Community submissions recognize extraordinary service during the pandemic
In April, a request went out to receive submissions from the Salve Regina community to recognize individuals or groups who went above and beyond the call of duty during the coronavirus pandemic. Recognizing and celebrating the hard work of the University’s community helps everyone to stay connected, and it is so important to know that the tireless efforts during this historic moment weren’t overlooked.
Read below to find the submissions, which have been slightly edited for grammar and style.
Community Recognitions During Pandemic:
“I’d like to recognize our president Dr. Kelli Armstrong and her leadership team for their compassion and dedication to the Salve community.”
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“The communications team has been amazing! Their creativity and 24/7 dedication has held us all together as a community.”
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“I’m so grateful to our faculty, who have worked hard to connect with our students online. They are keeping our educational mission front and center.”
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“Shout out to Connelly Clifford for creating so many wellness resources for our students during this time. From the content on the @salve_wellness Instagram page (a newly created Instagram page with over 600 followers already!) to helping create the wellness page on Salve’s website. Before Connelly stepped up to create these resources and support services (peer wellness educators included), this was a huge gap in support for students. Thank you to Connelly for going above and beyond your job description for Salve!”
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“IT staff has gone above and beyond to meet the remote learning demands of the COVID-19 Crisis!”
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“Thank you to the Office of Mission Integration for living the mission by supporting all of Salve’s students through the SalveCares campaign!”
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“Sue Letourneau lives the mission in her work everyday, which has been especially crucial as we’ve been working remotely since March. Sue was able to assemble a mailing project to all of our undergraduate students and made sure to hand deliver the care packages we were putting together to all students still on campus. Her attention to detail is commendable, and her campus partnership and support has meant a great deal to us in the Office of Mission Integration. We’re so grateful for Sue’s dedication, and the second portion of our Salve Cares project would not have been possible if not for Sue and her team. Thank you for everything, Sue!”
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“Thank you to IT, who have collectively done a wonderful job keeping us up and running. I’ve had a few minor tech issues setting up courses, and IT has been so quick to help me get them running. Grateful for you all!”
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“International Affairs, and specifically Aida Neary, have shown tremendous care and real love for some of our most vulnerable students. I appreciate how she checked in and supported students during a very challenging time for them.”
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“Mary Beth Pelletier has recently returned to Salve as the Office Coordinator in Mission Integration. In the few short weeks that she has been here, Mary Beth has contributed in extraordinary ways — coordinating the Salve Cares outreach to our 2000+ undergraduate students with 63 faculty/staff callers and developing social media platforms to share the daily prayers and reflections offered by the Office of Mission Integration during this pandemic. Mary Beth is deeply committed to our mercy mission, and we are so grateful for her contributions to our Salve community!”
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“I would like to nominate Joseph Gugliuzza, video producer/editor in University Relations, for his ‘all-in’ work and willingness to be available on short notice to produce video content for Salve. As a fairly new employee, he moved here and had a baby over the winter. He has attended Zoom meetings with her on his lap (which was adorable!). I give him credit for stepping up and pulling together web content while we are all so glad to see good news.”
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“A thank you to the wonderful, empathetic Myra Edelstein, whose care and concern for her students is so clear. In class the other day, I saw her calm and take care of stressed students who were worrying about registration.”
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“The communications team out of University Relations has been simply marvelous. Building a whole new Virtual Salve website, as well as the initiatives that happened on SALVEtoday, and bringing in so many good stories to help connect the University during this time, along with great videos and social media posts. I am absolutely astounded at the output of this team during such a chaotic time, and I think everyone in the University should be very grateful.”
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“Thank you to all the technical support specialists — Brendan, Taylor, Matt and Colton along with Dick Lee, help desk manager. All of these individuals have been very responsive, helpful and pleasant assisting with laptop setup and computer ‘issues’ during telecommuting. Thank you!”
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“I’m really thankful for our wonderful librarians, who are working so hard to keep access to library resources up and running. Interlibrary loan has been so helpful as I try to work on projects at home. You’re the best!”
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“First and foremost is Susan Letourneau. She always goes above and beyond expectations. She runs a tight ship, takes care of the University’s mailing needs — all kinds like interoffice, personal delivery, and takes excellent care of her staff. She made everyone masks. She is kind hearted, a very caring and giving person — I can’t express enough of how much she does for all who need her. And also I want to mention her staff: Gerard Grant, Debbie Nellis and Peter Dugan. I want to thank IT for being there to help with setting people up with computers so we can work remotely. Colton Langdon installed a part for Design Services copy machine, and he was great. Brian McDonnell has watered our plants; we never asked him to water them, he just has! Also, Joe Gugliuzza, new higher with a baby on his lap during URAs WebEx meetings and taking videos. Kelli Armstrong for being strong and keeping everyone updated. The HR staff. The Office of Mission Integration with Salve Cares calls and all that they do. And the designers in Design Services, working to design postcards, bookmarks and updating sheets for various departments — always there to serve the needs of the University.”
