The Whiting School of Engineering held its annual Staff Recognition Luncheon on April 8 in the Glass Pavilion, where this year’s Staff Excellence Award winners were announced. Kelly Culotta, the department’s senior academic program coordinator, took home the 2019 “Rookie of the Year” award.
Culotta supports all 600+ computer science majors and minors as a supplemental advisor, working directly with the undergraduates to explain their program requirements and set them up with faculty advisors. Her role also includes course scheduling and resolving classroom scheduling conflicts, providing support to the various student groups connected to the department, and assisting with event logistics.
“Since joining our departmental staff in October 2018 as the first undergraduate program coordinator, Kelly has been a phenomenal employee,” says Joanne Selinski, an associate teaching professor in the department and its director of undergraduate studies. “In a word, she is ‘awesome.’ In a few short months, she has fully gotten up to speed on not only her job duties, but also filling in some current gaps in staffing. She has been instrumental in finding resolutions to difficult academic situations.”
The department also wishes to extend recognition and congratulations to Senior Administrative Coordinator Reatha Holt, who was also nominated for Rookie of the Year, and Senior Systems Engineer Christopher Venghaus, nominated for a Staff Excellence Award.