The 2025 Staff Excellence Award recipients

Compassionate and positive. Dedicated, thoughtful and hard-working. Exemplifies responsibility and continuous improvement. Professional and accountable, enthusiastic and talented. Goes the extra mile every time. Helpful, patient and kind. Passionate about students and their success.

Sound like someone, or several people, you know? If you’re at Central Michigan University, it’s because you’ve probably met the individuals described – they’re the recipients of this year’s CMU Staff Excellence Awards.

Those descriptions are just a few of the wonderful things that were written about the 20 individuals selected for recognition this year:

• Erin Arbogast, Counseling Program Operations Coordinator in the Department of Counseling, Educational Leadership and Higher Education in the College of Education and Human Services
• AnnMarie Bates, SLP Master Clinical Educator in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions
• Micki Christiansen, Administrative Office Assistant III in the Department of English Language and Literature in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
• Lori Driessnack, Associate Director of Student Services and Director of the Business Residential College in the College of Business Administration
• Alejandro Gradilla, interim director of Multicultural Academic Student Services in the Division of University Engagement and Student Affairs
• Bryan Griffin, Director of Annual Giving, Alumni Relations and Constituent Engagement in University Advancement
• Krista Holtgreive, Ceremonies and Events Coordinator in the Office of the President
• Larry Klaus, Retired Emeritus Chief, CMU Police
• Kathy Lesica-Gardner, Certified Testing Center Coordinator in the Office of Curriculum and Instructional Support
• Donald Long, Landscape Maintenance Operator II, Recycling in Landscape Operations within Facilities Management
• Erica Peters, Executive Assistant to the Provost in the Office of the Provost
• Marcie Otteman, Deputy Chief of Alumni Relations and Constituent Engagement in University Advancement
• Brian Roberts, Manager of Technology Training and Communication in the Office of the Chief Information Officer of Information Technology
• Andrea Roggenbuck, Director of CMU Cares in Residence Life in the Division of University Engagement and Student Affairs
• Amanda Scherr, Ph.D., Associate Director of Academic Planning and Analysis
• Misty Smith, Counseling Practicum and Internship Coordinator in the department of Counseling Educational Leadership and Higher Education in the College of Education and Human Services
• Adam Strom, Administrative Office Assistant III in the School of Health Sciences in The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions
• Jacquelyn (Jackie) Weller, Director of the Child Development and Learning Lab in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Education and Human Services
• Kristi Wood, Project Manager II in the office of University Transformation
• Kim Yates, Assistant Director of the CMU Bookstore and Course Materials in the CMU Bookstore

CMU community members submitted 80 nominations for this year’s awards, sharing stories of exemplary service, compassionate care and seriously Fired Up attitudes. The 15-question nomination forms invited nominators to showcase how their colleagues model the CMU core values, support students and colleagues, and make CMU a wonderful place to live, learn and work.

“There were so many outstanding individuals nominated this year, and every one of them was deserving of recognition. This year’s recipients truly exemplify our Leadership Standards and have been supporting CMU, their colleagues, and our students for years,” said Joe Garrison, co-chair of the CMU Shared Governance Council.

The Staff Excellence Awards are supported by the university’s Office of Human Resources and the CMU Shared Governance Council. Following the nomination period early in the spring semester, a committee of faculty and staff members from the Shared Governance Council reviewed all submissions and selected this year’s recipients.

“The Shared Governance Council enjoys being a partner with Human Resources for this initiative and the reviewers felt uplifted by all the examples shared in the nominations. We had 80 wonderful nominations and could only select a quarter of them for recognition this year,” Garrison said.

The honorees will be recognized in a ceremony held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, September 23, 2025, in the University Center Rotunda. Award recipients will receive special gold name tags, award plaques and a one-year parking pass.