Spring award ceremonies to change

St. Bonaventure University officials plan to combine three traditionally separate spring recognition ceremonies into one Spring Awards Ceremony, according to university officials.

Having the Faculty Recognition Awards, the Father Joe Doino Awards and the Annual Recognition Ceremony on different days prevented community members from attending all ceremonies, Sister Margaret Carney, O.S.F., university president, wrote in a press release.

She wrote she hopes this combined event, scheduled for April 14 at 4 p.m. in the Reilly Center Arena, will alleviate the problem and ignite a new tradition.

"We thought we'd take this 150th Anniversary opportunity to start a new tradition at St. Bonaventure," Sister Margaret wrote. "Combining the events into one gives us the opportunity to have a campus-wide grand celebration of service and accomplishments."

Sister Margaret wrote the university will not save money by combining the events.

"The decision to combine the events was not at all a cost-saving effort," she wrote.

The 4 p.m. time slot may conflict with class schedules, but Sister Margaret wrote she hopes it will work out.

"We realize there may be class conflicts. That is always the case," she wrote. "Inasmuch as we expect the event to last (one hour and 45 minutes) with a reception to follow, we are hopeful that all faculty, staff and students can attend at least a portion of the event."

The university plans to distribute its Faculty Recognition Awards, which were previously awarded during commencement weekend, during the April 14 ceremony.

The categories are: the professional excellence in teaching award, the professional excellence in research and publishing award, the professional excellence in service award, the junior faculty award for professional excellence and the adjunct faculty professional excellence in teaching award, according to the Faculty Senate Web site.

However, this may not be the case this year, according to Barry Gan, professor of philosophy and chair of the Faculty Senate's Faculty Status Committee, which handles the nominations. Gan said the Bonaventure community has nominated only one faculty member for an award.

"Of the five awards for Faculty Recognition, probably only one will be given this year since all nominees were from one category only, the Junior Faculty Recognition Award," Gan wrote in an e-mail.

Gan said the faculty senate plans to vote on whether to extend the deadline for nominations.

"If other awards are given, it will be because the faculty senate may decide this Friday to extend deadlines beyond the time of the April 14 ceremony," Gan wrote. "Whether the senate does so or not is anyone's guess. I have put a motion on the floor for Friday's meeting to consider it."

Someone told him the awards weren't advertised well enough, but Gan said he thinks the advertising is about the same as it was last year. He said he doesn't think advertising is the main reason for the low turnout.

"It just suggests to me that everyone is really busy," he said.

The committee, made up of the most recent award winners, accepts and reviews nominations before submitting winners' names to the vice president for academic affairs, according to the 2008-09 undergraduate catalog.

Faculty Recognition award winners each receive $1,500, Gan said.

The Student Government Association and the office of Student Life offer the Father Joe Doino Awards, according to the university Web site.

These awards are given in honor of Father Joe Doino, a former professor and SGA adviser, according to the press release.

Richard Trietley, vice provost for student life, wrote in an e-mail the university typically receives 30 to 35 nominations total and three to five nominations for each category.

Trietley wrote the most popular categories are the Leo E. Keenan Jr. Faculty Appreciation Award, which is awarded to a highly committed faculty member, the Father Gervase White, O.F.M., Staff Person of the Year award, which is awarded to an employee who has greatly aided student life, and the Program/Event of the year.

Father Joe Doino award winners receive an engraved plaque, Trietley said.

Today is the last day for students, faculty and staff to nominate recipients for a Doino award. Those interested can pick up nomination forms in Reilly Center Room 203 or download them from my.sbu.edu, according to the university Web site.

The Annual Recognition Ceremony segment of the Spring Awards Ceremony will honor those who have worked at St. Bonaventure for 10 years or more, according to the press release.

Gan and Theodore Georgian, professor of biology, are among those being honored for 25 years of service, according to the press release.

Georgian wrote in an e-mail he plans to attend the April 14 ceremony because it's fun to share the experience. Out of his 25 years at Bonaventure, one aspect really sticks out in his mind.

"Spending time out in the field (local lakes and streams) with students (and) watching their excitement at seeing the principles of ecology at work in all the beauty of the outdoors," he wrote.

This recognition ceremony segment will also honor two professors who plan to retire at the end of this year - Anthony Farrow, English professor and James White, professor of biology, according to the press release.

In addition to combining these three ceremonies, the university plans to give members of the Class of 2009 bronze 150th Anniversary medallions, which they are asked to wear during Commencement Exercises May 17, according to the press release.

Trietley highlighted the importance of the awards ceremony for Bonaventure.

"We have many unsung heroes at the university who accomplish great things with little or no recognition," Trietley wrote. "This is one small way to demonstrate that the campus community appreciates their service and efforts."e-mail: harperra@sbu.edu