Jennifer Chizuk, the Haas School's chief operating officer, and Alice Kubler, assistant dean for budget and operations, were honored with the Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Award on Friday afternoon. This is the highest honor the university bestows on its administrators.
The awards are presented annually to staff and teams who take initiative and go above and beyond in their contributions to the UC Berkeley campus community, in addition to performing all their normal job duties with excellence.
Jennifer Chizuk won the honor primarily for her role in helping to develop the Haas School’s four Defining Principles – Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Beyond Yourself, and Students Always. Since then, the principles have been embedded in many of the school’s business processes, from admissions questions to bringing new staff on board. “The most important change at the Haas School over the last two years may well be codifying of our culture in a set of Defining Principles,” wrote Dean Rich Lyons in nominating Chizuk.
Beyond Haas, Chizuk was commended by Assistant Vice Chancellor for Budget Teresa Costantinidis for her “invaluable” contributions to the Chief Administrators Planning Group and the Professional Degree Fee Systemwide Work Group. Her work on the Haas principles has also provided valuable input into the High Performance Culture initiative that is part of the university’s Operational Excellence campaign.
Alice Kubler was honored for doing an excellent job on several fronts. First, since joining Haas she has established systems and processes with her staff that help maximize the school’s financial resources. This includes recovering $500,000 every year for the past three years. Secondly, Kubler also has taken on the role of strategic space director, creating a Master Space Plan for Haas, leading construction of the state-of-art Koret Learning Center, acquiring offsite leased space for the school, and leading the design phase of the school’s future renovations and construction.
Finally, Kubler’s ability to inspire those around her was noted as her greatest accomplishment. Kubler is known across campus for her dedication as a mentor and coach to staff and student employees. Wrote Chizuk, her supervisor: “She sets very high, almost impossible goals for herself and her team and provides the support to achieve them…She inspires all who come in contact with her (including me) to perform at the highest level.”
“Jennifer and Alice put our four defining principles to work to take our whole school to a higher level—we are very fortunate to have them at the helm,” says Dean Rich Lyons. “Please join me in thanking them for their outstanding service to Haas and to our university.”
This year Chancellor Robert Birgeneau honored 28 individuals and 4 teams drawn from every corner of the campus. The school collects nominations for the Chancellor's Outstanding Staff Awards in the fall.
More information on the Chancellor's Outstanding Staff Award