CANR staff members recognized during MSU's Breslin Awards

One CANR staff employee received the 38th annual Jack Breslin Distinguished Staff Award and one CANR staff employee received the sixth annual Ruth Jameyson "Above and Beyond" Award June 1.

One CANR staff employee received the 38th annual Jack Breslin Distinguished Staff Award and one CANR staff employee received the sixth annual Ruth Jameyson "Above and Beyond" Award June 1.

Jack Breslin Distinguished Staff Award

Linda (Lynn) Vecziedins

Linda (Lynn) Vecziedins is an administrative assistant II/s for MSU Extension where she performs a variety of administrative tasks necessary to keep the 10 MSU Extension county offices in Districts 7 and 8 running smoothly and efficiently.

Vecziedins has been instrumental in training MSUE supervisory staff in her districts to use a new attendance system, has trained MSUE staff to use the Enterprise Business System and has also functioned as a liaison with MSUE business office staff to relay local questions and concerns to their attention.

In the past five years, MSUE underwent significant transitions in structure, operations and business functions. Throughout the MSUE restructure, Vecziedins was instrumental in communicating procedural changes and helping the team to better understand changes. Vecziedins makes it a point to familiarize herself with the policies and procedures of the university so she is able to communicate information correctly to external and internal clients.

Ruth Jameyson "Above and Beyond" Award

Kevin Turner

''Kevin Turner is the manager of the Swine Farm in the Department of Animal Science. With nine years of service, Turner’s goal for the farm is to provide an exemplary experience for faculty, staff and students, including research and teaching projects. Much of his work with students and stakeholders occurs during evenings and on weekends.

Turner completed his course work and research for his master's degree in animal science this month and is now in the process of submitting his manuscripts to the Journal of Animal Science for peer review.

His passion for mentoring students was featured in the September 2104 issue of Michigan Pork magazine where one student quoted in the article stated, “I didn’t have much pig production experience when I first started, but the lessons I learned working with Kevin gave me the skills, confidence and encouragement to go to graduate school.”

Turner is well-respected by his peers in the department. He was elected to serve as the Animal Science staff representative to the Animal Science Department’s Advisory Council which advises the chairperson on departmental governance. He received the 2014 Outstanding Staff Award for the Department of Animal Science. He has been involved with many outreach activities where he has helped Extension educators with their programs including demonstrations at both the farm and the MSU Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education.

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