2023 Recipients

Spring 2023

Congratulations to the following recipients of our Spring 2023 CARE Awards, who were recognized during the college's annual Points of Pride celebration in October 2023.

Classified

Bounleaung (Chan) Chanthapanya, IT Support Specialist, Cleveland

"Chan is a great person to have around.  He helps us in many different ways.  Not only is he there when the printer decides to stop speaking to the computer, or when someone needs replacement batteries for their mouse, he doesn't hesitate to jump in to help us move a table or hold a door.  In the last few months, in addition to the regular stuff, he has adjusted his schedule as needed to help with technical needs for off-hour activities.  Chan makes himself available to help students, faculty, and staff.  Somehow, Chan manages to take care of multiple requests without making anybody wait very long, and he is patient with us, no matter what we ask him. In addition to being a great help to everyone, Chan is courteous, caring and funny.  He is what everyone values in a colleague."

Administrative

Amy Cain, Assessment and Curriculum Coordinator, Cleveland

"Amy is a joy to work with! I always value our interactions together. She has thoughtful responses and input into all situations. I have noticed how much of an impact she has had for the assessment team. She brings a can-do attitude and always looks for ways to improve processes. I have seen her take suggestions or thoughts and role out solutions. An example of this is during our Year 1 team chats with course leadership, a thought regarding how to track progress of assessment items to help faculty know what stage each item is in. The next meeting we had she had a prototype of how to make that work. That is just one example of how valuable she is to us in OME!"

"The Cleveland campus is very lucky to have Amy.  Amy goes above and beyond for the students, making sure the atmosphere is perfect for their exams and helping them find the right avenue to get their questions answered. Amy has taken on extra tasks to cover vacations and medical leaves.  As a co-worker, Amy is an asset to the team, both professionally and personally.    She has introduced co-workers to local lunch spots and is the unofficial founder of our staff "Facebook club." Amy also finds time to act as our "Technical Generation Gap Closer," teaching the older people on the staff software with patience and kindness (although she is WAY too polite to call us old).  Amy's quick wit and sense of humor help make our work environment joyful."

Sarah Lawrence, Assistant Director of Student Events & Leadership, Athens

"I am nominating Sarah Lawrence because of the tremendous work and dedication she has demonstrated in the short amount of time in her new role as Assistant Director, Student Events and Leadership. This job is extremely overwhelming, but she handled the transition with such grace, while putting the students she works directly with first. For example, I served as the VP of SGA, which required me to work very closely with Sarah. I had explained how the Presidents' Association (a meeting for all HCOM organization presidents and treasurers) was ran in the past years. Instead of allowing things to continue to be ran the way they were in the past, she took the time to review the current rules and revamped the entire presentation and order of how things would be ran so that organizations would be ran in a smoother way. This directly improved how organizations not only functioned, but interacted with each other. Not once has she ever settled in her role or accepted rules "as they were", which can be easy to do especially when new to a role. Sarah is a role model to all of the students she meets and creates a sense of comradery that bridges the gap between administration and students. She is an asset to OU-HCOM."

Faculty

Jean Rettos, Associate Clinical Professor, Osteopathic Medical Manipulation, Athens

"Dr. Rettos is instrumental in creating and implementing the Osteopathic Medicine, Manipulation and Principles Course Curriculum for MS3 and MS4. Over the past three years she has worked tirelessly to develop a meaningful and interactive course that will prepare students to enter their residency programs well prepared to treat their patients osteopathically.  Dr. Rettos has worked with students and clinical faculty to accommodate schedule changes, firewalls, and a myriad of unforeseen challenges when launching a statewide curriculum taught by faculty at our clinical sites.  Her good humor and dedication to developing this course and our students' success is commendable.  She has truly earned recognition for this accomplishment."

Melissa Thomas, Assistant Professor, Primary Care, Athens

"Dr. Thomas is someone who I highly respect and look up to, and there is no mistaking how much she genuinely cares about the students and people she works with. I and many of my fellow students consistently look forward to my weekly meetings with Dr. Thomas where she has a pivotal role in creating an open, empathetic, and welcoming environment for everyone and ensuring the time we spend together is purposeful and productive. I believe Dr. Thomas is one of the best examples of someone who embodies HCOM's Mission and Vision as a faculty member and researcher who emphasizes primary care, supports Appalachian communities, encourages public service, aims to improve the health and well-being of underserved populations, embraces diversity, and most importantly, demonstrates compassion. When I think of just a few ways Dr. Thomas has impacted my time here (like when she sent out warm, encouraging wishes to my small group before our first Acute semester exam, how she went out her way to make Fridays particularly special during holidays, or the insight and guidance she has generously shared that helped make medical school more meaningful) I have no doubt that she has significantly contributed to my immense regard for HCOM."

"From our first day back to school she has shown us nothing but support while providing an amazing small group environment that is low-stress and important for recovery from a long week of classes. She has always given us supportive wishes before all of our exams, has brought food and cool activities to partake in multiple times, and has always matched our energy every day. We always look forward to seeing her at the end of our week."

