September President’s Award announced

BRANDON, MB – Pat Alvestad has been named the recipient of the of the President’s Award for the month of September 2009.

Before retiring from Brandon University on September 18, 2009, Pat Alvestad devoted 21 years to helping students, staff, and faculty move gracefully through the maze of rules, regulations, and processes. Whether helping a distraught student prepare a residency requirement appeal for the Curriculum and Academic Standards Committee, a new Dean walk a new program through the approval steps on its way to the Board of Governors, or a President lead Senate by means of a carefully annotated agenda, Alvestad was always patient, thorough, and gracious. She knew all the details of how things work at BU, and she cared deeply about the well being of all with whom she worked, especially the students.

Alvestad will always be a part of every one of the over twelve thousand degree parchments presented to students during her years here. She printed them, got them signed, put them in folders and organized their distribution at Convocation. Alvestad was always as proud of “her” grads as their own families were. Her imprint will also be seen in the hundreds of CAS minutes, Senate minutes, and Senate Executive minutes. She took them, prepared them, distributed them, and kept them handy after their approval so that she could answer the myriad of questions, years later, from staff and faculty about when a particular regulation or course or program originated.

Preferring to work in the background, one-to-one, quietly and without fuss, Alvestad kept everyone on track and made those around her look knowledgeable and organized, even when we were scrambling. Never critical, always positive, Alvestad was there for students, staff, and faculty for over two decades.

She has left BU, but she has left a legacy of service and caring, friendship and good humour—e ven under stress—that will be a part of the University community forever.

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