University announces September Employees of the Month


LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has announced the September Employees of the Month. They are as follows:

Name: Ronald Allen

Start date: 2009

Current title: Senior plumber at Facilities Services’ Central Plumbing Shop

Ronald Allen
Ronald Allen

What that means: Allen handles ongoing plumbing activities associated with his construction and repair activities. Allen is an expert on the Plumber’s Code Book of Standards and is a master at troubleshooting problems, many of which occur after his normal shift and sometimes on weekends.

Notable: In 2013, before the last home football game Allen was called in Thanksgiving Day to take action to prevent water lines and pipes from freezing. Had pipes frozen, it could have caused major damage to the stadium’s facilities, causing restroom and concessions to be closed down, and this would have required canceling the last home game. His quick action in draining water lines and setting up space heaters to keep lines from freezing prevented the cancellation. Allen’s willingness to sacrifice his Thanksgiving holiday and weekend personifies his dedication to KU. On another occasion when a gas line broke at Oldfather Studies, Allen was able to repair the problem quickly and efficiently due to his expertise in the trade. He does a great job of contributing across units to help others, including Athletics and a wide range of departments throughout the campus. 

 

Name: Charles Neiss

Start date: 2010

Current title: Senior coordinator for the Self Engineering Leadership Fellows program

Charles Neiss
Charles Neiss

What that means: Neiss works as part of a team to coordinate, develop, plan and enact workshops and retreats for 90 Fellows. He works especially close with the junior and senior cohorts, which comprises 48 of the 84 SELF Fellows. He meets biweekly with junior and seniors and oversees these cohorts in putting together several large-scale school events, which includes High School Design, SELF on the Road and an independent senior capstone experience. He also leads the selection process, from applications to awards, for both the incoming freshman Fellow process as well as the rising junior Fellow selection process, which is composed of approximately 375 applications a year.

Notable: Neiss recently designed a new senior capstone experience. He researched and developed this project based on a grant program from Vanderbilt University. As a result, the School of Engineering is now in the process of working with current juniors to develop their senior capstone experience for next year. Neiss also provides additional services to the school by serving as the adviser for ENACTUS, a group that focuses on developing the skills of their members to become socially responsible business leaders.  He also coordinates, plans and enacts the Ice Cream Welcome Social for new students and parents at New Student Orientation, serves as a member of Education Excellence Award team, and plans and promotes corporate sponsorship for Five Days of Finals for all current students within the School of Engineering.