Outstanding Staff Awards

2025 OutSTanding Staff Awards Highlight Reel

Each year, the University of South Florida proudly recognizes employees who go above and beyond in advancing the university’s mission. The hard work and dedication of these staff and administrative employees greatly contribute to USF's success and upward trajectory.

2025 Winners

Employee of the Year
Sponsored by Gabor Financial Solutions

Janelle Hanson
USF Health - College of Public Health

Jorge Armando Rodriguez
Exec Svcs-Compliance & Ethics

2025 Individual Winners

A.J. Topp
SVP CAO-Information Tech
Ashley Lora
Acad Affairs-College of Business
Audrianna Goss
Sar/Man-Academic Advising
Brandon Roberts
Exec Svcs-Intercol Athletics
Brent Forget
USFHealth-Office of Research
Catherine Macaulay Cardinal
Acad Affairs-College of Marine Science
Charmaine Beall
Exec Svcs-Cyber Florida
Dalton Hoffer
Acad Affairs-SASS Undergraduate Studies
Daniel Crawford
Admin Svcs-Parking & Trans
Deb Howard
Acad Affairs-Coll of Arts&Sci
Eddie Richardson
Bus&Fin-Housing & Resident Ed
Giovanni Luciano
Acad Affairs-Coll of Arts&Sci
Grant Gundle
Bus&Fin-University Police
Heather Ward
Exec Svcs-Global Nat'l Security Inst
Ivan Viamontes
Exec Svcs-Internal Audit
Janelle Hanson
USFHealth-College of Public Health
Jannette Brace
SVP CAO-Information Tech
Jena Rossman
Acad Affairs-College of Behavioral & Community Sciences
Jennifer Valko
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Jerome Thomas
Acad Affairs-SASS-Admissions
Jessica Wilson
Acad Affairs-Coll of Arts&Sci
Jill Srofe
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Jorge Armando Rodriguez
Exec Svcs-Compliance & Ethics
Katrina Leffers
SVP CAO-Human Resources
Kelly Pearson
Acad Affairs-Coll of Arts&Sci
Kristi Laribee
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Lauren Baumgartner
Acad Affairs-College of Business
Lauren Siegal
USFHealth-College of Medicine
Leigh West
Research-VP Research
Lesley Brooks
Acad Affairs-Library System
Lisa Farrell
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Melissa Villegas
USFHealth-College of Medicine
Michael Mathon
USFSP-Admin & Financial Svcs
Michelle Campbell
USFHealth-College of Medicine
Michelle Jahn
Acad Affairs-College of Business
Omar Shaheen
Research-VP Research
Renea Forde
Acad Affairs-SASS Comm Dev&Eng
Shane Combs
Acad Affairs-SASS Undergraduate Studies
Tammy Moscato
Acad Affairs-SASS-Health&Well
Torie Doll
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Trang Ly
Acad Aff-USF World
Wanda Wood
Bus&Fin-Controller's Office

2025 Team Winners

Team 1

Allison Madden
Research-Foundation
Ann Comer-Woods
Research-VP Research
Anna Litinskaya
Research-VP Research
Cassidy Delamarter
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Colleen Parker
Research-VP Research
D.J. Pollock
Bus&Fin-University Police
David Scanga
Acad Affairs-College of Education
Dawn Coultas
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Drew Farmer
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Eddie Aikins
Research-VP Research
Elizabeth Nelson
Research-VP Research
Jamie Spurrier
Research-VP Research
Jamila Cowans
Research-Foundation
Karen Garcia-McGowan
Research-VP Research
Kate Evans
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Katrina Leffers
SVP CAO-Human Resources
Kelsey Deck
Research-VP Research
Lauren Parker
Research-VP Research
Laurie O'Brien
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Leelavathy Somasundaram
SVP CAO-Information Tech
Madeline Stoddard
Research-VP Research
Mark McLaughlin
Research-VP Research
Megan Cott
Research-VP Research
Michele Tyrpak
Research-Technology Transfer
Nazek Jawad
Research-VP Research
Noemi Merced
Bus&Fin-Controller's Office
Omar Shaheen
Research-VP Research
Paul Cardoso
Research-VP Research
Sarah Smith
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Saundra Johnson Austin
Research-VP Research
Sue Orr
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Sujie Chen
Research-Foundation
Tracey Marlowe
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Victoria Stuart
Research-VP Research
Xavier Carr
Bus&Fin-University Police

