Michelle Raines receives 2010 President's Award for Excellence
Michelle Raines, an administrative assistant in the Department of Theatre and Cinema in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech, received the university's 2010 President's Award for Excellence.
The President's Award for Excellence is presented annually to up to five Virginia Tech staff employees who have made extraordinary contributions by consistent excellence in the performance of their job or a single incident, contribution, or heroic act. Each recipient is awarded a $2,000 cash prize.
For the past 13 years, Raines has consistently provided outstanding support for the faculty, students, and staff in the Department of Theatre and Cinema. In her position, she provides general administrative support for all department faculty; maintains academic records and documentation related to students and teaching, from recruitment to graduation; handles course scheduling, classroom reservations, and special registration requests; and compiles and prepares promotion and tenure dossiers and special reports.
In 2009, the department significantly increased in size and restructured its curriculum with the addition of the cinema program, formerly part of the Department of Communication. At the same time, the department moved out of the Performing Arts Building and into new facilities in Henderson Hall and Theatre 101.
Throughout those significant events, Raines' contributions to her department went above and beyond her usual extraordinary efforts.
"Michelle was at the very heart of all this work, carrying out her usual duties while simultaneously covering a multifold increase in responsibility," said Patricia Lavender, associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Cinema. "Any one of these major events in the life of a department would be enough to add duties, but to handle everything in one year is nothing short of remarkable."
"She is a tireless, organized, and responsible colleague who devotes herself to her work and exceeds expectations every day," added Patricia Raun, associate professor and head of the Department of Theatre and Cinema. "She sets a standard of excellence for everyone in our program. She models both the skill and the will to pursue established objectives and, through her own hard work, set the example of what it takes to achieve these objectives."
"She has been an extraordinary asset for the Department of Theatre and Cinema and for our Graduate MFA in Theatre Arts Program" said Robert H. Leonard, professor of theatre and director of the Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts Program. "I am in awe of Michelle Raines, who daily is cheerful and has time for everyone who comes into our department."
