Employees honored at DSA reception

The DSA program was established in 1997 to honor outstanding classified and professional staff working in Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma. A selection committee from across the University chooses the winners of the DSA from all those nominated. Award recipients are notified in March.

The eight FS employees nominated are:

• Jay Dahlstrom, GIS/GPS Specialist, Engineering Services
• Serafin Divina and Kum Cha Vicente, Smith Hall Custodian Team, Building Services Department
• Sterling Luke, Outside Mason, Facilities Maintenance & Construction
• Jyoti Naik, UW ADA Architect, Engineering Services
• Laine Noah, Custodian, Padelford Hall, Building Services Department
• Jerrett Roberge, Machinery Mechanic Lead, Facilities Maintenance and Construction
• Katie Savoie, Payroll Manager, Facilities Employee Services 

We asked them to share what being nominated meant to them and what they enjoyed about working at the University:

Jay is a GIS/GPS specialist who works in Engineering Services, part of the Integrated Operations & Engagement department. He has been working in FS for nearly six years, starting out as an undergraduate student employee with Campus Engineering, followed by a one-year fixed duration position prior to his current role.

What is a favorite aspect of your job or working for the University in general?

By working for the University, I remain connected to the great undergraduate experience that I had when I went to school here. Now I’m working to support current students so they have the opportunity to have the same school experience I did.

Is there a particular goal you’re currently working toward?

My main goal is to help Facilities Services implement digital solutions to improve the day-to-day operation and maintenance of campus. For example, we worked with the refrigeration shop to develop online data entry forms for their cooling tower inspections. With these digital forms, the shop is able to replace paper notebooks and view digital inspection results in real time and produce charts to trend the systems.

What motivates you each day — any words of advice or inspiration to share?

There is never a shortage of complex and interesting projects to take on. I get to work with a variety of talented individuals with different backgrounds and perspectives. Everyone that I have worked with truly wants to make the university a better place and when we work together, we can achieve that goal.

What does this recognition mean to you personally and/or professionally?

The nomination shows me that my coworkers value my input and they feel that my contributions are worthy of recognition. Knowing the amount of work they put into preparing the nomination on my behalf means a lot to me.

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

I enjoy fishing, spending time outside, and going on walks and hikes. Each year I go on a fishing trip with my dad to Port Hardy in British Columbia. It’s something we look forward to every year, not just for the fishing but also for all of the wildlife on display — whales, orcas, bald eagles and more. I’m also a huge Husky athletics fan. I’ve been going to home football games since 2000 and attend volleyball, softball, and men’s/women’s basketball games.

Serafin and Kum Cha were nominated as a team for their work as Smith Hall custodians in the Building Services Department. Serafin first began working at UW 25 years ago — one year as a custodian in the HUB, and 24 years within FS. Kum Cha began working on campus 20 years ago — first in Housing & Food Services for just over a year, and 19 years within FS. The pair began working together as a team in Smith Hall in 2014.

What is a favorite aspect of your job or working for the University in general?

SD: I really like being surrounded by the beautiful campus. It's a very nice environment to be part of.

KCV: My favorite part of my job is taking care of my clients. If they're happy, I'm happy.

Is there a particular goal you’re currently working toward?

SD: An important goal we set for ourselves every day is to stay organized. We work well together because we are respectful of one another and make sure we share good communication.

KCV: An ongoing goal Serafin and I have is to always take care of what is needed. We support one another in making sure the building is always clean.

What motivates you each day — any words of advice or inspiration to share?

SD: My advice is to just be happy — I think it’s important to think positive!

KCV: I am motivated by the idea of taking care of my family and the fact that I'm thankful for my job.



What does this recognition mean to you personally and/or professionally? 

SD: It feels great to be recognized! I love it — thank you for the nomination!

KCV: I'm so happy that we have been nominated! It makes me feel proud to represent BSD's custodial team.

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

SD: I love to fish, especially for squid and smelts. I also like spending time outdoors by exploring parks.

KVC: When I'm not at work, I like to spend time with my family. Whenever possible, my husband and I like to go fishing together.



Any additional details you would like to mention?

KVC: We appreciate Smith Hall admin for nominating us, and are thankful for our manager's support.

Sterling is an outside mason with Facilities Maintenance & Construction. A marble mason by trade, he has worked for FS for 30 years. During that time, he has chaired the FS Safety Team for 25 years, and has been serving as a co-chair of the University’s Health and Safety Committee (Group 2-Finance & Facilities) for the past 14 years. 

What is a favorite aspect of your job or working for the University in general?

I would say client relationships! I’m committed to connecting with our customers and understanding their needs. I try to get through work requests quickly and efficiently while working with our customers.

Is there a particular goal you’re currently working toward?

There isn’t a particular goal, but I’m passionate about the safety of our entire campus community. I try to build connections with other people, departments and resources across campus to facilitate that safety, such as with the UW Police Department (UWPD) and Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S).

What motivates you each day — any words of advice or inspiration to share?

I think it’s important to enjoy and cherish change on campus! I really savor the University’s new motto to “Be Boundless” — there’s so much potential in our students, faculty and the staff supporting them. I think growth is important, and a big part of working here is learning from others and growing myself, as well as helping others along their journey.

What does this recognition mean to you personally and/or professionally?

During the the DSA nominee reception, I found out who had nominated me, and they really want me to win! But I looked at all of the people around me, and I believe we’ve already won because of the recognition we’ve received and the community we have.

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

I help out as an artistic and rhythmic gymnastics instructor. It’s been really rewarding to see some of my former students end up as UW students. They might stop me and tell me that I’ve been a part of their growth as a person, and that’s a really valuable thing to be a part of. Sometimes I teach gymnastics to my former students’ children, which is a really neat thing to see.