Fall 2023

Congratulations to the following recipients of our Fall 2023 CARE Awards, who were recognized during the college's annual State of the College event in February 2024.

Classified

Evonne Jackson, Administrative Specialist, Cleveland

"Evonne's office is the first one people come to when they walk through our doors in Cleveland, and they are always greeted with a smile and kindness. She has created a bond with each and every faculty member on our campus, and she not only helps with whatever they may need but has learned about their families and their hobbies, and they know they can come and talk with her at any time!" 

“Evonne is so amazingly helpful, from ordering books from my faculty funds, to helping me get conferences booked, to signing me up for membership in professional organizations and more. Her support helps me use my brain to teach.” 

"Evonne helps students schedule their CCEs. They have all gotten to know her and love chatting with her. She loves working with everyone and she has the best smile when dealing with people."

Maureen McCann, Administrative Specialist, Dublin

"For most constituents, Maureen is that very first stop and overall welcoming presence when entering our campus facilities. She is an ever-present and always reliable ‘go to’ colleague and collaborator for faculty, staff, and students alike. Maureen has a thorough knowledge and understanding of our campus operations and services."

"Maureen's strong organizational and planning skills are invaluable to any project; she has helped to restructure and run the College's revamped event scheduling process along with other college leaders. She is quick to catch what is working, what is not, and how we can improve our processes."

Maureen has recently taken on supporting many of the access/key requests for campus audiences, as well as monitoring building service requests and campus purchase orders. She also has a keen eye for design and is artistically creative. Her designs lend our College events a distinctive and professional look through signage, nametags, flyers, etc."

Administrative

Jean Thuma, Senior Research Coordinator, Athens

"Jean Thuma is a hidden gem in the research world. She works diligently in the background to make sure our research enterprise has the equipment and reagents necessary to run as smoothly as possible. She is very frugal with research resources and is constantly looking for ways to be more efficient with funds. For instance, she recently took it upon herself to explore new options for purchasing liquid nitrogen. After checking with multiple companies, she found that by changing vendors, she could save the college upwards of $5,000 per year." 
"Jean is the first person to volunteer to help ANYONE with whatever they need at any time.  She does not hesitate to come in after hours, weekends, and holidays to take care of research facilities, experiments, research animals, etc. There is NO DOUBT that HCOM research would not run smoothly or efficiently without Jean!"

Maria Cecilia Courreges de Benencia, Senior Research Scientist, Athens

"Cecilia possesses the invaluable combination of understanding scientific rigor and the ability to work effectively in an extremely intense clinical research setting." 
She helps restore and maintain core facilities in the LSB. This fall she took on the task of clearing out about four long-vacant labs that had become dumping grounds for unused equipment and supplies. Her herculean effort has reclaimed this valuable space and increased our research potential. She routinely comes in after hours to check on equipment; because of this, she recently discovered a flood in one of the buildings that could have ruined hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of scientific equipment if not for her quick actions." 
A nominator who worked alongside Cecelia on some complex research involving human subjects, praised her leadership, technical excellence, and in-depth knowledge. "She is committed to ensuring not only top-quality data collection, but also a positive research experience for the study participant."

Faculty

Bela Bhatt-Koshal, DO, Assistant Clinical Professor, Osteopathic Medical Manipulation, Athens

"Dr. Bhatt-Koshal embodies everything that OMM is: Mind, Body and Spirit.
Mind: She speaks with cultural relativity in mind. She speaks and guides us from her successes and failures of life. She’s not afraid to lead with her failures. As students we need to see that kind of vulnerability and humility, and we benefit from her wisdom. 
Body: Although she is small in stature, she is mighty, and a force of OMM! If every faculty serves as a body part in OMM, Dr. Bhatt-Koshal is the heart. The heart doesn’t speak, yet it works hard, keeping the body warm, oxygenated and moving.
Spirit: Dr. Bhatt-Koshal has a wonderful spirit! She wears many hats, from professor to mentor, mom and friend to some of us who desperately need it. She is a pillar in the Athens community, always giving back even without the recognition."

Karen Coschigano, PhD, Associate Professor, Molecular/Cellular Biology, Athens

"In her role as Associate Course Director, Karen's attention to detail, her constant follow-through, and her intimate knowledge of the curriculum and our department has vastly improved my teaching efforts and allowed me to focus on the content instead of the process. She is instrumental in every aspect of course preparation: tracking updates of SLOs, session guides, and exam questions. I could not function without her work."

"Karen brings her knowledge and insight of the curriculum to the many tables she sits at, which helps to keep us all on the same page and working towards the same goal. She also works to make OME process and procedures more understandable for faculty, providing them with in-person assistance through each step of course preparation. She is also a solution-driven person, bringing operational difficulties and suggestions to the attention of administrators so they can be addressed."