Business Affairs Colleagues Share Their Gratitude

In this season of gratitude, we want to recognize amazing teammates, colleagues and friends, Read all the heartfelt notes from colleague to colleague below.

To Felicia Thompkins:

“Thank you for all you do and for helping me while I was out on leave and any day I need it!” – Heather Benson

To Kel Dudden:

“Thank you for all your help while I was out and anytime I needed it!” – Heather Benson

To Darlene Johnson:

“She is a very hard worker and a great asset to our team.” – Ron Kelly

To Alex Fernandez:

“Thanks for all the help!”

To Pamela Duff:

“Always willing to assist a teammate in need. She is the epitome of our customer service vision when dealing with the stakeholders within FM. Even though it is not within her wheelhouse she will ensure teammates are taken care of and will also follow up to see if we are satisfied with the response. I sent a request through Pamela’s channels when it was supposed to be through FM 311 and she forwarded the request for me and made direct contact to ensure that the issue was being handled. A week later she came to my office to ask if the issue was fixed. Another case, two of us in the office were locked out and she made a few phone calls to have someone walk over with keys to let us in. Pamela is an awesome person and I want to recognize her ability to provide the customer service we harp on every day.”

To Joey Crocker:

“Joey goes above and beyond every day to make sure the dining services facilities are operating as smoothly as possible. Thank you Joey for everything you do for Chartwells!”

To Curtis Elam:

“Curtis goes above and beyond every day to make sure the dining services facilities are operating as smoothly as possible. Thank you Curtis for everything you do for Chartwells!”

To Pamela Duff:

“Thank you for always taking care of our IT problems in an expedient manner. Your customer service skills shine through.”

To Payroll Team:

“Recently I went on my first out-of-town Payroll Conference and had some “rookie” challenges on my first foray. Thank you to my Payroll Team and Mgr for helping me navigate that journey and for holding down the fort while half of us were gone. You don’t hear this enough but you are a great team to work with.” – Terrie Burris

To Nicole Haire:

“Nicole, I cannot THANK YOU enough for your dedication and leadership over the last six months while our office has gone through several staffing transitions. You single-handedly covered/led all cashiering functions, while onboarding new staff members, grieving the loss of another, and recruiting on their vacancy. All with a customer focused/team-oriented attitude and smile on your face. You’ve been excellent to work with throughout my own onboarding, as the new Bursar. I look forward to the positive changes we will continue to make to the Cashier functions to ultimately improve our processes and delivery of services. Again, I am so THANKFUL for YOU!” – Alicia Bartosch

To Cindy Edwards:

“Cindy, it’s not very often I’ve had the opportunity to write down my thoughts of gratitude for you. You’re a dynamic person and a model leader. You exhibit strength, humbleness, and dignity, amongst so many other things. I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue to learn and grow professionally under your guidance. I’m thankful to have such a wonderful person to share my workday with. You’re simply the BEST! Thanks, Cindy!” – April Edwards

To Sophia Olson:

“Sophia, thank you for all you do for our New Employees and for ensuring they have a great onboarding experience. You have taken the FMNEO program and truly built an incredibly helpful, thorough welcoming experience for our New FM employees.” – Hannah Miles

To Alessandra Pastor:

“Alessandra, thank you for all you have done for our FMHR team. Creating documents with mass training records in your first few weeks was a challenging task, but you did an incredible job! I am grateful for your organizational skills and fresh ideas.” – Hannah Miles

To Estella Tolson-Cox:

“Estella, I so appreciate the work you’ve done with us over the last year and what you contribute to our team. I have learned a lot during our time together and enjoy the camaraderie we have built.” – Rebekah Hartberger

To Beth Rose:

“Beth, I am so glad to have you on our team! I appreciate the work you’ve been doing to learn and support our operations. I have enjoyed getting to know you over the last few months!” – Rebekah Hartberger

To Damian Bess:

“I am very thankful for my Leadership here at UNC Charlotte for choosing Director Bess to run Maintenance Operations. I am particularly grateful for Director Bess who came to UNC Charlotte a little over a year ago because he brought with him the ability to lead and mentor right off the bat. His personality and professionalism is awe inspiring. I can tell that he is “all in” and really cares for everyone under his direction. I enjoy working here because he is here demonstrating daily the attributes I aspire to be a leader.” – Donald Gariepy

