Derrick Ozuna Receives 2015 ICES Staff Excellence Award

Derrick Ozuna, administrative services officer working for ICES Professor Michael Sacks, received the 2015 ICES Staff Excellence Award "for contributions to innovation, productivity, and morale.”

One nominator described his merit for the award in depth: "Derrick is an innovator, constantly going beyond the job description. When he studied for and earned a Certified Research Administrator certificate, he proved his dedication to the ICES research mission by becoming both highly educated and accredited for his work on sponsored projects research. He completely redesigned the accounting files to be fully electronic and DF-searchable, for ease of auditing and transparency.

"I have noted that Derrick is a true team player, advancing ICES morale. Whether it is advanced international travel or guidance to writing winning grant proposals, Derrick has established himself as the Institute’s go-to reference guide. Whenever a faculty member is short on staff, Derrick volunteers to help with their grant proposals as well. Derrick’s positive attitude and commitment to providing excellent customer service–whether to faculty, visitors or his fellow staff–indicates that he strives to be the best possible ambassador of ICES’ mission and values."

Another nominator also shared accolades liberally: "As an assistant director of the Center, I do not have to worry about development of project budgets, website maintenance or archival research documentation, because Derrick handles all of these both efficiently and painstakingly accurately. Derrick is always first to volunteer for anything to help me or others in the Center–whether it is to pick up a visiting speaker from the airport, or help me with any unexpected travel situations even on the weekends, or develop high-profile PR materials to promote the Center and ICES. Derrick always goes the extra mile by guiding me and others in the Center through advanced documentation for HR. For example, Derrick has been irreplaceable in helping with immigration and employment documents. In many ways, my success here at ICES hinges on having such outstanding staff like Derrick."

And still another colleague was generous with praise: "I also must point out that Derrick is the only Certified Research Administrator in ICES. Pursuing a CRA certificate is no easy task. Derrick contributed a great deal of his personal time to this feat. Several times, while he was studying, he told me how much he was looking forward to obtaining that certificate. He felt it would be rewarding to be able to provide a high level of expertise in the submission of proposals because he understands the importance of it. Since receiving his CRA certificate and prior to that, he has assisted many professors with the submission of their proposals and has also assisted in training the staff on proposal submissions. Everything he does is without complaint. He personifies all that is professional and can clearly be an inspiration to new staff members who are building their careers."