Armed with a mop, cleaning rag and spray bottle, Se Suk Aprille is up early five days a week, tackling the dirtiest jobs on the fifth floor of Padelford Hall before most of the building's occupants arrive.

And, when it came time to consider nominating someone for a 2004 Distinguished Staff Award, the custodian's name made a clean sweep across disciplines that occupy the floor.

"For what it's worth, the day we heard about this award was one of the happiest days on this floor," said Steve Sumida, professor and chair of the Department of American Ethnic Studies. "Not that we're not happy people, but Aprille really deserves it."

For her part, Aprille, who has cleaned the Padelford fifth floor for more than 12 years, says she was very surprised to find she had won an award — she didn't realize she had been nominated.

"They told me to be in the office at a certain time for a call," she said. "It was the president of the University, telling me I was a winner and saying congratulations. I was just shocked."

She shouldn't have been, according to those whose offices she cleans. In a letter signed by four members of the departments of American ethnic studies, comparative literature, American Indian studies and English, who make their home on the fifth floor, Aprille is "central to a sense of community that our units enjoy because of her service and her generosity." The signers provide a long list of evidence to support their endorsement, including:

• She keeps the environs spotless.
• She goes out of her way to get to know the people on the floor and takes an interest in their lives.
• She regularly goes beyond the requirements of the job. Last year, for example, she helped a visiting scholar from Korea hunt for housing and get settled in Seattle. Also, once a year she makes lunch for the entire floor, covering the conference table with tantalizing dishes from her native Korea. "She claims that she does this out of gratitude for our favors to her, but … she clearly contributes more than any other individual to reaffirming our sense of having a workplace community that includes all of us who work here."
• She sings while she works. "It may seem unrelated (to the job), but her voice is astonishingly beautiful," the letter writers state. "She works with fierce energy, and she is joyful at work."

– Rob Harrill

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The signs of Jackie Matthews' success are everywhere.

They are in classrooms around campus, at departmental meetings, symposiums, commencements, plays and special events — anywhere a certified sign language interpreter has been contracted to make the gathering accessible to deaf, deaf-blind or hard-of-hearing participants.

Matthews, sign language interpreter coordinator in the Disability Services Office, works with a pool of more than 50 freelance interpreters to fill needs for students, staff and members of the public at events across the UW campus, assessing client needs, consulting department leaders, coordinating interpreters and helping all the players negotiate solutions that will work for all involved.

It's a job that didn't exist when Matthews was first hired in 1996 — every group on campus provided for its own needs as best it could — and her work in building a program that brought everything under one roof has won her a 2004 Distinguished Staff Award.

Although the attention is gratifying — "It's nice to get this sort of feedback while you're still doing the job, instead of when you're leaving or retiring," she said — Matthews tends to minimize her part in making the interpreter program function as smoothly as it does.

"I certainly don't do this job alone," she said. "I work with an innovative, creative, energetic bunch of people who are constantly solving challenges on this campus. I told them we should have all been nominated."

Her co-workers disagree.

"Jackie surpassed our wildest dreams long ago," Helen Remick, assistant provost for equal opportunity, said. "She organized our efforts, set standards for the interpreters the University hires and established clear procedures for billing. She continually surprises me with her innovative ideas about how to serve students better."

In addition to efficiency and hard work, Matthews is simply fun to be around, according to Kellie McComas, senior computer specialist in Publication Services.

"Everyone loves to work with her," McComas said. "She has the most friendly face on the UW campus, and she is enthusiastic and well liked both inside and outside the UW community."

Terri Dobrich, disability services coordinator in the Disability Services Office, said Matthews regularly goes beyond the task at hand.

"Jackie helped to establish a lunchtime group for those who know how to sign, thereby fostering a social connection between students, employees and interpreters (both novice and professional) and providing an opportunity to keep one's skills current," Dobrich said.

Remick recounted an incident in which a graduate student in the sciences needed an interpreter to translate for a class that involved very specialized, scientific terminology.

"She met ahead of time with the student and an interpreter so that they could agree on signs for the scientific terms and videotaped these signs so that other interpreters who might be working with that student could see the signs," she said.

Matthews, who is also a certified sign language interpreter, smiled when asked about the incident. It was simply a matter of considering the perspectives of the student and the interpreter, then figuring out what would make the relationship as successful as possible.

"In American Sign Language, like any other language, we have a basic terminology for scientific terms, but when you get into highly specialized lingo it becomes a challenge," she said. "So we involved the student, who knew the material very well, and the interpreter. They needed to agree on the way to sign a concept, but also get the English words across because that is what shows up on the test. Then we made a videotape so that other interpreters could have a ‘warm up' in terms of where we were."

