ATHENS, Ohio - Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine held its annual Most Valuable Players Day Wednesday, May 1. MVP Day is the college's appreciation day for its classified employees. The college's classified staff includes secretaries, medical technologists, transcriptionists, nursing staff as well as other support staff.
A gorgeous spring morning greeted the celebration, held on the bricks at Irvine Hall. It was a "garden party" complete with a white picket fence, paper flowers and balloons.
Charlene Smith, Ph.D., associate dean of COM Operations, served as mistress of ceremonies. The beautiful day, she said, served perfectly the more than 200 classified employees responsible making life at OU-COM "beautiful."
"We recognize that there is a whole lot that goes into making the beautiful things that happen here," Smith said. "You are the biggest reason for that, and that's why we want to honor you today."
In keeping with the garden party theme, Smith introduced Dean Jack Brose, D.O., as the college's "master" landscaper. Following his introduction, Brose quipped, "There are people who have suggested landscaping would have been a better choice for me."
Brose also thanked OU-COM's classified employees and called to them as the "lifeblood" of the college. "You," he said, "are our most valuable players."
"In this extraordinary year of change, we've had to endure an unprecedented year of budget cuts that have eliminated the luxuries we've come to take for granted -- such as paper clips and pencils and cartridges for printers.
"The performance of the staff this year has been really the best in my 20 years at the college, which is pretty amazing."
Former OU-COM associate dean of admissions Mark Notestine, Ph.D., was the keynote speaker for the afternoon. Notestine is currently an assistant dean for admissions and records at Ohio State University, directing the enrollment process at the college of medicine. He quickly became a victim of Brose's penchant for giving gag gifts. As a symbol of his past and current associations, Notestine received a baseball cap with a bobcat on the bill with, in place of the button, a buckeye. "A nut with little demonstrated value," Brose joked.
After that, Notestine provided the audience nuggets of wisdom of unquestionable value. He offered the audience some tips to help them cope with a climate of change, relevant advice these days at OU-COM and outlined "attraction principles" designed to make you a more attractive person.
"I want you to scan your environment. I want you to look for opportunities to look more attractive. I want you to commit to personal and professional growth. I want you to be visionaries in your approach," he said. "I love a quote from John Locke: 'New opinions are often suspected and challenged for no other reason than they're not common.' Come up with new ways to be uncommon."
Concluding the celebration, Smith and Brose drew from a fishbowl to award prizes to OU-COM's hourly employees. Prizes included four tickets to a Cincinnati Reds-Atlanta Braves game, a night's stay in a suite at Amerihost as well as pots from the Athens Flower Shop, a savings bond courtesy of Bank One and gifts and gift certificates from W.G. Grinders, Bath and Body Works, Big Bear and Magic Video.
The grand prize, a trip for two to Gatlinburg, Tenn., was won by Vicki Stewart, records management assistant in community and clinical services. The prize was made possible by Document Solutions-Xerox, Sole and Bloom Realtors, Equitrac and Career Connections.
"Each year the organizing committee puts a lot of work into producing the celebration and finding so many quality prizes, some of which are graciously provided by local businesses," said Anita Kochis, director of human resources, whose office sponsors the event.
The theme changes year to year, last year's being "Laughter is the best medicine."
"We're very happy with the way things turned this year -- perfect!" said Kochis. "It is a great occasion for staff and faculty to mix together and have fun. All our efforts was more than worth it."