To the Business Services Marketing Team:

“I must share my huge appreciation for the Business Services Marketing Team. We’ve welcomed new staff members over the past year who have brought a renewed energy and enthusiasm for the work that we do and fresh eyes to how we do it. The team has worked collaboratively to help each other develop new skills and explore new facets of marketing. Our student workers have brought creative new projects that we wouldn’t have thought of executing on our own. Big thanks goes out to Torrie (our all things web guru), Josh (our one-person high prod team), Jordan (our amazingly gifted marketing intern), Natalie (our former student turned full-time social media expert), Joanna (our absolutely brilliant and gifted artist) and Daniel (our grad intern who brings augmented reality into our portfolio).” – Katie Turner

To Solomon T. Franklin:

“I want to express my gratitude to Solomon Franklin for his leadership and mentorship. Solomon is a visionary, and has the ability to facilitate change for the betterment of the university mission and colleagues. He puts in the time and effort to mentor those under his leadership to help them to grow and flourish, and allows them the autonomy to do so. He supports his teams and walks every step of the way with them, and I am grateful for his guidance. He has shown me that he believes in our team, and values us as individuals. Solomon demonstrates gratitude, respect, and honor for the leadership in our entire unit as well. To be under Solomon’s leadership has been a blessing to me.” – Julie Griffin

To Annie Krieger:

“Annie is always a bright light for me and I truly appreciate her ability to resolve issues and challenges with a smile! She is a great asset to Human Resources and is a joy to work with. Thanks, Annie for all you do!”

To Carrie Smith:

“Your wealth of knowledge and how patient you are with everyone who asks questions always amazes me. There are so many people in the University who rely on you, I’m just glad I came to work for you.”

To Vicki Turman:

“I am so grateful to work with you. Your continued support and all of the help you provide on our project is invaluable. It truly means so much to us.” – Jessica Kapota

To All My Friends on Campus:

“There is no greater Gift than Friendship. Thanks to all whom I call my friend and all you do for me and our campus. I am truly Blessed to be part of a great group of people. I am Thankful for you all everyday.” – Lora Bassett

To Elizabeth Moll:

“You bring such good energy to the work place and I feed off of it. Not only do you have a plethora of knowledge, you know exactly how to communicate and teach things. I just truly appreciate having you around!” – Kara Killough

To Elizabeth Palian:

“Thank you, Elizabeth for always calmly being there for me. For supporting me, encouraging me, and challenging me. Thank you for never saying a harsh word but instead accepting and teaching me how to correct any mistake made. Thank you for teaching me so much in such a short time in the department. You are an example to others on how to lead a team with positivity and encouragement and for fostering an environment of acceptance, community and support. I appreciate you for all you do.” – Julie Hughes

To multiple individuals throughout Business Affairs and Financial Services:

“Our office is thankful to everyone who supported the Bursar team after Nora Miller’s unexpected passing in June 2022. Many helped with cashier window coverage and provided encouragement to our team during that difficult time.” – Greg Verret

To Amanda Caudle:

“It is a joy working with Amanda as our FM project manager for various projects. She’s very attentive, pushes projects and tasks along, and has her internal customer and the University in her best interests.”

To Cindy Edwards:

“Cindy is my hero! She’s ALWAYS available and willing to assist and provide guidance, even when she’s buried in other work.”

To Amy Kelso:

“Amy is incredibly responsive to all legal review and consultation needs. She always makes you feel like you’re the only thing she has going on (which we know couldn’t be further from the truth!).”

To Kathryn Horne:

“Thank you for the hard work you put in every single day. I’ve learned a lot working with you!” – Don Janus

To Damian Bess:

“Thank you for the work you do everyday! I really enjoy all of our projects/initiatives we are working on together.” – Don Janus

To Jack Kitchens:

“You are awesome to work with! Thanks for keeping me on task and for taking so much weight off of me on the ISO documents.” – Josh Parker

To Pamela Duff:

“Always willing to help with a smile.”

To Don Janus:

“Thank you for all of your hard work and for fighting for our team and us as individuals.”

