2024 Dean’s Staff Awards
The Dean’s Staff Awards were presented in a joint ceremony with the Faculty Award recipients on November 14.
Instituted through the SVM People First strategic initiative, this inaugural award is the first SVM set to shine a light specifically on staff. With nearly 50 nominations submitted, this recognition not only honors these individuals, but also serves to acknowledge the broader impact of the staff to the SVM community.
The selected recipients demonstrated contributions that encompass the school’s mission including: Advancing animal health; environmental protection; public health; and economic development through high-quality education, research and service programs.
Congratulations to the winners!
Nancy Bei was recognized with the Teamwork Award for her role as a vital mediator and liaison, showing dedication to the philanthropic success of the school. As Manager at the Center for Companion Animal Health (CCAH), Bei skillfully stewards gifts to the center, addresses donor concerns, and de-escalates disagreements to ensure a positive and productive atmosphere.
By effectively mediating with the third-party support group to ensure that their voices were heard and that the school’s funding decisions were agreed upon, she played an instrumental role in securing a multi-million dollar estate gift which will lead to the establishment of a new endowed chair, an endowed research fund, and a current-use research fund dedicated to feline infectious disease research. Throughout this process she showed exceptional communication skills, patience, and neutrality.
Bei consistently maintains meaningful relationships with donors by ensuring that their gift intentions are met and patiently addressing their questions and concerns. Director of Philanthropy Operations Hnouzong Her said, “She is dedicated to addressing their questions and concerns, recognizing that even small gifts today can pave the way for larger contributions in the future. Her warmth, attentiveness, and follow-through consistently foster a sense of connection to UC Davis.”
Bei’s proficiency in teamwork is exhibited through her coordination across a range of team environments. Through strategic marketing and stewardship initiatives, she partners with the Center Director and the communications team to highlight the impact of funding, recognize donor contributions, and inspire continued support to the Center. Through collaboration with the Advancement team, she stewards donors as well as identifies new gift opportunities.
Christopher Caldwell was recognized with the Innovation Award for his outstanding problem-solving skills and quick response in challenging scenarios including the relocation of the Tulare branch of the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory (CAHFS) and the first emergence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in California cattle.
Due to a flooding evacuation in March 2023, the Tulare branch of CAHFS was made non-operational and relocated to a temporary facility at the Veterinary Medicine Teaching & Research Center, and as a temporary measure field necropsy services were offered. Caldwell maintained a problem-solving mindset to swiftly organize the team, tools, and logistics for field necropsy amidst ongoing construction work, respond effectively to the dynamic needs of clients, and seek solutions to maintain necropsy services.
He worked seamlessly and proactively engaged across multiple teams including the Histology, Bacteriology, and building supervisor team to address operational needs. Even after the suspension of field necropsy services due to weather conditions, he continued to ensure the clients’ needs and made sure that they remained confident in CAHFS’ continued support. Remarkably, he participated in the most field necropsies and logged the highest number of miles traveled for the field necropsy service during spring and summer of 2023.
Upon the detection of HPAI in three cows in the Central Valley in August, the first case among cattle in California, Caldwell has ensured rapid coordination between internal teams, external stakeholders, and clients. “A hallmark of Christopher’s contributions has been his tremendous teamwork and commitment to client service,” stated Melissa Macias-Rioseco, Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology, & Immunology at CAHFS.
Kaci Hume was recognized with the Positive Impact award for her contributions to the work environment through enhanced communication, teamwork, and productivity. As Animal Health Technician at the Center for Equine Health (CEH), Hume collaborates closely with faculty, staff, and students across services and departments to manage teaching, research, and outreach needs.
Hume is the leader of the USDA quarantine program at the Davis facility, which serves the West Coast equine community and provides support for the California equine industry. She manages several other responsibilities at CEH with competence, including working with Gourley staff to assign horses to labs within the DVM curriculum, organizing and leading activities for summer programs, and supporting clinicians, residents, staff, and students on individual case needs such as medication changes and emergencies by taking charge of the after-hours phone service.
