The President’s Awards for Excellence honored KSLU General Manager Todd Delaney for unclassified staff service, professor of communication and Honors Program Director Dr. Claire H. Procopio for teaching, associate professor of printmaking Ernest Milsted for artistic activity and professor of chemistry Dr. Thomas Sommerfeld for research. Dr. John L. Crain, right, presented the awards and made announcements about pay raises during the annual awards ceremony.
Zachary Araki/ The Lion's Roar
Faculty and staff mingled at the Fall 2017 Convocation for food, honors and announcements about plans and pay raises.
Convocation was held on Aug. 11. Among President John L. Crain’s announcements was the return to merit-based raises for faculty and staff. Merit-based raises were last applied during the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Evaluations from past years will be considered for individual raises.
“As a result of our projected enrollment and stable state funding, our operating budget for this year is in reasonably good shape, especially in comparison to prior years,” said Crain. “While there’s always reasons to be cautious about future budgets, as my friends in Washington Parish like to tell you, ‘We’re gonna make hay while the sun shines.’ For the first time in my tenure as president, I’m very excited to announce that we will proceed with implementation of a merit pay raise plan for both faculty and staff, of course approved by our board of supervisors.”
Faculty were honored for their service of 25, 30, 35 and 40 years. For the second time in the university’s history, a faculty member was honored for 50 years of service. Professor of history Charles Dranguet, the honoree, attributed his years of service to his enjoyment of the profession.
“I saw a survey today,” said Dranguet. “Seventy percent of the people who have jobs are miserable. I can’t sympathize with them. I’ve never had a job. I’ve never woken up in the morning and thought, ‘Oh, I’ve got to go to school and teach.’ Never. It’s always been a pleasure. That’s why I’ve been here 50 years. I’ve enjoyed every minute at the university.”
Dranguet hoped to see more people in his position in the future.
“The academic profession is a good job source, a good job choice for people,” said Dranguet. “I’d like to see more people staying in the profession longer. I’ve always believed that experience is really the best teacher. I’m looking forward to some other people getting 50 years of service.”
The President’s Awards for Excellence honored Associate Professor of printmaking Ernest Milsted for artistic activity, Professor of chemistry Dr. Thomas Sommerfeld for research, KSLU General Manager Todd Delaney for unclassified staff service and Professor of communication and Honors Program Director Dr. Claire H. Procopio for teaching. Procopio shared her thoughts on the award.
“I was tickled pink,” said Procopio. “It was a nice honor, and I appreciate the university for recognizing. I love teaching as all of my colleagues do. We all like to teach.”
Procopio joined the university in 2005. She explained how she got into teaching.
“My mom’s a teacher,” said Procopio. “My sister has her PhD in communication. She was teaching. Just kind of family tradition.”
Crain’s remarks also included priorities in the university’s plan for the upcoming semester. These priorities included engagement of learners with The Southeastern Promise and construction, collaborative programs such as Connect to Success, thriving in a global society as in the Panama Bilingüe Program, funding and communication such as the recent website refresh. Crain emphasized the success of lion athletes in achieving the priority of engaging people in the university through more than just athletics.
“They excel in the classroom and in the community,” said Crain. “This year, our athletes set a record for academic performance. They won the Southland Strong Community Service award for providing the most hours of community service.”
