Wellesley Salutes Staff and Union Members During Recognition Celebration

On May 14, Wellesley honored its longtime employees as well as the winners of its peer-nominated Staff Recognition Awards.

Erin Konkle, program director of Civic Engagement in Career Education, received the Agent of Innovation Award. President Paula A. Johnson said Konkle has, according to a colleague who nominated her, “created a vision and executed a model of civic engagement that is truly collaborative and sustainable.” Konkle is involved with students who visit the South Middlesex Correctional Center in Framingham, Mass., where they work with incarcerated women on employment skills and mindfulness practices.

The Division Administrators Meeting (DAM) team, composed of administrative staff within the division of student life, received the Champions of Collaboration Award. Members include Ann Cronin, the Office of the Dean of Students; Paula Budlong and Yolanda Tong, the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life; Cindy Verdelli and Janneen Alves, the Stone Center; Kim Lancaster, the Pforzheimer Learning and Teaching Center; Melissa Saporetti, Health Service; Kelly Chilson, the Class Deans office; and Chelsea Levine, the Slater International Center.

President Johnson said that this group, according to a colleague, “makes all the work of the [student life] division not only possible, but better” and facilitates “more meaningful collaborations across departments through their relationships and shared knowledge.”

President Johnson also congratulated 130 longtime employees celebrating work anniversaries this year—for a total of 2,700 years of service. “I think that number says so much about this institution,” she said. “I hope it is a testament to the kind of workplace Wellesley has provided and will continue to provide.”