Becky Turanski Receives College of Engineering Staff Excellence Award

Becky Turanski, Graduate Coordinator for the program in Electrical Engineering:Systems, has been selected to receive a 2011 College of Engineering Staff Excellence Award for sustained excellence during her time at the College of Engineering.

Becky is known as a remarkably compassionate and conscientious individual. Both traits are invaluable in her role as advisor to a large graduate student population, many of whom come from foreign countries. At the same time she is extremely hard-working and knowledgeable about the procedures of her program, the College of Engineering, and the Rackham Graduate School.

She is known to take good care not only of the graduate students in her program, but their families as well. Alumni send her letters of thanks for the assistance she gave them as individuals, and also for helping to create and foster a collegial environment in the department for all students.

Becky is known as a consummate team player, working well with other staff and faculty to improve processes. Among her recent activites: she created a paperless admissions process for her program; she improved the qualifying exam materials and information available to students on the web; and she helped form a new graduate student group. Becky is also a natural recruiter. She initiated a program to connect current students with prospective students of their home country, she has improved the student visit process, and she is always finding ways to increase the visibility of ECE – often gleaning ideas from regular webcasts that focus on student recruiting and marketing.

Perhaps the greatest testament to Becky is the large number of graduate students supporting her nomination in glowing terms. She has become a part of their lives here at Michigan, and made it a better place for all.

Becky will be honored with the College of Engineering Staff Excellence Award at a public ceremony Tuesday, May 3.