The True Blue Award emerged from the most recent Speaking Up: Faculty & Staff Experience Survey. The results showed that feeling valued and recognized in the communities in which they work rated highly among employees.
The True Blue Award complements the recognition programs already in existence at the University of Toronto (U of T) and provides staff and faculty with an opportunity to recognize their colleagues in a more informal way. Award recipients are nominated by their colleagues for embodying U of T’s true-blue spirit.
Read on to find out why.
Elaine Pick
University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC)
“Elaine has been a tremendous support to the students in the Department of Physical & Environmental Science. She shines in her role, offering a friendly face with whom students can gush about their recent successes, seek support [when they] stumble, and raise concerns.
Elaine is always happy to provide wise, measured, and thoughtful advice to the students that come through her door. While this may all sound like part of Elaine’s job description, I can attest to the fact that she goes above and beyond the call of duty.
Over the past year, Elaine’s advice has given me great motivation and confidence as I adapted to the new rhythm of life of a PhD student, while balancing the stress of sponsoring my partner, who recently immigrated to Canada.
One moment stands out to me in particular: at the beginning of October 2015, I had visited Elaine, who listened as I shared some of the obstacles I had encountered while trying to compile the documentation for the sponsorship package. Some items, such as letters from my employer or my job description, were difficult to track down because a PhD student is not a typical ’employee.’
Around the same time, there was a representative on campus explaining to international students how to apply to the skilled worker program. Elaine reached out to that speaker on my behalf and presented me with a neat checklist of next steps that greatly helped me along the sponsorship process.”
Does this remind you of someone you know? Nominate them for a True Blue Award.