English

Outstanding Performance Award

Nominated by Glynis Ridley
Chair, English

Ms. Taleia Willis joined the Department of English in October 2013 as a Program Coordinator and was promoted to UBM in 2015. Notably, when Ms. Willis moved from the role of Program Coordinator to that of UBM, department staff job descriptions were rewritten and the work of what had been six staff was reallocated among just five. Ms. Willis’s thus assumed an expanded UBM position for one of the largest departments in A&S (with a budget and faculty numbers larger than the Brandeis School of Law). Accordingly, Ms. Willis manages all financials, while providing support for all critical personnel functions, including the annual faculty merit review process, all faculty promotion cases, and the creation and revision of all AWPs. In addition, in 2016 Ms. Willis provided sole staff support for the biggest community partnership in UofL's history when the department partnered with the Frazier Historical Museum, the Louisville Free Public Library, and over 50 local organizations in “Will in the Ville” – collaborative programming centered around the exhibition of Shakespeare's First Folio. Ms. Willis managed all of this flawlessly, even though the Will in the Ville management was above and beyond the expectations of her position.

“…it would be remiss of me not to note that Ms. Willis continually shows initiative in seeking better, more efficient ways of managing the day-to-day business of the office. She has made several suggestions to me for streamlining processes or making cost savings - suggestions that show she is not content to accept things as they are if she thinks they can be made better - for staff and the students and faculty they serve.”

“I must mention Ms. Willis's reassuring leadership of department staff during 2016. We had a change-filled year: job reclasses for all staff meant reallocating the work of six staff among five. Physical change occurred in the department too: two faculty moved to other institutions and vacated their offices; one staff member moved into the main office; three new faculty moved in; Acting Provost Billingsley moved back in to the department. In short, summer 2016 saw a series of office clearances and moves to rival that we experienced when we lost 8 faculty to VSIP. But everything - and everyone - did end up in the right place according to schedule. And staff responded to their expanded duties without any obvious problems being apparent. I believe that Ms. Willis's calm leadership and methodical implementation of policy is the major factor in everything running so smoothly during such times of change.”

“When I asked Ms. Willis if she was willing to be staff point person on the massive undertaking that was First Folio, she readily agreed. First Folio was a once-in-a-lifetime event – and a huge amount of extra work. …In all the preparation for First Folio,…Ms. Willis did not miss a beat. While managing all the regular business of our large and complex department, she patiently listened to the latest complications around First Folio speaker travel, or the need for flyers, or the necessity of sourcing authentic materials for running an NEH-funded workshop on Renaissance print-making. First Folio would ultimately attract two separate NEH grants – but Ms. Willis kept all financials impeccably, ensuring that our paperwork could easily stand scrutiny by any outside bodies assisting in funding the venture. Keeping the paperwork straight was a great deal of extra work; dealing with all related practicalities was equally momentous. Ms. Willis rose to the challenge, and did so with grace, good humor, and a reassuring calmness. She has never once complained to me about the significant amounts of extra work she has been caused, nor were the needs of First Folio ever used as an excuse for work not done elsewhere. To the contrary: we prepped for First Folio and delivered all events within budget and as planned, and the business of the Department went on as usual. That all of this happened is due to the solid organizational and financial foundations laid by Ms. Willis.”