71 Employees Receive Professional Development Certificates
Excellence certificates are presented to Duke employees in seven categories
Between the applause and hugs, a few tears were shed at the Professional Development Excellence Certificate ceremony hosted by Duke’s Learning & Organization Development.
In all, 71 Duke employees received excellence certificates in one of seven disciplines from Learning & Organization Development (L&OD): Administrative Assistant, Executive Assistant, Training, Customer Service, Supervisory, Leadership and Technical.
Among the staff members was Veronica Mills, staff assistant for population health sciences. She received certificates for Administrative Assistant and another for Executive Assistant of Excellence.
She said she was overwhelmed by the support from colleagues and classmates, but very appreciative and grateful of the special recognition.
“I feel my career moving forward because of L&OD,” said Mills, who’s been at Duke for 25 years. “It gives me an extra boost of confidence to continue serving Duke by producing quality work to those I support.”
L&OD presented 84 certificates to University and Health System employees during a ceremony June 7 in the Penn Pavilion on West Campus. Employees have earned 209 certificates since the program launched in 2014.
Another 2,500 employees are currently working on earning a certificate in one of the seven disciplines. To earn a certificate, you must take three to four core courses along with two to four electives. Typically, it’s about 72 hours of L&OD courses.
“People are growing by taking these courses,” said Keisha Williams, assistant vice president of L&OD. “They’re growing personally. They’re growing professionally. They’ve signed up on a very intentional journey to learn about themselves and their work.”
One thing Cassie Lewis learned about herself during her studies is she tended to shy away from conflict resolution. Lewis, a staff assistant for the Sanford School of Public Policy, realized she should ask what people need rather than assume the worst.
Lewis earned a certificate in Customer Service Excellence., her first L&OD certificate.
“It’s huge that Duke and our managers support and encourage us to pursue professional development,” Lewis said. “It makes me feel empowered.”
Here is the full list of graduates:
Supervisory Excellence
Steven Arnold
Holly Chang
Amanda Crew
Puviindran Nadesan
Amarnath Natarajan
Adia Ross, M.D.
Linda Suite
Elizabeth Voorhees
Samantha Wrenn
Training Excellence
Kimberly Boyd
Patricia Dunlop
Catherine Kastleman
Anna Kourouniotis
Technical Excellence
Aguedo Cordero
Mary Margaret Crumbo
Robert Gray
Chandra Lingenfelter
Jason Reed
Cynthia Wilcock
Leadership Excellence
Lamont Bass-Patillo
Laura Bey
Mare Eichmann
Keysha Hall
Antonio Jones
Kennedine Mack
Puviindran Nadesan
Sally Starrfield
Amal Youssef-Elgamal, M.D.
Customer Service Excellence
Kimberly Berini
Shannon Haney
Vivian Jordan
Cassondra Lewis
Mary McDonough
Mary Catherine McKee
Pamela Schwentner
Emily Totherow
Wanda White
Administrative Assistant of Excellence
Maria Ayscue
Jeannette Baker
Beth Baltes
Kimberly Boyd
Kimberly Brooks
Cheryl Chervinko
Shrita Childress
Ahtalya Clark
Wendy Dixon
Robin Faulkner
Lisa Forsyth
Mindy Guzman
Irish Hamilton
Tomika Harris
Tiffany Harrison
Tracy Hatt
Kimberly Jackson
Michele L. Jones
Deborah King
Jennifer Larke
Deborah Lyon
Keneesha Massey
Amy McKee
Veronica Mills
Michelle Parrott
Sherolyn Patterson
Paula Peoples
Anyssa Queen
Doria Scalise
Tiffany Standridge
Cheryl Taylor
Lorraine Turner
Renata Walker
Thomasina Whitley
D. Anne Wrenn
Executive Assistant of Excellence
Maria Ayscue
Jeannette Baker
Kimberly Brooks
Cheryl Chervinko
Shrita Childress
Mindy Guzman
Tiffany Harrison
Michele L. Jones
Deborah King
Veronica Mills
Michelle Parrott
Lorraine Turner
D. Anne Wrenn