University honors July, August 2023 Employees of the Month

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has announced Employees of the Month for July and August 2023. These staff members have made outstanding contributions to the KU community.

Winners of the Employee of the Month awards receive the following:

• A surprise visit from the provost or her designee
• A certificate of award
• A biography featured in KU Today
• A $750 gross monetary award.

Nominate an employee for this award by completing and submitting the online or paper Employee of the Month nomination form and returning it to HRM by email or fax to 785-864-5790. More information is available here.

August 2023

Name: Meredith Johanning

Title: Membership and donor specialist, Audio-Reader Network

Meredith Johanning has been employed with KU since July 2014. In her role, Johanning is responsible for helping with fundraisers and events, donor relations and other daily operations within the Audio-Reader Network. Her position requires her to interact with a variety of individuals both within KU and in the community.

Johanning is known for her strong work ethic. Her dedication to her job and her deep desire to assist her co-workers and the people she serves in any way she can has made her indispensable to the Audio Reader Network. With her enthusiasm and strong communication skills, Johanning excels at recruiting and retaining donors, volunteers and listeners, making her a great asset to the department. She always goes the extra mile to ensure every interaction and experience for the people she serves is as pleasant and as personalized to their needs as possible, making herself available to support them whenever she is needed. She meets everyone with a warm, personable approach, even those with a more difficult personality, and she never compromises her professionalism. She puts a lot of effort into ensuring high-quality service regardless of what she is doing, whether it be assisting a donor, volunteer or listener, filling in for a co-worker or helping at an event. A co-worker has said this about her: “Meredith’s 25 hours per week are worth more than most people’s 40 hours per week.”

Like many departments around campus, the Audio-Reader Network has experienced its share of staffing issues over the last few years, but Johanning has never hesitated to step up and take on additional duties to fill the gaps and ease the burden on her co-workers in times of high stress. She frequently volunteers to work a little extra to make sure that the people she serves don’t miss out on services while the program is short-staffed, and she does all of this with positivity and kindness. She has traveled across Kansas and Missouri, even working nights and weekends, to ensure Audio-Reader fundraisers continue without a hitch. She has invested countless hours into these events, striving to give her co-workers and event participants the best experience she can, simply because she cares. Another colleague has this to say about her: “(Meredith) treats everyone with respect while professionally representing Audio-Reader. She maintains her composure when dealing with complaints and displays patience when a volunteer wants to talk at length. In, fact, I’ve never seen her lose her cool. She has the ability to be diplomatic even in the toughest situations. She is always willing to go above and beyond to support the mission of Audio-Reader.”

Name: Chris Rathmel

Title: Custodian for Carruth-O’Leary Hall, Department of Operations

(Editor’s note: Chris Rathmel has since moved to another role at the university.)

Chris Rathmel is being honored for his time as a custodian for Carruth-O’Leary Hall with the Department of Operations. He left a lasting impression on everyone he met with his kindness and sincerity. Rathmel was the only custodial staff member for Carruth-O’Leary and was responsible for unlocking the building each day and ensuring it was a clean and safe working environment by sanitizing the restrooms; vacuuming (and, when needed, deep cleaning) the carpet in hallways, common areas and offices; removing trash and recycling; shoveling snow and other tasks.

Since Rathmel began working at Carruth-O’Leary, the turnaround times on service requests for cleaning and project work were reduced, and many of the building employees commented on his thorough approach. He went out of his way to check the restrooms and other high-traffic areas throughout the day to ensure they were tidy and fully stocked. He checked for and removed ice and snow during inclement weather all through his shift to keep the building safe and accessible.

Rathmel is very flexible, resourceful and adapts quickly to changing environments, which has been an indispensable skill, especially during the pandemic. Rathmel is always fully engaged in his work and happy to lend a hand wherever needed, even if the task asked of him isn’t in his job description.

When he recently discovered a small leak in a hallway, he immediately reported it, and the issue was escalated. The leak seemed to stop on its own, but Rathmel still kept tabs on the area. Because of his attention to detail, it was discovered that there was a steam leak, and when the repairs led to a significant mess in the nearby restrooms, he had it cleaned at once. A colleague said this about him: “I see Chris regularly because I’m in Carruth often, so I get to see him at work and can testify first-hand to how great he is; Chris is a special employee. He genuinely cares about the building and the people in it, and he does whatever needs to be done — because he notices it, not because he’s told.”

