A staff member who marked 45 years of service at Osgoode this year, two Osgoode Professional Development employees who have been instrumental in the success of its programs, and a fourth staff member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, were presented with staff recognition awards on December 5 in honour of their contributions.
Jennis Carter, a person of “remarkable grace and humour” who started working in Osgoode’s Materials Distribution Centre in 1969 when students all used cash or cheques (not credit or debit cards) to pay for materials, was presented with the 2014 Wendy Rambo Award. It is given annually to a Law School staff member who has consistently provided a high level of service and made significant contributions to the Osgoode community.
Professor Mary Jane Mossman, who presented the award to Carter, said her nomination was “enthusiastically supported by several current and retired faculty members.” Mossman said the award acknowledges Carter’s “qualities of loyalty, reliability, good humour, good judgment, kindness, professionalism – and her welcoming and cheerful smile.”
Two more staff members who work at OsgoodePD were also presented with Wendy Rambo Awards.
Sophia Seventikidis, Admissions and Client Service Assistant, handles the admission files for the Osgoode LLM programs run out of OsgoodePD. “She has been instrumental to the success of all of the LLM programs and in the last couple of years in particular has taken on the growing number of applications from international students with energy, enthusiasm and empathy,” said Victoria Watkins, Assistant Dean and Executive Director of OsgoodePD. “Every visa applicant has unique hurdles and Sophie takes those on as though they were her own, getting to know each applicant and their family members in the process.”
Watkins also had high praise for Wendy Rambo award recipient Eriona Tarelli, Graduate Program Assistant, for taking on responsibility in the last couple of years for assisting international graduate students once they have been admitted to OsgoodePD programs. “She helps them not only with academic issues, but the many other issues which arise when students are far away from home for the first time. We call her the student ‘911,’ which reflects her willingness to help students with anything, anytime.”
And finally, Brenn Kha, New Media and Development Lead in Information Technology Services who worked so hard this past year on the Law School’s website and MyOsgoode redevelopment, was presented with the Louella Sturdy Award. It is given annually to the Law School staff member who has made an outstanding contribution through his or her leadership and teamwork with members of the Osgoode community.
In presenting the award, Anita Herrmann, Director, External Relations and Communications, extolled Kha’s many virtues saying he does his job so conscientiously and with such precision, it is deceiving. “It can lead people to believe that the job is easy – but it’s not – in fact it is very complex and very demanding.” Herrmann closed by saying that in her 30 years at York she has “rarely worked with a staff member who has demonstrated the skill, dedication and leadership” that Kha has.
Pictured, from left, Sophia Seventikidis, Jennis Carter, Eriona Tarelli and Brenn Kha.