Throughout her 10 years at the CEH, Hume has shown dedication to the center’s mission and reputation of excellence. In her interim role, she contributed innovative suggestions for improvements and ideas for revenue generation, including budget-friendly ways to improve footing in paddocks and creative methods for handling the staffing needs of a 24/7 facility. When the CEM quarantine program at Templeton Farms was on hold and all quarantine horses were admitted at the Davis location for a few months, she managed an especially busy schedule and significantly higher number of intakes with confidence and skill.
She leads by example in strong and reliable teamwork, often covering weekend shifts, holidays, and extra hours to give colleagues a chance to step away.
“At the same time, Kaci clearly recognizes the strengths of our staff and allowed them to shine individually, giving the independence in their areas of expertise and interest while always being accessible and supportive, fostering a sense of ownership and pride in one’s work,” stated colleagues Kaylie Kingston and Amy Young.
Sarah Sanders was recognized with the Professionalism Award for her excellence in professionalism through skills in teamwork and organization, resulting in the smooth operation of several services. As a Health Technician of the Primary Care Service, Sanders ensures that all is running smoothly in Primary Care while also checking in on nearby services.
In the case of a light schedule in Primary Care, she checks in with management to ensure that the Community Surgery and Oncology Services have appropriate technical coverage. If the other services have coverage, she obtains approval for one or more team members in Primary Care to leave early.
The Primary Care Service has undergone significant changes in the past year and a half, including the hiring of two new doctors and a doctor taking a leave of absence, leading to one of the new faculty becoming interim Chief of Service. Sanders has played a crucial role in adjusting to the new changes. She stepped up immediately to make sure that the new Chief had the support necessary to fill the role.
“I witnessed Sarah on multiple occasions doing emotional check-ins with our new Chief to ensure they were not getting too overwhelmed or taking on too much at once,” said colleague Lisa Sullivan. Additionally, following last-minute changes in receiving and procedure schedules, she worked diligently with the service coordinator and client services supervisor to ensure the smooth implementation of these changes.
Her professionalism encompasses tasks including scheduling Industry Rounds for veterinary students which are biweekly presentation sessions held by a nutrition, pharmaceutical, or laboratory representative discussing new recommendations, advancements in testing, and newly available products. Students have given these sessions high praise, commenting that they are invaluable and exceptional in quality. She was instrumental in obtaining a less invasive Bordetella/Parainfluenza vaccine. She also initiated an in-person Vet Aide Orientation as opposed to the virtual format that had been taking place since the pandemic for undergraduate interns at Primary Care, instilling greater confidence in interns for their first day of internship.
Melissa Simmons was recognized with the SVM Staff Member of the Year Award for her excellence in positive impact, innovation, teamwork, and professionalism. As an Instructional Support Supervisor & Lab Animal Coordinator, Livestock Instructional Support Facilitator, and Cadaver Inventory Coordinator at the Gourley Clinical Teaching Center, Simmons has been instrumental in ensuring that veterinary students have the best learning experience possible.
Simmons works collaboratively with the campus animal units to make sure that cattle brought to the Gourley facility for DVM laboratories are tractable and non-aggressive, which allows faculty instructors to spend more time teaching techniques to students rather than worrying about student safety during handling and physical examination laboratories. When faced with possible shortages of faculty instructors for certain handling labs, Simmons took the initiative and offered to participate herself.
Her innovative thinking has improved the logistics of laboratory learning. For example, in discussing with faculty about possible ways to modify the livestock room used for bovine PE examinations in VET 400 to instruct additional students with anticipated increasing class size, Simmons presented creative and thoughtful suggestions for alternate footprints of stocks and gates to streamline the process of bringing animals in and to be able to examine more animals at a time.
“Melissa is one of those individuals who by her cheerful, ‘can-do’ attitude, and sense of humor makes the SVM a great place to work and teach. She very clearly promotes and makes possible high-quality education programs at the school,” said Dr. John Angelos, Department Chair and Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology.
Read about Faculty Awards presented at this event.