Jyoti is an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) architect in the Engineering Services group of IOE. She began working in FS nearly two years ago after relocating from Florida. Jyoti has a background in building code compliance and ADA laws, and has been in the field of higher education for 14 years.

What is a favorite aspect of your job or working for the University in general?

I like helping the UW disabled community have easier and better access to programs, services and activities. It is very satisfying to see someone being able to do a task more easily due to the modifications made by the ADA program.

Is there a particular goal you’re currently working toward?

ADA accommodations are not necessarily the same as ADA compliance. The UW Transition Plan that management is working on needs to focus on compliance rather than accommodation. My ultimate goal is to bring UW facilities to ADA compliance.

What motivates you each day — any words of advice or inspiration to share?

It is discouraging some days when I see a person with a disability in need or a major non-compliant building or sidewalk that I can’t fix due to UW and ADA budget constraints. Theodore Roosevelt’s quote “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are” reminds me that no matter how little I get done, I have made it better for at least one disabled person with each project.

What does this recognition mean to you personally and/or professionally?

I feel honored that my colleague and coworkers appreciate my work and felt me worthy of being nominated. I am hoping that the nomination highlights the importance of our efforts to meet ADA compliance across campus to the UW disabled community and the management.

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

Weightlifting, hiking, volunteering, cooking and being a Lighthouse Keeper at the New Dungeness Lighthouse.

Any additional details you would like to mention?

I am an immigrant and a single mom who has survived in the USA since 1993 with no family in the country. It was rough having a newborn son, no job or money and nobody to ask for help. I would like to encourage other immigrants that are struggling and alone to understand that they will get over the initial difficulty and succeed if they persist and work hard. Don’t give up. I feel very fortunate to be an American, work in this country and give my son a college education. My son is my proudest achievement.

Laine works as a custodian in Padelford Hall for the Building Services Department. He has been an FS custodian for nearly 19 years, and was among the first cohort members of BSD’s Stepping Stones for Success Program. This is Laine's second DSA nomination.

What is a favorite aspect of your job or working for the University in general?

My favorite aspect of my job is the strong professional relationships I’ve developed over the years in Padelford Hall. I enjoy responding to my customers’ needs and helping the faculty, staff and students every day. It's our home away from home.

Is there a particular goal you’re currently working toward in your department?

In terms of my huddle team, our goal is to provide the best service to our clients. Even when someone is absent, we know we're responsible as a team to fill in any gaps. Lean helps us do this because any idea we have, it comes with a solution. This makes for a smoother process when it comes to getting work done. 

What motivates you each day — any words of advice or inspiration to share?

What motivates me is the fact that my teammates, manager, supervisor and clients consider me a member of their family.

What does this recognition mean to you personally and/or professionally?

Being nominated for a DSA enforces me to do more to make my customers happy. When you’re encouraged with a nomination, you must do something better. You need to go from better to the best!

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

I spend time with my family, which includes three sons. My youngest is involved with something different every quarter — cross-country, soccer and cello performances — so I enjoy attending all of his events. I like to take care of my home and yard. Also, I make a point of going for walks every day for 45 minutes — even if it’s cold and raining out.

Any additional details you would like to mention?

The fact that I received a nomination is due to the support of my teammates, building coordinator, manager and supervisor. They help me do the best job that I can do.

Jerrett is machinery mechanic lead for Facilities Maintenance & Construction. He will be celebrating his 13-year anniversary in FS this coming July.

What is a favorite aspect of your job or working for the University in general?

My favorite part of working here is being part of a bigger team with a common goal, and serving our clients. I like to go home knowing I’ve done a good job at the end of the day

Is there a particular goal you’re currently working toward in your department?

Trying to maintain our status quo as far as keeping things running!

What motivates you each day — any words of advice or inspiration to share?

Being amongst my coworkers — they’re more than coworkers, they’re actually friends. It’s fun to talk and be around them.

What does this recognition mean to you personally and/or professionally?

Receiving this nomination made me realize that people are watching my work, but it also means that the people that chose me are actually good people themselves in that it takes one to know one. I’m really thankful to be working with a really good group of people.

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

When I’m not at work I enjoy spending time with my family. I enjoy going camping and reading non-fiction. I’m kind of low-key!

Any additional details you would like to mention?

I’m more of a private person actually. The people that know me know who I am.

Katie works as the payroll manager for Facilities Employee Services. She has been working with FS for nine years, beginning with an hourly student position while studying social work, then advanced to Payroll Coordinator. This is Katie’s second DSA nomination.

What is a favorite aspect of your job or working for the University in general?

I really like working within Facilities Services because of its approach to learn, adapt and innovate; working at the University has shown me that’s in the DNA of everything on campus. We're encouraged to look at better ways of doing things. I think it's important to question if there’s a better way to doing something.

Is there a particular goal you’re currently working toward?

We’re still working on stabilizing the new Workday payroll system, so one of my overarching goal is to figure out broader training that we can provide for staff and admin.

What motivates you each day — any words of advice or inspiration to share?

I’m always looking for ways to improve pretty much anything and everything—I never want to become stagnant. One quote I find inspiring is by Max DePree: “We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”

What does this recognition mean to you personally and/or professionally?

The nomination means a lot, because it’s coming from customers based on the interactions I had with them during the implementation of the Workday.

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

I like a lot of different activities — especially enjoying nature. While focusing on the launch of Workday, I tried to think of different ways to get outside more. So I started biking to work and continue to do so when possible.

Alicia Halberg and Thomas Roselyn contributed to this article.