Teamwork and Collaboration
(Standing Teams and Special Project Teams)
The team category is open to any group of two or more people, either in a shared department or interdisciplinary unit/taskforce, who have worked together toward a common goal.
This award honors staff teams who exemplify collaboration and cooperation with colleagues, students and the university community and recognizes its transformative impact. The team has developed new approaches, methods and systems to improve organizational effectiveness or has improved the student experience and/or students' learning opportunities. It has demonstrated imagination and creativity in solving problems or fostering change that benefits the university community.
We will award Teamwork and Collaboration awards in two categories: Standing Teams and Special Projects Teams. Standing Teams represent the culture of ongoing teamwork and collaboration for which we strive, whereas Special Project Teams come together temporarily to achieve something extraordinary.
2025 Award Recipient
Center for Transformational Play (CTP)
(Pictured left to right)
Top row: Maila Rible, Avonelle Wing
Middle row: Kaitlin Heller, Jess Kaminsky
Bottom row: John Balash, Elaine Fath
2025 Nominees (Standing Teams)
CMU Postal Services
(Pictured left to right)
Row 1: Larry Whiteherse, Steven Goldberg, Courtney Lepsch, Prashant Lama
Row 2: Ray Perret, Michael Hill, Daniel Dyal, Royal Hendrix, Brian LeMaster, Joseph Provenza, Sandra Jacobs, David Hooper
The Postal Services team’s commitment to collaboration and innovative approaches has a significant positive impact on the student experience. The team’s transformative contributions have demonstrably improved organizational effectiveness and fostered a more supportive and efficient environment for the entire university community.
University Archives
(Pictured left to right)
Emily Davis, Crystal Johnson, Kathleen Donahoe
The University Archives team has expanded the reach of the archives on campus, which is a boon for students, faculty, staff and alumni. It has brought CMU's history to life, which is especially important heading into the university's 125th anniversary.
Integrated Security Services
(Pictured left to right)
Trevor Schrecengost, Lisa McCrimmon, Dan Brady
The Integrated Security Services team is dedicated to keeping the CMU campus safe by providing security cameras.
Executive IT
(Pictured left to right)
Cullen Malley, Joseph Kuntz, Julius Yordnoff
The Executive IT Team has demonstrated exceptional expertise and dedication in ensuring seamless technology support for CMU’s trustees and leadership during critical meetings and events.
Center for Transformational Play (CTP)
(Pictured left to right)
Top row: Maila Rible, Avonelle Wing
Middle row: Kaitlin Heller, Jess Kaminsky
Bottom row: John Balash, Elaine Fath
CTP’s approach to teamwork and collaboration is based on prior research on what makes teams exceptional, a vision of a joyful workplace and an ethical commitment to the well-being of everyone the team engages, including each other. The CTP team has built on this foundation to create a team environment that supports people doing top-quality work while thriving as human beings.
Tepper Doctoral Program Staff
(Pictured left to right)
Lawrence Rapp and Laila Lee
Lawrence and Laila work effortlessly to maintain and improve our daily operations while also providing a welcoming, dynamic and nurturing environment for our students.
Engineering and Public Policy MS Recruiting
(Pictured left to right)
Nesli Ozdoganlar, Kristen Kailer, Julie Mull
Nesli, Julie and Kristen have made outstanding contributions to the recruitment of master’s degree students for the EPP Department. Their proactive collaboration, effort and results-driven mindset have established a standard of excellence that embodies the spirit of this award, reflecting a lasting culture of teamwork and shared purpose.
Dietrich College Communications
(Pictured left to right)
Jason Bittel, Emily Nagin, Stefanie Johndrow, Abby Simmons, Nicole Mitchell
The Dietrich Communications team oversees a diverse portfolio of disciplines and research and works hard every day to equitably support the many departments and constituents. The work the group does elevates the efforts of our community and embodies the notion of their hearts being in the work.
Marketing Team at the Integrated Innovation Institute
(Pictured left to right)
Sarah Friedlander, Phil Geist, Jess Ignasky
Not Pictured: Carly Ochs
The Integrated Innovation Institute’s Marketing team shows transformative leadership, creativity and collaboration, which have reimagined communications and processes, strengthened the institute's community and amplified its impact across and beyond CMU. By centering people and purpose, this team has elevated the student experience, fostered belonging and set a model of excellence.
CMU Rales Fellows Program
(Pictured left to right)
Jamie Moyes, Britnai Nunley, Moises Padilla, Erin Hartung, Markita Briggs
The team consistently displays hard work and dedication as it maintains a program that creates a diverse group of future leaders in the STEM community.
