Bloomington Council Staff Spotlight

Previously Featured Staff

November 2024

Tara Holbrook

Department: Luddy Informatics

Nominated by: Ann McCranie, Isray Institute

Nomination text: Tara wears many hats, both as a Program Manager for an NSF AccelNet-MultiNet project in which she has handled the many logistics for about 50 long-stay international exchanges of graduate students and early career around the world. Many Fellows come from or come to IU for their visit, but most don't, so she has had to navigate all kinds of challenges with visas, funding, travel, and programmatic issues since 2019. Tara is very patient, detail-oriented, and reliable in this work and keeps all the rest of the project team in line and organized. We could not do it without her. She also is the primary administrative support for a group of informatics faculty associated with the Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research and is the "nerve center" for those faculty. Tara has been with IU for over 15 years now, and chances are, if she doesn't know the answer to something, she knows who will have the answer. She's a great team player.

 

Amanda Lueck

Department: Academic Advising, College of Arts & Sciences

Nominated by: preferred to remain anonymous

Nomination text: As an academic advisor, Amanda is a caring and determined advocate for students. She works diligently to make sure that her advisees receive the most useful information, understand the variety of options they have, and are connected to resources across campus that will improve their experience in Bloomington, academic and otherwise. She supports her colleagues unfailingly, collaborating generously and communicating well. She always answers questions helpfully and excels at sharing her deep knowledge of academic policy. Her knowledge helps the advisors around her succeed in their jobs while her kind and humorous presence in the office brightens their days. Bloomington is a better place to work because of Amanda.

 

Missy Deckard

Department: Borns Jewish Studies Program

Nominated by: preferred to stay anonymous

Nomination text: Missy has been with the program for close to 40 years. She has done it all and seen it all. Currently with staff adjustments she is tackling the responsibilities of two positions. She does it cheerfully and with aplomb. I appreciate her deep knowledge of the program and guidance.

October 2024

Alison Stake

Department: Undergraduate Education

Nominated by: preferred to stay anonymous

Nomination text: As the Student Services Coordinator in Undergraduate Education, Alison is responsible for directly helping staff and students in several offices on a daily basis: Academic and Major Exploration Services, Career Exploration & Student Employment, Health Professions and Prelaw Advising, and Undergraduate Education Records. Her duties are too expansive to list! She is incredibly organized and manages the demands of her role with an unparalleled attention to detail, professionalism, and kindness. She is a beloved member of the team in Undergraduate Education.

 

Abigail Gschwend

Department: Kelley Direct

Nominated by: Kylie Smith, Graduate Accounting and Finance Programs

Nomination text: Abigail is tireless in her efforts to improve diversity in the Kelley Direct Online MBA Program and to provide amazing support and resources to KD students. She was instrumental in creating partnerships with FORTE and ROMBA, organizations that provide great resources and funding for female and LGBTQ+ MBA students. She's also presented at several conferences to share inclusive recruitment and retention ideas with other universities.

 

Carissa Bullman

Department: University Enrollment Services

Nominated by: preferred to stay anonymous

Nomination text: Carissa is a wealth of knowledge and is an integral part of the UES Student Records team. She is very easy to work with and is a compassionate supervisor. She truly cares about our Student Records team, individually and collectively, and cares about the people in the offices with which ours intersects. The work she does for IU positively impacts so many areas across all 9 IU campuses. If Carissa doesn't know the answer, she will either find it or knows the right person to point one to in order to get the assistance needed. Her 20+ years of Registrar knowledge and dedication to a job well done is priceless and we couldn't ask for a better representative for UES Student Records than Carissa. I am so thankful for who she is and all she does.