Jim Duffy, Tisha Paredes Selected as Winners of AUA Awards
Jim Duffy
Tisha Paredes
The Association for University Administrators announced the 2014 winners of its J. Worth Pickering Administrator of the Year Award and AUA Monarch Professional Award Wednesday afternoon.
Jim Duffy, associate vice president for academic affairs, is the recipient of the Administrator of the Year Award, and Tisha Paredes, director of assessment, is the winner of the Monarch Professional Award.
Both were surprised with the news during a meeting hosted by AUA President Trey Mayo and Provost Carol Simpson. Members of the AUA board as well as the nominating teams also were present.
Duffy, who joined Old Dominion in 1999 as associate university budget officer, has served in his current position since 2011. His primary duties are to provide financial and management services to the Office of Academic Affairs in the areas of budgeting, resource allocation, faculty hiring, workload analysis and management studies. He also assists college deans and program directors in complying with university administrative policies and procedures.
Included below are excerpts from selected letters supporting Duffy's nomination.
"Jim Duffy's service to Old Dominion University has had a tremendous impact on all areas o the ODU community. Overseeing a $177 million budget for the Office of Academic Affairs, Jim's service has resulted in a redesign of the academic affairs budget process that has provided significant streamlining and focused initiatives. Jim's leadership and decision making is, without fail, always based on evidence and data." - Brian K. Payne, vice provost for graduate and undergraduate academic programs
"At a time when publicly funded universities face significant challenges and demands for greater accountability, Jim has been a pioneer in developing new data gathering and reporting methods, in developing a culture of greater use of data at the institution and in providing training and the dissemination of knowledge of financial forecasting techniques." - Chandra R. de Silva, vice provost for faculty development
"Even though Jim has a very busy schedule, he takes time to respond to financial questions and needs in a timely fashion. He knows how to explain the budget and break it down in terms that even nonfinancial persons can understanding." - Lisa Dunbar, fiscal technician senior, Student Success Center
Paredes joined ODU in 2006 as a member of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment team as the graduate assistant for assessment. She was selected for the full-time position of senior research associate in 2009, and was promoted IN 2012 to her current position as director of assessment, for which she oversees and manages all university assessment activities.
Included below are excerpts from selected letters supporting Paredes' nomination.
"With Worth Pickering, Tisha has been instrumental in the successful implementation of the WEAVE assessment tool across campus. It is likely that no group has been more challenging to work with than faculty, myself among them. Indeed, it is in WEAVE trainings that I first became aware of Tisha. Her patience and encouragement were never-ending both during the trainings and in my phone calls to her asking insane questions or for a bit more help or time to finish the reports." - Mona J.E. Danner, professor of sociology and criminal justice
"Tisha works in the Office of Assessment, which is not everyone's favorite service. However, she has developed an impressive list of 'Friends of Assessment' over the last eight years because of her appreciation of their initial apprehension about assessment, her respect for their work as teaching and administrative faculty, and her leadership of them to accomplish the task as efficiently and effectively as possible. She is a strong advocate both for teaching faculty and faculty development plus students and student success. She is also a strong advocate for administrative faculty." - J. Worth Pickering, assistant vice president of assessment
"While there are many things that come to mind when thinking about Tisha's service to the university, the thing which stands out most in my mind is her work with the reaffirmation of the university's accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The assessment team has considerable responsibilities in two major portions of the reaffirmation of accreditation. One of the most challenging parts of compliance for most institutions focuses on institutional effectiveness. Tisha worked closely with faculty and staff to ensure that all assessment plans and reports were kept current and that they met the assessment team's requirements." - Marty Smith Sharpe, university accreditation liaison, associate vice president for institutional research
"The service Dr. Paredes has done for the university is astounding. It often feels as if she is at every meeting I go to on campus - prepared, central to discussions and unfazed by the workload she must have. I have worked with her most closely on the Quality of University Life Committee and her role on that committee illustrates why her service is so important." - Ruth Triplett, professor of sociology and criminal justice
