Excellence Award
The Award for VIMS Excellence recognizes a staff member who continually goes above and beyond their assigned job duties to better the institution.
The winner of the inaugural award for VIMS Excellence is Suzanne Pitsillides.
Suzanne has served VIMS for 16 years in various capacities within finance. Known across campus as a “financial systems wizard,” she is our go-to person for how our accounting system works—how to create accounts, load budgets, authorize signatures, backup documents, make payroll, and on and on. She stays in close contact with William & Mary to advocate on behalf of VIMS, and is always willing to assist, with confidence, in resolving issues. We know, without a doubt, that if we have a question regarding finance, Suzanne is the best first step to a correct answer.
Suzanne is renowned for her abilities to manage complex transactions in both Banner and Chrome River, as well as the complex interactions between these systems and human beings, which often include late submissions and lost receipts. She is also a hard-knuckled negotiator who can work with U.S. and international venues to organize science meetings and save the institute loads of cash by developing advantageous agreements for lodging and logistics.
Noting that Banner and Chrome River are “Most likely your favorite things, just ahead of your new puppy and ice cream,” one faculty member says, “Imagine now that we were unable to get information into and out of these systems effectively. Just about everything at VIMS would fall off the rails. So having someone who knows how to use these systems is absolutely critical to our operations—and our happiness!”
For these and many other reasons, Suzanne richly deserves the Outstanding Employee for Administrative Support!