Winners of College’s 2023 Staff Excellence Awards Named
| In April, the College of Health Professions announced the recipients of the 2023 Staff Excellence Awards. Hayley Melvin, a dental assistant in the Center for Dental Education, was the recipient of the Excellence in Customer Service Award. Jeffrey DeSantis, assistant director of assessment in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies, was the recipient of the Excellence in Performance Award.
Candidates for both awards may be nominated by students, staff, alumni, or faculty members.
Melvin’s nominators wrote: “Hayley takes extra care to keep patient information confidential as she works in the front office answering phones, scheduling referrals to specialists, and scanning patient information. Her ability to communicate with providers, health insurance payers, and patients while checking in other patients without revealing identifying information to those in an audible vicinity is unmatched.”
The award recognizes the staff member whose significant contributions through service to its customers are instrumental in achieving the UAMS mission. Excellence in Customer Service is centered around four components – confidentiality, courtesy, concern, and competence.
The nominators stated: “The portrayal of courtesy and concern for patients and peers is the epitome of Hayley’s personality. She is quick to bring positivity to every phone call, patient appointment, and training opportunity. Hayley continually shows competence through versatility of task completion.
“Although her role as a dental assistant is primary, she actively steps into assistance with front office activities, accreditation preparedness, residency room scheduling, and any other task assigned. The completion of tasks is never in doubt when given to Hayley. She is the epitome of a model employee as she cheerfully assists anyone in need.”
The College of Health Professions’ Excellence in Performance Award is to recognize the staff member whose significant contributions through individual and team effort are instrumental in achieving the UAMS mission, and who best exemplifies the core values of integrity, respect, diversity, teamwork, creativity and excellence.
Jeffery DeSantis holds the 2023 Excellence in Performance Award from the College of Health Professions.
DeSantis’ nominators wrote: “Jeffrey consistently demonstrates integrity in all his interactions with students, colleagues, and management. He is honest, transparent, and always strives to do the right thing, even when it’s challenging. Jeffrey shows respect to everyone he works with, regardless of their position, background, or experience. He values diversity and is inclusive, making everyone feel valued and appreciated.
“Jeffrey is a collaborative team player who believes that the success of the team is more important than personal achievement. He is always willing to help his colleagues, and his positive attitude and willingness to listen and communicate effectively make him an asset to any team. Jeffrey’s creativity and innovative thinking have been key in developing new approaches and solutions to complex problems in assessment and clinical education. Finally, Jeffrey’s unwavering commitment to excellence is evident in his work.”
DeSantis is currently pursuing his doctorate in Higher Educational Leadership at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He holds advanced degrees in Higher Education from Suffolk University, and Interdisciplinary Studies from Boston University as well as a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from SUNY Brockport and a graduate certificate in business from UA Little Rock. His professional interests include program assessment, curriculum development, program accreditation and enrollment management.
“He consistently strives to achieve the highest standards of performance and quality in all aspects of his work. As he completes his work towards his doctoral degree in education, he has applied much of the statistical and technical skills that he assimilated into the development of powerful data used for assessment. In conclusion, Jeffrey DeSantis is an outstanding administrative professional who embodies the core values of UAMS daily. His commitment to these values and his dedication to his work make him a deserving candidate for the CHP Excellence in Performance award.”