2005 President's QSA Winner: Barb Patterson

You need only take one step back from your day-to-day existence at UC to realize the massive scope involved in operating a 35,000-student university. By necessity, some people must fill roles that impact a tremendous number of those students.

Barb Patterson, program coordinator of Graduate Studies and a 2005 winner of a President's Quality Service Award, has one of those jobs. She does it so well that Senior Assistant University Dean of the Graduate School Eleanor Buczala simply says: "If there is one person in this university who exceeds the criteria for this award, it is Barb."

Such admiration comes from Patterson’s essential role in the lives of all UC graduate students – more than 7,000 of them spread across more than 220 programs. It is Patterson’s responsibility to process more than 12,000 applications every year and then, once students are on campus, maintain each one’s record and eventually certify each one for their master’s or doctoral degree.

"No graduate student is unaffected by Barb’s diligence," Buczala says.

Ann Millacci has the unique perspective on Patterson as both a graduate student and now as a field service assistant professor of Educational Administration and coordinator of the Educational Administration Distance Learning program.

She recalls from her student days that Patterson had the reputation among her peers as the person in graduate studies you could depend on for help. Eight years later, nothing has changed. "Simply stated – I know I can always depend on Barb," says Millacci.

Jeff Chamot, an undergrad in the College of Business, knows Patterson from the perspective of a student worker in her area. She’s not only made an impression upon him with her professionalism and her efforts on her behalf – he’s seen firsthand how other students feel about Patterson. "The level of service she gives to students can be evidenced by the relationships she forms with them," Chamot says, citing as an example a recent card that came into the office from China where a student was writing from to thank Patterson and see how she was doing.

Students feeling that way towards Patterson hasn’t come about by accident, according to Nancy Bauman, the graduate coordinator for UC’s Department of English.

"Barb Patterson is an outstanding representation of what customer service should be – affable, understanding, patient, intelligent and capable," Bauman says. "All of these admirable characteristics are obvious because of Barb’s uncompromising willingness to help students and to mentor employees such as myself who rely so heavily on her expansive knowledge and experience."

Keith Daegele, a graduate student from the College of Business, says his experience at UC has shown that he can rely on Patterson when he has difficult issues, including a recent meeting they had to talk about setting up his graduate application for a dual degree. "The thing that really stuck out in my mind was that she was truly excited about my achievements," he says. "I feel she is a true asset to the university."

Adds Teresa Hamad, program coordinator in the College of Engineering: "Barb has consistently demonstrated her commitment to the graduate students, firmly adhering to university rules while at the same time showing compassion and going the extra mile for students in distress."

Beyond all this, what else makes working with Patterson special? Almost everyone added some comment about her sense of humor.

Lindsey Faber, a research associate in Graduate Studies, feels that Patterson shows how humor can be an important attribute in quality service. "It’s not just about meeting standards or even exceeding expectations, but also about having fun on the job and sharing in the pleasure of making everyone’s day a little easier and life a little brighter. Even on her most stressful days, Barb has a smile and a joke to put a tense student or staff member at ease, and if I hear laughing up at the front desk, I can be sure Barb’s there helping another student understand the kind of environment UC is all about."