Martha Ezell, Faculty Center
Martha Ezell has served the SSU teaching and learning community for over 12 years, helping faculty create instructional activities that challenge students not only to acquire the knowledge required of a particular course but also develop general critical thinking skills.
She has made it possible for the Faculty Center to offer a Quality Online Learning and Teaching (QOLT) Program as well as institute best practices in online course design and facilitation of Moodle, SSU’s virtual learning environment. Martha goes above and beyond on a daily basis providing training in GoogleSites to build scholarly digital portfolios and other content as well as helping faculty members to apply Universal Design for learning approaches that give students options for demonstrating and publishing what they have learned using a multitude of sources – multimedia, online publishing, digital text and/or graphics.
Several employees endorsed Martha’s nomination and there was a consistent theme about the kind of employee she is – an amazing one!
One faculty member wrote, “I enthusiastically support this nomination for Martha as she has not only tutored me on how to best use Moodle in my classes, but she has also encouraged me to use GoogleSites and been a wonderful colleague and source of inspiration! She has shown me how to integrate technology into teaching and make it fun for students and faculty. My ability to think about these new pedagogical tools is a reflection of Martha’s efforts!” Another said, “Every time I have interacted with Martha, she has been helpful, pleasant and prompt. And I particularly note that she has met with me in person countless times to go over things I needed help with in teaching-related activities. Her service to the institution has helped me and others better serve our students. It is with great pleasure that I nominate her for this award!” And that’s just a couple of the wonderful things Martha’s co-workers had to say about her.
Martha, is a shining example of our values and guiding principles at Sonoma State.
Victoria "Vicki" Irey, Facilities Administration
Vicki Irey works in Facilities as the Work Control Administrator. This year, Facilities implemented a new online work order management system and Vicki has worked tirelessly to understand the new work order system and to help with the implementation and its overall integration with various facilities processes.
Even in the midst of all the stress of a new software implementation, according to her co-workers, Vicki never lost an ounce of enthusiasm or positive outlook. Her co-workers say Vicki always finds time to support them and assists the department wherever she can.
Her positive energy and dedication to the university make her an invaluable part of the Facilities team. She is always collaborative and consistently goes above and beyond for the good of the department. She goes out of her way to make sure others have what they need to do their job while also managing her own challenging workload demands and responsibilities.
Her “can do” attitude and optimistic outlook is contagious and makes such a difference to the work environment and general environment she creates all around her, which comes through in everything she does. Vicki understands the importance of exceptional customer service and she delivers it daily.
Vicki has been with SSU for 28 years, and she is an alumna, graduating in 1989 with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Vicki’s commitment to SSU speaks for itself and she daily models our core values, demonstrating integrity and celebrating excellence in all that she does.
Vicki always has a smile for her co-workers and they’re not sure she knows just how much they truly appreciate her! Vicki is a shining example of what’s right at Sonoma State.