OUR VALUES

Shelley Smith – Physical Therapy

April 29, 2022 • April 2022, Serve Others First, valubility, VOTM

Valubility of the Month April 2022

Nominated by Dr. Kenneth Miller, Dr. Howe Liu, Dr. Carling Butler and Dr. Charles Nichols for Serve Others First

Shelley is the ever reliable and quintessential steward of individuals and resources within our department. Without fail, her daily interactions with all those she serves, are respectful, uplifting, and cheerful. Shelley willing serves, connects, and supports our department, facilitating our growth and well-being in the most positive way. Shelley is the unsung hero in our department. She is the glue that silently supports all faculty in our roles at UNTHSC. We have lost one of our admin staff not long ago and she has picked up the slack with her increased efforts to help everyone. She often works through lunch, leaves the office late and does whatever she needs to help us faculty. As an example, earlier in the semester, I needed to get new guest instructors access to CANVAS, eBooks, textbooks, and other things required to teach and she did all of this efficiently and professionally. Ms. Smith has a mind of “serve others first”. She is definitely the resource person in the department. Whatever, whenever and however we need something, she is indeed the person we can count on. In countless times, I stepped into her office to seek her help, she always stopped whatever she was doing, and listened to my request. If she could help immediately, she did quickly without any hesitation and impatience. If she was not able to help at the movement, she always gave me what she’s going to do and keep me updated until my request was completed. The way she handled things is not for me only, she does this every day for everybody in the department, even including those days when we had to work remotely at home. I do think what she did for us indeed make our transition of teaching research, and service from in-person to virtual and then back to in-person much smoother than we expected.