CSSAC presents Excellence Award
September 24, 2014
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(From left) Cheryl Files, outgoing CSSAC chair; Aggie Ward, 2014 CSSAC Excellence Award winner; and Peggy MacNorton, new CSSAC vice chair. (Purdue University photo/Matt Thomas) |
Aggie Ward is the winner of the 2014 CSSAC Excellence Award. The award, which recognizes clerical and service staff members who perform at outstanding levels, was announced and presented during a Clerical and Service Staff Advisory Committee luncheon Sept. 9 at Purdue Memorial Union. The luncheon honors outgoing and new CSSAC members.
Ward is a secretary in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She received a plaque and $1,500. There were no nominees in the service category for the award this year. The annual award was created by CSSAC and is sponsored by the Office of the Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer and the Office of the Provost. A CSSAC committee selects the winners.
"Aggie is the heart and soul of the Learning Design and Technology program area," wrote Deb Aldridge, administrative assistant in the department in her letter nominating Ward. "She helps the program faculty meet deadlines, stay on task, and complete necessary forms in a timely manner, and she keeps them abreast of new and important changes taking place in the department, college and university. She becomes invested personally in the faculty and students. She gets to know them, and their families, and does all she can to make sure they are happy and adjusting to Purdue. She has helped them with housing, day care and orientation to the area."
Ward thanked CSSAC, the faculty and students in her department and then gave a brief history of her experience at Purdue. She said she reluctantly came to the University in 1989 from South Dakota.
"I was afraid to come but after I arrived in Indiana I had a life-changing experience," she said. "I had planned a trip to California for a Star Trek reunion but I wasn't going to be able to go. The faculty and students raised money so that I could make the trip. It was great. After I came back, there was a sign behind my desk that said 'Aggie Ward – an enterprising secretary.'
"We have the most wonderful faculty and students, who come from all over the world. I meet them and get to know them from the time they apply until they leave. I still keep in touch with many of them. For me, coming to Purdue was the best mistake I ever made."
Ward said she plans to retire in May.
