Readiness, attention to detail help Gottschalk earn president’s award

For cordially providing superlative service to students and faculty in the [Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning] (http://laup.arch.tamu.edu/) , Trisha Gottschalk, assistant to the department head, will receive a [President’s Meritorious Service Award] (http://employees.tamu.edu/employees/WorkLife/recognition/pmsa.aspx) from Texas A&M University at a special honors ceremony slated 9:30 a.m. Feb. 21 in Rudder Theatre.

Those nominating her for this prestigious honor — reserved for the crème de la crème of university support staff — cited Gottschalk’s integrity, readiness, consummate mastery of complex administrate tasks and unique ability to anticipate the needs of others.

“Trisha always goes beyond her responsibilities,” said Forster Ndubisi, head of the department. “Upon completion of her projects, duties and areas of responsibilities, she always foresees the next step and is ready to proceed prior to my inquiry, often asking if she can assist with completing other areas of need.”

In an award nomination, three academic program coordinators and a research center director lauded Gottschalk’s excellent management of the department’s promotion and tenure process for junior faculty.

“There may be no other process at this university more important than the ‘P&T’ process,” states the letter signed by faculty members Cecilia Giusti, Ming-Han Li, Walter Gillis Peacock and Shannon Van Zandt. “It is critically important for junior faculty to feel that their promotion and tenure packages are being shepherded through this process, and to know that they will be kept informed of its progress and outcomes at every level of review … Gottschalk demonstrates a clear understanding of that.”

She also played an instrumental role in the recent accreditation of the graduate landscape architecture program, said Jon Rodiek, program coordinator and professor of landscape architecture.

“She took on the responsibility of helping me prepare the documents, meetings, travel arrangements, correspondence, public announcements, and more, said Rodiek. “She took all the materials involved in a self-evaluation report, digitized them and sent them to the accreditation committee members six weeks prior to their arrival here for review.”

The impact of her thorough and conscientious work, he said, was significant.

“The review team was genuinely impressed,” he said. “Thanks in part to this extra step, we were able to realize full accreditation.”

Trisha exemplifies a remarkable degree of team spirit, said Lou Tassinary, executive associate dean of the College of Architecture.

“Her routine and sincere concern for doing the ‘right thing’ is both laudatory and infectious, and her advocacy for the department is nonpareil,” he said.

The President’s Meritorious Service Award was established in 1986 to annually recognize 20 outstanding staff employees and one outstanding team for meritorious service to the university. An anonymous committee appointed by Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin selected the 2012 recipients from nominations submitted last fall.

At the Feb. 21 ceremony in Rudder Theatre, each awardee will receive a $700 cash award, a commemorative plaque, and a lapel pin. The honored team will receive a plaque for departmental display, and each team member receives a $200 cash award and a framed certificate of recognition.