Letter From Lyn

Dear team,

One of my goals for the coming year is to cultivate a culture of “mattering” in our division. I’ll be talking about this in several venues, but let’s just start with the essentials. The concept comes from Zach Mercurio, purposeful leadership and meaningful employment researcher, consultant, and public speaker. Mercurio’s fundamental premise is that “every human being is built for purpose, craves meaningfulness, and deserves to be fulfilled in life and work.” For today, let me share just one way in which Mercurio’s concept can help us cultivate an experience of mattering for our staff.

National Council of Educational Opportunity Associations

According to Mercurio, we don’t need earth-shattering, neon-light-blazing pronouncements to let our colleagues and staff know that they matter. Simple, quiet recognition that the work they do is appreciated or that the work is noticed can be transformative. While one would not want to fall into the trap of giving artificial or overblown compliments, cultivating awareness that individuals do matter and training ourselves to notice what they do will go a long way toward creating a culture in which our division staff feel cared for, cared about, and confident that their presence makes us a better team. 

So, in that vein, let me share with you a recognition of one of our division member’s years of dedicated attention to service.

1. Denise Tambasco, Director of TRIO McNair Scholars and TRIO Student Support Services, was recently honored with the Pearl Hill Professional Award at the National Association of Educational Office Professionals (NAEOP) 2021 Annual Conference. This award recognizes “advocacy, tenacity, tireless leadership, and establishing NAEOP and NCEOA or COE (National Council of Educational Opportunity Associations), the voice that responded on behalf of TRIO or TRIO-like students and programs.” 

NAEOP President, Victoria Smith, led into the announcement with these words:

The Pearl Hill Professional Award provides the opportunity to recognize a distinguished active NAOP member who has supported the mission of the NAEOP Board, and to speak to the mission of the NAEOP Board is to take care of you all so you can take care of your students. I honestly cannot think of anyone more fitting of this award than the person I am about to announce. This person has been instrumental in making this hybrid conference come together and, absolutely, I would not be fed, I would not be standing upright, I would not be in the places that I am supposed to be at the right times, and nothing at this conference would have gone as well as it has without Denise Tambasco, who is our recipient of this year’s Pearl Hill Professional Award. 

Denise was unaware that she was to be the recipient of the award, and her thoughts as she was listening to the President’s introduction are priceless. 

When I think of Pearl Hill recipients, I think of the legacy that has been established by those professionals and the deep impact that they have made on the lives of countless students, families, and communities. While I am an alumna of TRIO as a former McNair Scholar, I am relatively new to working in the NAEOP region, so, it didn't occur to me as Victoria was speaking about this year's recipient, that she was talking about me. I figured it was someone associated with the conference and even acknowledged that I had done some of the work that she was mentioning, but I was completely caught off guard when she said my name. I even asked someone sitting next to me if she had actually said my name! I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was this year's recipient. I am absolutely honored and I am completely humbled by the experience.

The announcement received a standing ovation. The accolades are well-deserved, said Denise’s ISU supervisor, Dr. Sari Byerly: “I was not surprised at all when Denise's name was called. Dr. Denise Tambasco is a hard-working professional. As the director of ISU's TRIO Student Support Services and TRIO McNair Scholars programs, she tirelessly works to support low income, first generation students, students of color, and students with disabilities. ISU is fortunate to have such an amazing individual working in our community.”

I wholeheartedly concur with Sari’s sentiments: it is an honor and a privilege to work with and learn from Denise!

Warmly, 

Lyn Redington

Vice President for Student Affairs

   and Enrollment Management