology teams to partner with Advising, focusing on agility and impactful deliverables. He understands the importance of advocating for the student experience and has worked with Enterprise Applications as well as several campus leadership partners to implement student-focused enhancements to the Advising Hub and the myUK portal.
See a complete list of ITS employees, student workers, and customers honored, see the 2021 ITS Annual Report.