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Gerald W. May Staff Recognition Award Presented to Civil Engineering Staff Candyce Torres
December 13, 2010
Candyce Torres, administrative assistant for the Department of Civil Engineering, was one of three recipients of the prestigious 2010 Gerald W. May Staff Recognition Award.
Torres and the two other awardees, Marvin Gurule and Marion McGranahan, were recognized at an awards ceremony and reception on Thursday, Dec. 9 in the Student Union Building.
Awardees are chosen for their exceptional service to the UNM community; positive, effective representation of UNM; initiative and innovative performance of job duties; involvement, dedication and exemplary commitment as UNM staff; and other contributions. Each received a plaque and $1,000.
This year, the Staff Council Rewards and Recognition Committee received 39 nominations. Committee Chair, Kathy McKinstry said, "We were excited to receive so many nominations. It's amazing to read about all the dedicated, hard-working staff that we have on this campus."
Torres joined the Civil Engineering Department as a freshman student employee. Soon after she graduated, the department was in desperate need of experienced staff. “I contacted UNM Temp Services, and by what I call a miracle they sent me Candyce,” said nominator Yolanda Sanchez, department administrator, Department of Civil Engineering.
When Sanchez had to take four months of sick leave, Torres stepped up to fill her place. “She had to hire a student for the front office and several students for research projects, help train our new accountant and learn to prepare faculty contracts, post doc contracts, faculty workload reports, and anything else that fell into her lap,” Sanchez said. “Expecting to come back to mounds of problems, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Candyce had kept things going and it was as if I had never left.”
Above: Civil Engineering Department Administrator Yolanda Sanchez, Candyce Torres, and CE Chair John Stormont
The Gerald W. May Award
The university established an endowment through funds earmarked by past President Gerald W. May for staff recognition. At the end of his tenure, the Regent’s Endowment Fund contributed a matching amount in recognition of his service and assistance in creating a UNM Staff Council. Income from the endowment is used by the Office of the President to recognize outstanding staff who have made significant contributions to the university.