For Matthews, such customization, based on the needs of the particular individual and the context in which the communication occurs, is what makes the job fun.

"It is just so varied, and I love it," she said. "As an interpreter, you get to vicariously become involved in a lot of different situations. And as coordinator sometimes I can become actively involved by seeing what we can do to make things work better and be more successful.

"If I didn't have this sort of job, I sometimes think I might be switching jobs every couple of years to keep it interesting."

– Rob Harrill

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Twice a month, a group of pre-and post-liver transplant patients and family members crowd into a UW Medical Center conference room to share stories, ideas, joys and sorrows.

UWMC social worker Stacey McCandlish has led the liver transplant support group for the past eight years. She moderates the discussion with kindness and confidence, preparing patients and families for the moment when they get "the call" that a donor organ is available.

"She listens to our concerns, discerns our needs with keen insight, and guides us through our crises," said Mark Rosenbaum, post-transplant patient and UWMC volunteer. "Through her guidance and inspiration, I continue to come to terms with my fears about transplant."

She begins the group meetings by announcing the newest liver recipients.

"Together we celebrate the gift of life and those on the waiting list are given hope that the call will come when they need it," McCandlish said.

But when a support group member dies, Stacey leads the group through their shared grief, talking about the risks all transplant patients take, while reminding them that the odds are in their favor and the risks are worth taking.

"They are the heroes," McCandlish said. "They are the ones going through it."

McCandlish joined UW Medical Center in 1995 after receiving her master's degree from the University of Michigan. She was assigned to the social work department's transplant team within a few weeks.

"It gives you an amazing perspective on life," she said. "It has shown me that you have to live every day to the fullest."

As the liver transplant social worker, McCandlish is asked to prepare "psycho-social assessments" for more than 350 prospective transplant candidates each year. About 100 liver transplants are performed at UW Medical Center annually.

"This is an assessment of whether the patient can negotiate having a transplant," she said. "We need to know if they can get through it not only physically, but mentally as well. Do they have a support system in place to help them through it?"

She spends an average of 90 minutes interviewing each patient about his or her medical and personal history. Her recommendations are forwarded to an interdisciplinary team that makes the final decision.

"It's never easy when we have to say no to someone," Mc-Candlish said.

She has introduced a number of her patients to Team Transplant, a fitness group for transplant patients that brings awareness of organ donation to the public.

For the past two years, the group of UWMC faculty, staff and patients participated in the Seattle Marathon, with most taking part in the half-marathon portion.

"When it came to race day in 2002, Stacey offered to walk with me the 13.2 miles," Rosenbaum said. "Three miles short of the finish line, I gave up. My legs and feet were so sore. Stacey encouraged me to focus, look within, and believe that I could do it. Through her inspiration, I completed my first half-marathon, just five months post-transplant. I am so grateful to Stacey."

A runner herself, Stacey spent the entire 2003 race walking with a post-transplant patient who has diabetes to ensure he finished the race without complications.

"Not because she had to," Rosenbaum said, "because she cared."

– Craig Degginger

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As director of the Business School's Business and Economic Development Program (BEDP), Michael Verchot and his teams of business school students have worked with dozens of inner-city businesses since 1995. This work has led to the creation and retention of roughly 400 jobs and more than $11.4 million in new revenue. He is one of five staff employees selected from hundreds of nominees to receive a Distinguished Staff Award. Verchot is also a graduate of the UW, where he received his master's degree in business administration in 1995.

Candidates are judged on several criteria, including superior sustained or special one-time contribution to the mission of the unit or the UW; exceptional creativity and innovation; superior responsiveness in delivering service to the unit's clients; clear dedication to high standards; and continual contribution to a positive work environment.

"Michael clearly meets and exceeds these criteria," Business School Dean Yash Gupta said. "He is truly a team player and we are extremely happy that he has been recognized in this manner by the University."

The BEDP assists small-business owners in economically distressed or emerging communities while providing students with an enhanced learning experience. Students, for example, often serve as consultants with minority owned and operated businesses, helping company leaders draft business plans and formulate strategies for growth. More than 100 students participate each year.

"While the award is a personal recognition, I know that it is a team effort that has built this program. So many people have been involved with building our success and I just happen to have the good fortune of receiving this recognition on behalf of them," he said.

But the program, which was founded in October 1995, is perhaps best known for its annual recognition of the top minority-owned businesses in Washington state. In fact, the Minority Business of the Year annual banquet has raised $50,000 in the last three years for scholarships for 20 underrepresented minority students in the Business School.

Michael's colleagues say that through his leadership, the BEDP has expanded its reach well beyond serving the minority-owned business in Seattle's Central Area, Rainier Valley and Chinatown/International District. Under his guidance, the program now is involved with outreach programs serving the Native American and Latino communities in the Yakima Valley area; the Colville Confederated Indian Tribes in central Washington and south Seattle's White Center area.

