Valdosta State University’s Council on Staff Affairs presented Brittany Smith, administrative secretary in the Student Success Center, with the 2015 Excellence in Service Award during the university’s fall convocation. Smith is one of three staff members to receive the award.
 
“I am extremely delighted and honored to have been chosen for this award,” shared Smith, who has worked at VSU since 2006.
 
Smith supervises more than 50 student employees, including tutors, and manages the daily functions of the Student Success Center.
 
“Brittany has helped this office improve training for front desk staff and tutors…,” said Chere L. Peguesse, director of the Student Success Center and associate professor in the Department of English. “She is a compassionate supervisor who has handled some difficult communication issues with kindness and a positive attitude. She inspires her front desk workers to be the best people they can be, welcomes their input on improving office efficiencies, and collaborates with them to create helpful training videos for both student clients and new employees. She finds answers for anyone’s questions and represents this office with unwavering professionalism and good humor.”
 
Smith, who is from Columbia, Md., earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in management from VSU’s Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration in 2011. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in industrial/organizational psychology.
 
“…her youth and quiet demeanor…has served to make her a stronger, more assertive supervisor, and has worked in her favor,” said Dr. Terence Sullivan, assistant director of the Student Success Center. “Brittany manages to work with our tutors, supplemental instruction leaders, desk workers, and graduate assistants with compassion, professionalism, and patience. Brittany frequently brings [the] knowledge and theory she has learned in her classes to improve how she supervises our student employees and provides efficiencies that allow all of us to do our jobs better.”
 
Smith believes that what sets her apart from others in her career field is her education. “My studies in business management and industrial/organizational psychology give me an edge because I understand management from not only a financial point of view but the individual employee perspective as well,” she said.
 
In her spare time, Smith enjoys drawing, reading, watching movies, spending time outdoors with her friends and family, spoiling her Snowshoe siamese named Cat, and wedding planning with her fiancé, Ben. She is a member of VSU’s student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.
 
COSA presents the Excellence in Service Award each year at the convocation held in the fall. All full-time classified staff employees, with the exception of direct reports to the president, are eligible for the award.