To Rich Steele:

“The last year under your leadership has been great. Thanks for everything you do for our team(s)!” – Don Janus

To Charleata Neal:

“Thank you for all the help! I really value working together!” – Don Janus

To David Love:

“Thanks for all that you do and for being a friend. I hope the best for you in the upcoming year.” – Josh Parker

To Amanda Felock:

“Keep up the good work. You are a bright spot in PDC.”

To Bashir Yusuf:

“Thank you for joining our team. Your smile and positive attitude is contagious and greatly appreciated. Keep up the good work!”

To Melanie Witherspoon:

“Thanks for everything you do to keep the FM department operational!” – Don Janus

To Joey Cochran:

“Joey! You are the man! The campus always looks beautiful!” – Don Janus

To Cat Denis:

“Thank you so much for all the help on the hires this year! Jason, Tim, Greg and I all appreciate you!” – Don Janus

To James Johnson:

“Thanks for being you. I’m glad we get to put up with each other on a regular basis.” – Josh Parke

To Katie Turner:

“Thanks for being a wonderful supervisor! I appreciate that you’ve given me a lot of opportunities to grow in my position and you’re one of the reasons I look forward to coming to work!”

To Don Janus:

“Thanks for being an exemplary leader with a great sense of humor, courage, excellent team building and emotional intelligence. Words alone cannot justify my gratitude. Once employed, You ensured that I settled in seamlessly. God bless you!” – Bashir Yusuf

To Greg Cole:

“Greg, Thanks for being a great companion. You are such a wonderful person with a high level of fairness. You look out for the team and your selfless service is impeccable. You are such a great team player, insightful and purposeful leader. Thanks for your mentorship.” – Bashir Yusuf

To Tim Hartman:

“Tim, your calmness and ever-ready attitude to support the customers is very awesome. Thanks for your mentoring and support. The university community must be proud to have you!” – Bashir Yusuf

To Samir Ouedraogo:

“Samir, thanks for being a great friend. Your Fairness, Calmness and Positive attitude is contagious. Thanks for all the mentoring.” – Bashir Yusuf

To Jason Bernstein:

“Jason, Thanks for your companionship, support and guidance. I have learned a lot from you being a great leader. You are insightful, never late 😉 and awesome.” – Bashir Yusuf

To Josh Parker:

“Josh, thanks for being a great team player. You have shown that you care a lot about the team. Your willingness to go above and beyond to support various team members is impeccable.” – Bashir Yusuf

To Don Gariepy:

“Don. G! Thanks for being a great friend and support. From the first day I started, You have committed to ensure that I succeed. Your job passion is impeccable. You are ever ready to learn and take on more tasks. Thanks for your humor, purpose and vision.” – Bashir Yusuf

To Damian Bess:

“Damian, You have to take me in as a mentee. Thanks for showing a great level of leadership. Your calmness, directives, visions, patience is very contagious! Thank you sir!” – Bashir Yusuf

To Amanda Caudle:

“Amanda – thank you for all you do to support the PDC team. I am grateful for your positive attitude and your willingness to help others.” – Kathryn Horne

To Alicia Wells:

“Alicia – Thank you for all you do to make the UNC Charlotte campus a better place for students and staff. Your commitment is amazing!”

To Doug Walters:

“Doug – Thank you for all you do to keep projects on track and moving forward. I am grateful for your calm and steady approach!” – Kathryn Horne

To Michelle Embry:

“Michelle – Thank you for all you do to support the PDC team. I am grateful for your willingness to help others.” – Kathryn Horne

To Attila Gergely:

“Attila – Thank you for joining our team and working to improve the campus for students, faculty and staff.” – Kathryn Horne

To Jeanine Bachtel:

“Thanks, Jeanine for your hard work, for working with the project managers to keep projects on track. And for listening to me worry out loud!” – Kathryn Horne

To David Bailey:

“Thank you for everything that you do for our department. You are constantly looking for ways to improve existing processes and helping out your teammates. You are greatly appreciated.” – Kendra Williams

To Veronica Harvey:

“Thank you for all your hard work throughout the year, and especially at year-end. Your dedication to making our department better is greatly appreciated.” – Kendra Williams

Thank you for everything you do for Business Affairs!