Eddie Palmanteer Jr., Colville Indian tribal leader and president of the Colville Tribal Enterprise Corp., said Verchot's main contribution has been his advocacy of tribes in promoting economic diversification, networking with the school and tribal leaders and recruiting Native American students to the Business School.

"The goal of our partnership is to create a customized program around the management and business needs of our tribal members," said Palmanteer. "As a visionary, Michael understands the cultural impact on our tribal businesses and our unique tribal status with the state and federal government that impacts laws and sovereignty issues. This unique status allows tribes to define specific tribal regulatory standards relating to such issues as natural resources and the environment."

According to Palmanteer, universities working in tribal communities have not been respected and honored, but, he said, because of individuals like Michael, relationships will continue to grow out of trust and respect.

In his role as faculty director of BEDP, Business Professor Thaddeus Spratlen has worked with Verchot since the program's inception, and believes that Verchot earns top marks in every aspect of the multiple roles he plays as entrepreneurial program developer, innovative team leader and financial support developer.

"His long-term commitments to the program are outstanding," said Spratlen. "In his first year as director, he helped raise about $30,000. He has demonstrated to banking, corporate and private donors that the program works, and he now secures about $350,000 annually. He has clearly made a marked impression on the community."

More than anything, say students, faculty and clients who work with Michael, it's his positive attitude and passion for BEDP that make him the heart of the program whose efforts beat strongly and purposefully.

– Nancy Gardner

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Sometimes, Alan Weldin's job leads to sleepless nights. And it's not just the usual worry about getting work done that keeps him up. As scene shop manager for the School of Drama, Weldin is responsible for the physical safety of the student actors who perform on the sets he's constructed.

It's a job that often involves curbing the ambitions of the graduate students who design the sets. Countless times, he says, he's received requests to have actors swing by a rope from the rafters to the stage in Meany Studio Theatre, an idea that defies physics.

But Weldin is not a man who wants to put a damper on big dreams. Whatever a designer envisions, he does his best to turn into reality, no matter how nervous it may make him. Take the production of Stevedore a few years ago, for example.

"It was in the Playhouse Theatre, and we had a big moving bridge that was on chain motors," Weldin remembers. "The thing moved up and down; people walked on it and under it. We rigged that stuff and I was on pins and needles until the day we struck the set."

But the bridge worked, just as all Weldin's constructions do, because he left little to chance. He spent two years studying structural analysis and design in the School of Architecture just to be able to predict the behavior of the materials he uses. His obsessive devotion to safety is why there have been no serious injuries on drama school sets under his supervision. And it's one of the reasons he is being honored with a Distinguished Staff Award.

Weldin has been quietly making practical magic in the drama school's scene shop for 30 years — the accidental byproduct of his desire to become a silversmith. He came to Seattle intending to enter the School of Art's program in metal arts, but needed a job to establish in-state status. Having studied theater at Michigan State and worked backstage at a professional theater in Connecticut, he got a job as a stage carpenter at Meany Hall, which was then under the supervision of the drama school.

He never got to art school. Instead he rose through the ranks in the UW's backstage world.

"I love working with the creative team that is assembled when we do a production," Weldin says. "I get to work with performing artists and artists who deal in the ephemera of light, those who deal in sound and a host of other specialties. It's really interesting. You bring this disparate group of people together in one place and focus on one particular piece of work."

Weldin builds sets for 10 drama school productions and two operas every year. He says the opera sets are the most challenging, largely because of their size in relation to the size of the shop. Operas are performed on the Meany Hall stage, which is 70 feet wide. The shop isn't even half that size, so sets are built and stored over the summer, without ever being fully mounted until a few days before the show opens. They are, he says, "based on careful measurements and keeping one's fingers crossed."

Needless to say, they always work. As drama professor and frequent play director Steve Pearson says in his nomination letter, "I am consistently astonished and gratified by his expertise, his attention to detail, his high standards and his ability to supervise large projects in an efficient, calm and congenial manner."

That last point is echoed by Weldin's scene shop crew, who joined together to write a nomination letter in which they said he was "such a great supervisor that it almost isn't fair. He ruins the curve for other supervisors."

Weldin laughs when the letter is mentioned. He says he isn't really a supervisor at all. In fact, he's arranged it so that he's the technical director for three shows a year; two of his staff members fill that position for the others. "That's the part of the program I like a lot, that on any given show, somebody else is running the team," he says. "And I truly believe this should have been a team award. Nobody stands alone in this line of work. It's a team sport."

– Nancy Wick

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