Rathmel embodies the core values of Operations with his commitment to excellence, efficiency and customer service. His kindness is infectious, and he built an excellent rapport with his co-workers and the other employees who work in the building. Another co-worker had this to say about him: “Chris’ infectious personality and open kindness are not limited to just Carruth. He’s a bright light to not just campus but his community as a whole.”

July 2023

Name: Madie Hanson

Title: Academic adviser with Jayhawk Academic Advising

Madie Hanson has been working for KU since May 2020 and since then has become known as one of the most student-centered advisers at KU. In her role, she works with undergraduate students. Many of these students are still exploring major options and career paths, and she helps to support them in their search. She also serves as a program developer and event planner.

While advising students who are still undecided on a major can pose additional challenges to an adviser, Hanson has a gift for working with these students. It is evident that she deeply cares for every student she serves by how much she does for them daily. Many of these students are still trying to find their place, possibly struggling academically, or are first-generation students, requiring more time and attention, but Hanson is determined to support them in any way she can. Not only does she do everything in her power to meet the needs of these students, but she often goes out of her way to navigate meetings with parents as well so that she can ensure everyone in the student’s circle of support is comfortable.

She is frequently the last one to leave the office because she chooses to make one last phone call or send one more email on behalf of the students she serves, and she always goes above and beyond to help a student work through any barriers. Advising drop-in students can be particularly challenging, but Hanson not only gives it her all, she flourishes in this environment. A colleague has said this about her: “In Madie’s office, students feel heard and valued as she goes above and beyond to provide resources, navigate barriers and increase confidence. Both students and colleagues can put their full trust in her because they know she will be an advocate for them every step of the way. She is kind, she listens, and she helps both her colleagues and students, and we are all the better for it just by being in her presence.”

Hanson is always looking for ways to be more involved with students outside of the office as well. She often volunteers for things like Jayhawks Give a Flock and other events targeting new students so that she can help in other areas of their academic lives and foster a culture of care and success. She has been involved in NACADA, the National Academic Advising organization, and volunteered on the NACADA conference planning committee last year. She has taken graduate social work classes in the past to learn ways to help her team even more, specifically focusing on how best to serve students in crisis. Hanson’s student-first approach is a central part of everything she does.

Name: Ali Wellinghoff

Title: Office manager, Business Career Services and Student & Academic Services in the School of Business

Ali Wellinghoff has been working for KU since October 2013, and during this time, she has become known as one of the most caring, supportive employees at KU. In her role as an office manager, Wellinghoff supervises eight student workers who operate the front desk of the Academic Advising and Business Career Services units, schedules rooms for BCS for corporate sponsors when they come to interview students, approves all job postings so that students can apply for internships and job positions, helps plan and organize career fairs, maintains the phones and emails from both locations and ensures that they are distributed equitably to the correct people, delivers top customer service with every interaction, organizes birthday celebrations for staff, and identifies and communicates what needs are in the office.

Wellinghoff approaches her work from a professional and proactive mindset. She anticipates the needs of her co-workers and staff and always rises to the occasion to meet them, even when it’s not strictly within her job description to do so. She dedicates hours of her time to ensuring that everyone is taken care of and often volunteers outside of work hours to help complete a task or cover the phones and emails during breaks and holidays when campus is not closed but staff are not in the office. A co-worker has this to say about her: “Ali is a dynamo who just gets things done and doesn’t generally need direction. (She) is one of the best humans I know. She is always willing to help out, she’s compassionate, she’s reliable, and she does it all with a smile!”

Wellinghoff is an exceptionally kind supervisor and co-worker, always going above and beyond to ensure everyone feels welcomed, supported and valued. She makes sure no one’s birthday goes by without being celebrated. During finals week, she always provides her students with care bags filled with treats and healthy snacks so that they can feel fully supported and focus on studying hard, paid from her own funds. Her care doesn’t just extend to her co-workers and staff but to the students, sponsors and visitors she serves as well. She does everything in her power to ensure they are fully welcomed and assisted with patience, thoughtfulness and competency. She pours the extra time she has outside her role at KU into serving the community as well, stepping up to organize the Trick-or-Treat partnership with Hilltop Child Development Center every year, volunteering annually for KU Admissions to deliver yard signs congratulating high school seniors committed to attending the university and frequently initiating fundraisers to support local animal shelters. Another co-worker has said this about her: “Ali is one of the most selfless people at KU and has truly shown her passion in helping the School of Business be the best that it can be through her position and overall dedication to helping others.”