Department Administrator Extraordinaire Keesha Sellars was honored at the annual College of Arts and Sciences end-of-year party on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, as a recipient of the 2023-24 CAS Outstanding Staff Award. Each year, the college awards three CAS staff members a prize of $250 to acknowledge their outstanding contributions over the past year. Keesha’s award, presented by Interim Dean Peter Whiting, recognized her exceptional dedication, hard work, and kindness in her role as department administrator. The awards are featured in the December 17, 2024 edition of The College Bulletin. More details are available here.
Department Chair Weihong Guo, who nominated Keesha together with many other faculty members, commented “Over the time we have worked with Keesha, she has consistently demonstrated an outstanding commitment to both her work and faculty, staff and students in the department. Keesha is an individual who goes above and beyond in every task she undertakes. She approaches her responsibilities with a positive attitude and is always willing to offer assistance to others, often stepping in without being asked. Her kind demeanor and professionalism make her a valued member of the department.” She continued, “In summary, Keesha is the best staff member one department can dream for.”
When Keesha joined the department in April of 2023, she quickly got on board to the new position and worked very hard to learn every detail of her job. MAMS is a large department with typically about 35 faculty members, 35 PhD students, 15 master’s students and hundreds of undergraduate majors. Thousands of students take our classes each semester. Keesha supervises two other staff members, one graduate student service manager and one department assistant. She oversees the staff support of the entire department. Her job is filled with many different tasks, as varied as pre- and post-grant support, budgeting, faculty searches, facilities, managing graduate and undergraduate student payroll, running public lectures, and many others.
Keesha’s heartwarming personality helps build a welcoming and collegial working environment for everyone in the department. Since she arrived, people report feeling much happier working in the department.
Keesha sets an example of continual self-improvement! For example, she received her master’s degree in management in May of 2024. But she cares as much about the success of everyone in the department as about her own development. After every PhD student’s successful thesis defense, Keesha sees to it that the tables are decorated with the student’s favorite color, and orders a celebratory cake to match.
During 2023, the department was displaced from its longtime home in Yost Hall, to create space for construction of the new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building (ISEB), and we were relocated into two separate buildings on different parts of campus. Keesha handled the disruption resulting from the move exceptionally well.
Faculty have commented that “The submission of grant applications is always accompanied by a great deal of stress and last-minute emergencies that need to be addressed quickly and competently. Having Keesha as the department administrator has made all the difference in the world: not only does she provide all the information regarding the budgetary part of the grant in a very timely manner, but she always does it with a smile that melts the tension away. I used to dread the process of submitting proposals, but since Keesha joined our department the proposal related stress level has decreased tremendously. Keesha is always very attentive to all details and all my visitors have remarked at how competent and friendly she is. Her presence and her positive attitude towards everyone are a ray of sunshine for the department atmosphere.” Keesha’s support has made more people in the department feel comfortable to submit grant proposal.
In the fall of 2024, Keesha was elected to the Case Western Reserve University Staff Advisory Council for a two-year term of service. It is an honor to be elected by one’s colleagues, and her willingness to serve as an advocate for her peers is an important contribution to CWRU. Keesha’s work on the Council benefits CWRU by providing valuable feedback regarding staff members’ experiences. In addition, Keesha is actively involved in organizing school supplies donations to local schools.
Congratulations Keesha on this well-deserved award!