2025 Award Recipient
Federal Transition Data Analytics
(Pictured left to right)
Row 1: Luke Hottinger, Mike Krisky, Kristen Bridges, Brian Hill, Derek Sommer
Row 2: Bruce Stone, Jason Rae, Chelsea Horne, Bo Powers, Alexis Parker, Roman Mitz
Not pictured: Melissa Baker, Elizabeth Callaway, Augie Delbert, Julia Dzurino, Matthew Hoolsema, Brandon Hutton, Chris Lambert, Mike Lopato, Teri McCort, Ken Smith
2025 Nominees (Special Projects Teams)
PaymentWorks Project
(Pictured left to right)
Row 1: Aaron Bertram, Chrissy Moffatt, Monique Polas, Amanda Perkins
Row 2: Lynn DiPietro, Shawn Facchiano, Derek Sommer, Ryan Pasko
Not pictured: Terri Burner, Michele Bonus, Matthew D'Emilio, Joanne Naylor, Carrie Nelson, Jared Pollock, Ronna Puskar, Jeff White
The PaymentWorks Project Team transformed CMU’s supplier onboarding process from a manual, high-risk workflow into a secure, efficient and user-friendly platform. The team’s cross-functional collaboration, strategic use of technology and focus on service delivery significantly reduced fraud risk, improved supplier experience and saved hundreds of staff hours each month.
Future of Financial Planning Project (FFP)
(Pictured left to right)
Row 1: Joseph Rankin, Cassie Carricato, Carey Lynn Libertini, Jennifer Bonfili, Timothy DiSalvio, Brent Carothers
Row 2: Vijay Sai, Ryan Pasko, Jesse Posset, Michael Long, Amanda Perkins, Derek Sommer
Not pictured: Amy Coutu
The Future of Financial Planning Project Team led a complex, university wide transformation in financial planning that replaced outdated, manual processes with a strategic, collaborative and data-driven system. The team’s two years of extraordinary effort eased stakeholder collaboration and modernized CMU’s ability to meet today’s needs and plan for the evolving demands of tomorrow.
Purnell Production Team, Kamala Harris Campaign
(Pictured left to right)
David Randolph, Louis Stein, Amy Nichols, Melissa Lubina, Zach Brown, Thomas Feather
Hosting a presidential campaign event with fewer than three days’ notice is not part of the job description, but the team embraced the challenge. It built bridges across departments, respected the needs of multiple stakeholders and placed shared outcomes above individual responsibilities. The results were exceptional and the university community benefited on every level — from national visibility to cross-unit cooperation to preserving the academic and artistic integrity of a student production learning process.
Grubhub System Migration
(Pictured left to right)
Ben Crane, Rob Siebka, Robby Young
Not Pictured: Zach Peel
This team showed superb collaboration, technical excellence and unwavering commitment during the successful campus-wide migration from the Micros Simphony to Grubhub Ultimate POS system. Despite a significantly shortened timeline and complex cross-departmental coordination, the team delivered a seamless, high-impact implementation that supported Dining Services, non-dining units and the broader CMU community.
Software Engineering Institute Contract Renewal
(Pictured left to right)
Row 1: Michael Wright, Stacie Blakley, Tamara Marshall-Keim, Gail Newton
Row 2: Sandi Noonan, Donna McIntyre, Jerry Pottmeyer, Rebecca D'Acunto
Not pictured: Cassie Carricato, Jill Diorio, Kurt Hess, Kirsten Keister, John Morley, Stacey Rizzo
This team performed its normal duties while working for nearly two years to secure SEI’s new contract to make software a strategic advantage for the Department of Defense. The project was critical to CMU, to SEI’s existence and to the combined efforts of CMU and SEI to improve national security.
Federal Transition Data Analytics
(Pictured left to right)
Row 1: Luke Hottinger, Mike Krisky, Kristen Bridges, Brian Hill, Derek Sommer
Row 2: Bruce Stone, Jason Rae, Chelsea Horne, Bo Powers, Alexis Parker, Roman Mitz
Not pictured: Melissa Baker, Elizabeth Callaway, Augie Delbert, Julia Dzurino, Matthew Hoolsema, Brandon Hutton, Chris Lambert, Mike Lopato, Teri McCort, Ken Smith
Responding to the shift in federal policies in spring 2025, a cross-functional team, drawing from members from the Office of the Vice President for Research, Finance, Computing Services and the Provost’s Office came together with urgency, creativity and exceptional collaboration to to connect administrative data systems and develop tools and methods that would provide insights and answers to an unprecedented set of financial and compliance questions.