James Tenney, 2004 President's Quality Service Award Winner

If United States residents have trouble understanding how to file their taxes, what kind of challenge must the same chore by for international students studying at UC?

That’s the kind of question James Tenney wonders about as an advisor in UC’s International Student Services Office. How he responded is indicative of why he is among this year’s award winners.

UC has more than 2,500 international students on campus each year. Each of them are required to file a tax return, and there is no such thing as a standard category that most of the students fall under. Ron Cushing, director of International Student Services (ISS), gave Tenney the assignment to work on this problem. The outcome? "What has resulted is one of the best and most comprehensive tax assistance programs for international students and scholars in the country," Cushing says. "This is not a program Mr. Tenney had to develop – it was one he chose to develop for the good of our students and scholars."

The program involved Tenney recruiting and training students and staff to serve as Volunteer Income Tax Assistants. He found assistance for the students in the UC College of Law for help with their State of Ohio returns. He has coordinated extensively with other UC departments who must provide documentation, and he has found help for the students on the Web. "From February to April, Mr. Tenney works days, nights and weekends to ensure that our students and scholars receive the tax assistance they desperately need," Cushing says.

Tenney has many other responsibilities with ISS for which he draws similar praise.

When the orientation peer advisors group he coordinated suggested they might be a valuable resource for international students not just at the start of their UC careers, Tenney helped them evolve into "Cultural Connection," a student organization that organizes social opportunities for UC’s international students. Tenney was instrumental in helping the group draft a constitution and bylaws, and he attends each of their weekly meetings. Saraswathi Lakshminarasimhan, the group’s president, calls Tenney "a good leader, a good advisor and a good friend for the international students who attend UC."

"James views each person with whom he meets as a customer," says Barry Holland, UC’s director for Tax Compliance. "This is evident throughout the year, as he consistently provides accurate information and helpful advice to our community of international visitors. Many in our international population of over 2000 people have come to trust and rely on his guidance. That trust is of utmost importance to UC, especially given the current immigration situation in the United States."