Shown above (Left to Right): Dr. Jon Rickman, Cheryl Birkenholz, Tim Carlyle, Dale Grasty, Kyra Mills, Kim Todd, Sean Sheil and Tabatha Verbick.

The Informations Systems department was honored with two awards during the 2009 Tower Service/Commitment to Quality Awards Banquet. The Tower Service Award and Commitment to Quality Award are two of the highest honors that Northwest can bestow on its students and employees.

The Information Systems 7-Step Password Team was honored a 2009 Commitment to Quality award.

The 7-Step Password Team members were:

• Marolyn Alloway, Data Processing Manager
• Cheryl Birkenholz, Client Computing PC Specialist/Help Desk
• Tim Carlyle, Junior UNIX Administrator
• Girija Chavala, Senior Programming Project Manager
• Dale Grasty, Client Computing PC Specialist/Notebooks
• Merlin Miller, Client Computing manager
• Kyra Mills, Data Security Analyst
• Dr. Jon Rickman, Vice President of Information Systems
• Sean Sheil, Senior Server Administrator
• Kimberly Todd, Client Computing User Consultant
• Tabatha Verbick, Client Computing User Consultant

The Information Systems 7-Step Password Team was organized primarily to make changing passwords easier for users from off-campus and to track Help Desk calls to determine how often users needed assistance in changing their passwords. The 7-Step Password Team helped stream-line and improve the email process, empowering users to be able to change their passwords from off-campus. Members of the team not shown above were: Marolyn Alloway, Girija Chavala and Merlin Miller.

Client Computing User Consultant, Kim Todd, was also honored during the banquet with a 2009 Tower Service Award.

Northwest’s Student Senate hosted the banquet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, in the J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom.

The Student Senate established the Tower Service Award in 1987 to honor individuals who demonstrate exceptional commitment to the University and its mission. Recipients are selected based on their continuing accomplishments and service to the Northwest community.

Established by the Student Senate in 1998, the Commitment to Quality Award was created in response to Northwest winning its first Missouri Quality Award in 1997. The award is given to individuals whose work has notably enhanced Northwest’s Culture of Quality and the institutional philosophy of continuous process improvement.