UHV President Tim Hudson, left, gives Lawrence Nelson, an online support technician in the School of Education & Human Development, a plaque in recognition of Nelson being named the university’s 2009 Employee of the Year. Nelson received the award Wednesday during the UHV Employee Recognition Luncheon.

A University of Houston-Victoria online support technician was named the university’s 2009 Employee of the Year on Wednesday, and an administrator was recognized for his work to secure a former hotel that will become a residence hall for the university’s first underclassmen.

Both Lawrence Nelson, an online support technician for the UHV School of Education & Human Development, and Wayne Beran, the university’s vice president for administration and finance, received top honors at the university’s annual Employee Recognition Luncheon. University employees gathered to recognize employees celebrating employment anniversaries at UHV and to honor other employees for their exceptional work.

Nelson was voted the 2009 UHV Employee of the Year by his peers. They selected Nelson from a ballot listing each UHV Employee of the Month from last year.

He began working at UHV in January of 2006 as a temporary employee for the university’s Information Technology Department and then was hired in November of 2007 as the online support technician for School of Education & Human Development. Colleagues describe him as having an excellent work ethic and going out of his way to help faculty members teaching online classes.

“Lawrence provides much more than IT support to our school,” said Lawrence Rossow, dean of the School of Education & Human Development. “He is my No. 1 consultant in all areas of modern communication techniques and how we can better use them in the school and teach our students to use them in the classroom.”

In recognition of Nelson’s achievement, he received a $500 check, a UHV T-shirt and a plaque. His name also was engraved on the Employee of the Year plaque displayed in UHV University West.

Wayne Beran

Beran, who received the President’s Special Recognition Award at the luncheon, started work at UHV in 1990 as the director of finance and operations. He was promoted to his current position in 1993. Beran was instrumental last year in helping UHV purchase the former Inn Place Hotel, located at 2705 Houston Highway, to be used as UHV’s new Jaguar Hall. Beran is now coordinating renovations at the hotel to get it ready for the university’s FIRST 200 freshmen and sophomores, who will arrive in the fall.

“He’s really an incredible CFO and community leader,” UHV President Tim Hudson said. “He was outstanding during the process of acquiring Jaguar Hall, showing great commitment and patience in dealing with all the challenges and a lot of fortitude during the negotiations and the board approval process.”

Beran also serves as president of the Texas Association of State Senior Colleges and University Business Officers, the Goliad Independent School District Board of Trustees and the Victoria Adult Literacy Council. He is president elect of the Victoria Sunrise Rotary Club.

UHV also recognized employees for working five, 10, 15, 20 and 35 years at the university. The employee’s names, titles and departments are listed below.

Five Years

• Andrea Blumberg, financial aid assistant, Financial Aid Office
• Tony Chen, PeopleSoft functional analyst, Finance
• Genaro Cortez, safety and risk manager, Business Services
• John Davis, accountant, Financial Aid
• Janet Foerster, student services generalist, Student Services
• Carolyn Fritz, records coordinator, Office of Admissions & Records
• Yvonne Garcia, international student specialist, Office of Admissions & Records
• Cheryln Hodge, admissions analyst, Office of Admissions & Records
• Tim Hudson, UHV president
• Justin Kutzer, grounds supervisor, Facilities Services
• Jun-Yeon Lee, assistant professor, School of Business Administration
• Eunice Mesa, career services coordinator, Career Services
• Yixi Ning, assistant professor, School of Business Administration
• Beatrice Ochoa, staff assistant, Letting Education Achieve Dreams & Student Recruitment
• Dianna O’Quinn, certification analyst, School of Education & Human Development
• Aurora Robinson, senior secretary, Information Technology
• Esther Sandoval, senior secretary, School of Nursing
• Cheryl Shumbera, PeopleSoft functional analyst, Office of Admissions & Records
• Rhiannon Smith, senior student services coordinator, School of Business Administration
• John Stansell, professor, School of Education & Human Development
• Larry Steen, mail services clerk, Business Services
• Charlie Striedel, custodian supervisor, Facilities Services
• Kathy Sullivan, senior administrative secretary, Victoria College/UHV Library
• T.T. “Rajan” Selvarajan, associate professor, School of Business Administration
• Roberto Tonsul, online support technician, School of Nursing
• Yun Wan, assistant professor, School of Arts & Sciences
• Qi Zhu, assistant professor, School of Arts & Sciences

10 Years

• Matt Alexander, academic user services manager, Information Technology
• Leonard Buckner, lead custodian, Facilities Services
• Vicki Causey, online support technician, School of Business Administration
• Randy Faulk, user services administrator, Information Technology
• Jane Fry, associate professor, School of Education & Human Development
• Ersilia Garcia, Title V and UHV Connections coordinator, Student Services
• Yong Glasure, professor, School of Business Administration
• Richard Gunasekera, associate professor, School of Arts & Sciences
• Kristy Holly, online support technician, School of Arts & Sciences
• Summer Leibensperger, Academic Center senior coordinator, Academic & Career Services
• June Lu, associate professor, School of Business Administration
• Rosie McCusker, student recruitment and marketing manager, School of Business Administration
• Susie Motal, business services specialist, Business Services
• Linda Parr, assistant registrar, Office of Admissions & Records
• Margaret Rice, chief of staff, President’s Office
• Lynn Silkey, senior administrative secretary, Student Services
• Sandy Venneman, associate professor, School of Arts & Sciences
• Deborah Westbrook, certification analyst, School of Education & Human Development
• Chun-Sheng Yu, associate professor, School of Business Administration

15 Years

• Eric Mims, manager of network planning and development, Information Technology
• Jolynn Young, administrative assistant to the dean, School of Business Administration

20 Years

• Gail Crockett, head of technical services and the integrated library system administrator, VC/UHV Library
• Roy Lee Foley, professor, School of Education & Human Development

35 Years

• Paul Carlson, professor, School of Education & Human Development
• Joe Ferguson, senior director, Information Technology
• Diane Prince, professor, School of Education & Human Development