Quick Navigation

Northern Illinois University

NIU Office of Public Affairs


Sandra J. Little
Sandra J. Little

Joan M. Metzger
Joan M. Metzger

Tris Ottolino
Tris Ottolino

Kay Shelton
Kay Shelton

To obtain print-quality JPEGs, contact the Office of Public Affairs at (815) 753-1681 or e-mail publicaffairs@niu.edu.


News Release

Contact: Mark McGowan, NIU Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-9472

April 11, 2005

NIU Operating Staff announces
2005 Outstanding Service Award recipients

DeKalb — Four members of Northern Illinois University’s Operating Staff have been chosen to receive the Outstanding Service Award for 2005.

The recipients are Sandra J. Little of the Development Office, Joan M. Metzger from the Regional History Center, Tris Ottolino of the Program for Hearing Impaired in the Department of Communicative Disorders and Kay Shelton from University Libraries.

About 1,800 employees make up the Civil Service staff. Each year, four are selected by a committee of their peers to receive the award of plaques and $1,500. They will be honored at a Friday, May 6, banquet.

Here is a closer look at the recipients.

Sandra J. Little

The man was seeking an extra ticket for the president’s section in Huskie Stadium so both of his grandchildren could sit with him.

What he found was an angel: Sandra J. Little.

Little, administrative assistant in the Development Office’s gift planning department, provided the man with a ticket and an invitation for his group to attend the president’s reception. Impressed by her kindness, the man later told President Peters that “at least one person is going to give some money who might not have except for (Little’s) generosity.”

“Her people skills are second-to-none, and in fundraising, those skills can be literally worth their weight in gold,” added Mike Malone, vice president for University Advancement. “She makes our donors and prospects feel like they have a real friend in the organization.”

Little joined NIU in 1997.

Her work includes the creation, coordination and implementation of the “College Assistants for Development” program, which educates, trains and fosters communication with the various operating staff members involved with development efforts.

She also was the key administrator of the “Skybox/Chairback” program during the football season, last year reaching out to 1,000 alumni and friends of NIU. And, when the Huskies went to the Silicon Valley Classic bowl game, Little played an important role reserving guests for the charter flight to California.

Over the years, her community involvement has included the Northwestern Area Educational Foundation, the DeKalb County Community Foundation, the Kishwaukee Community College Foundation, the Waterman Community Chest and the Waterman Presbyterian Church.

Joan M. Metzger

Books are an important chapter in Joan Metzger’s life.

The assistant university archivist in the Regional History Center for more than a decade comes to work early each morning to support the Friends of NIU Libraries. She stocks and operates the group’s book sale truck in the main lobby, collecting the money and preparing the next day’s transactions – an effort that has pumped more than $25,000 into an NIU Foundation account in the last three years.

Metzger also authored a book that makes a significant contribution to sources available on the Civil War. In 2004, Heritage Books published “The Griffith Letters: the Story of Frank Griffith and the 116th New York Volunteers in the Civil War.”

Her responsibilities include logging new inventory, updating electronic records and helping the more than 3,000 annual researchers and others, including reporters, who access archived documents and photographs.

“She is old school,” said Glen A. Gildemeister, director of the Regional History Center. “Rarely misses a day, always comes in early, works hard every day, does her work with enthusiasm and a smile, learns new skills often, is not discouraged by difficult people and works well as a part of a team.”

Metzger, who holds an NIU master’s degree in library science, also is involved in Habitat for Humanity, St. Mary Church and the Huskie Hoop Troop in support of NIU women’s basketball. She also helps to judge a yearly history competition for area high schools.

Tris Ottolino

Allan R. Vest is not Alex Trebek, but the director of NIU’s Program for Hearing Impaired in the Department of Communicative Disorders offers this answer: Tris Ottolino.

“When I need someone to say late to help proof read, type and compile a grant, contract or report, who volunteers to stay?” Vest asks, referring to Ottolino, a PHI teacher for the last 17 years. “If a staff member needs an emergency babysitter at 2:00 in the morning, who receives the call and comes immediately? If you need a ride because your car is in the shop, who will give you a ride to and from work?”

Ottolino’s work in PHI challenges and encourages students who are deaf and hard of hearing in their studies and nurtures them in their personal lives as they transition from high school into the university and public life. Meanwhile, the adjunct instructor in the departments of Literacy Education and Education Technology, Research and Assessment, was the driving force in bringing technology to PHI classrooms.

To her colleagues, she is known for her long hours that include weekends and holidays. “If Tris held to the 37.5 hours,” Vest said, “she would be finished working for the week by the time Wednesday rolled around.”

Ottolino is involved with the board of the Illinois Teachers of Hard-of-Hearing/Deaf Individuals (where she has served as president), the board of the Children’s Learning Center and the Conference Planning Committee for the 2005 International Visual Literacy Conference.

Kay Shelton

For Kay Shelton – researcher, author, editor, adviser, teacher, student – there is no separation between work and life itself.

The program administrative assistant at University Libraries spent much of 2003 and 2004 at work on the book “Daw May Kyi Win and the Burmese Bibliographical Collection at Northern Illinois University: Homage to a Southeast Asian Librarian,” created in memory of May Kyi Win, a Burmese librarian at Founders Memorial Library.

Shelton worked countless hours of voluntary unpaid overtime to research articles on the collection and compile and edit the thoughts of May Kyi Win’s colleagues. She arranged for imported, authentic handmade paper from Burma and Thailand to be used for the book’s cover. Illness could not stop her.

Nor could problems with the press job – including a delay in processing the paperwork to pay the printers and a overrun in costs. Shelton wrote a check from her personal account to meet the deadline.

“The word ‘no’ is not her vocabulary,” said Ging Smith, senior gift and estate planning officer at NIU Libraries.

Shelton also volunteers for the Illinois chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association, editing a quarterly newsletter and helping to develop a map book by visiting long-term members to collect old photos and stories.

Her volunteerism extends to NATIONS, where she advises the Native American student group, and to Creston-Dement Public Library. A doctoral student at NIU in the College of Education, she also teaches geography, anthropology and archaeology at Kishwaukee Community College.

# # #