Team 2

Allen Amani
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Ally Rost
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Allyson Norton
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Althea Johnson
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Andrea Ortiz
SVP CAO-Human Resources
Andres Faza
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Anne Scott
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Ashley Rodrigues
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Beth Pierce
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Britt Self
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Bryan Dos Reis
Acad Affairs-Innovative Ed
Caitlyn Roberts-Lambert
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Carly Plate
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Cassidy Delamarter
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Cynthia Brown Hernandez
Acad Affairs-Decision Support / Inst Effect
Daisy Matos
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
David Panton
Acad Affairs-Innovative Ed
David Rosa
Acad Affairs-Library System
Diana Trueman
Acad Affairs-Innovative Ed
Dominika McLean
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Ellyn Couillard
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Emily Limbach
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Ethan Peebles
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Gary Granger
Acad Affairs-Innovative Ed
Ghassan Abdallah
Acad Affairs-Innovative Ed
Grace Beck
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Ilana Thomsett
Acad Affairs-Provost's Office
Jamillia Anderson
Acad Affairs-SASS-Enroll Plan
Jared Brown
Acad Affairs-Innovative Ed
Jason Su
Acad Affairs-Innovative Ed
Jeremy Willis
Acad Affairs-Innovative Ed
Jessica Samaniego
Exec Svcs-President's Office
Jill Hernandez
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
John Cundy
Acad Affairs-Innovative Ed
John Dudley
UCM-Communications&Marketing
John Morgan
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
John Tipton
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Karen Sousa
Student Success
Katherine Bourcier
Student Success
Katie Wagner
Student Success
Kelly Busch
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Kendrick Scales
Student Success
Kiley Mallard
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Krista Lee
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Kyrstin DiMercurio
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Lanie Funaro
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Laura Owczarek
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Laura Hemphill
SVP CAO-Human Resources
Laura Rivera
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Leah Reiney
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Maile Sinclair-Baxter
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Mark Maiellaro
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Martin Espinoza
Acad Affairs-Innovative Ed
Mary Goodwin
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Matthew McDonough
Acad Affairs-Library System
Mayra Morfin
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Michelle King
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Neona Bailey
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Noah Noonan
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Penny Carnathan
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Ryan Hughes
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Sophia Ramesar
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Stacey Sepulveda
Acad Affairs-College of Engineering
Tara Centeno
Acad Affairs-Provost's Office
Tim Sodhi
Univ Advnc-Univ Advancement
Tina Meketa
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Tom Woolf
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Torie Doll
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Tré Smith
UCM-Communications&Marketing
Vanessa Milford
Acad Affairs-Innovative Ed
Wendy Stoneman-Shelby
SVP CAO-Human Resources
Will Tillis
Acad Affairs-Innovative Ed

ELIGIBILITY AND NOMINATION PROCESS

Eligibility

All staff and administrative employees in regular, established positions who are continuously employed from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, are eligible for nomination. To maintain eligibility, an employee must hold an established position for at least thirty days prior to the awards ceremony in order to receive the award. Time spent in temporary (OPS) assignments will not count toward eligibility.

Faculty and temporary employees (both student and non-student) are not eligible for nomination for the Outstanding Staff Awards. However, they are encouraged to participate in nominating staff and administrative employees for recognition.

Nomination Process for the Nominator

Complete the individual or team nomination online using the appropriate 2025 Outstanding Staff Awards Nomination forms during the open nomination period. We will only accept nominations submitted through the online form. Prepare the text of your nomination in advance; we highly recommend writing the body of your nomination ahead of time, using the prompts for the nomination form. You can then copy and paste the text into the fields of the online form.

Process for the Selection Committee

Central Human Resources (CHR) will validate eligibility and then provide the nominations of all eligible candidates to each VP Area Outstanding Staff Award (OSA) Selection Committee for review. CHR will keep copies of all nomination forms.

frequently asked questions

Nomination Questions
Question	Answer
How many employees can be included in a team nomination?	There is no limit to the number of employees who can be nominated for a team award, but each member should have made a significant contribution to the team.
Who can submit a nomination for the Outstanding Staff Award?	Any member of the USF community may submit a nomination for the Outstanding Staff Award. As a OneUSF program, we encourage nominations from team members across all campuses to highlight the wide range of contributions of our staff and administrative employees. We also invite nominations for staff and administrative employees who are essential workers, veterans, and members of historically marginalized groups.
Can someone nominate an employee from a different department or VP area?	Absolutely. An employee can nominate a colleague, supervisor, or someone they work with from another department.
Can someone nominate themselves for an award?	Yes! If an eligible employee would like to nominate themselves for an individual or team award, they are encouraged to do so.
Can someone be nominated for more than one award?	Absolutely. An employee can win an individual and/or a team award.
I would like to nominate a team, but one of its members has only been here for six months. Is the team still eligible?	Yes, though only team members who meet the eligibility criteria will be considered for an award. Team members who are not eligible can still attend the ceremony and cheer for their fellow team members from the audience, but they will not be recognized on stage or receive a monetary award.

Eligibility Questions
Question	Answer
Who is eligible to receive an Outstanding Staff Award?	All regular staff and administration employees (with a position number) continuously employed on a position from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, are eligible for nomination. Faculty and temporary employees (student and non-student) are not eligible to be nominated but are welcome to participate in nominating staff and administrative employees.
Are past winners able to win again?	Yes, there are no limits on the number of times an employee can receive an Outstanding Staff Award.

Ceremony Questions
Question	Answer
When is the ceremony?	The selected winners, their direct supervisors, and Senior Leadership will receive notification of the ceremony date, as well as details regarding parking, guests, and other information to follow. The selected winners will be informed once the selection committee has completed its review and selection.
If I am not a selected winner, can I attend?	Due to space limitations, we regret that not everyone will be able to attend in person. However, we are excited to share that the ceremony will be recorded, and photos will be made available for everyone to enjoy.
How are recipients honored and rewarded?	Each recipient of the Outstanding Staff Award is honored by their area leadership during the annual Outstanding Staff Awards ceremony. They receive a trophy and a $500 monetary award.