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Each year the University of South Florida seeks to recognize employees who demonstrate above-and-beyond performance excellence and are ambassadors for USF’s Principles of Community. It is their hard work and dedication that greatly contributes to USF’s success and upward trajectory.
This year, two of the USF Libraries’ staff members were selected and honored as Outstanding Staff: Terry Hutchings and Berrie Watson.
Terry Hutchings works on the Tampa campus, and was just recently promoted to Assistant Director of Library Initiatives in August 2021. He was the manager of the Tampa Library’s Operations and Facilities department for the past four years, and his team member Sarah Grecni nominated him for this award.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Terry’s department, which includes the Library Services Desk and Interlibrary Loan, was one of the few present on the Tampa campus. Terry worked on many of the plans created to configure daily operations, and ensured staff and student safety were a top priority.
Terry oversaw the successful rollout of new programs, procedures, and policies, including the laptop loan program, which provides laptops to students who did not have access to a computer during the pandemic. He coordinated with other library employees within Access Services at the Sarasota-Manatee and St. Petersburg campuses, regularly circulating information between libraries and keeping communication open so all staff were aware of the happenings across One USF.
Because of Terry’s leadership, students and faculty were able to access all of the resources and materials they needed, including shipping items when necessary. Terry is also the go-to for staff, who rely on him for so many things, including providing the latest information on technology needs, building entry, policy information, etc. Terry always thinks ahead and prevents issues or problems before they happen, and he’s known for his positive, can-do attitude. We are so lucky to have him, especially in his new role. Congrats Terry!
Berrie Watson is the Head of Systems at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library (NPML) on the St. Petersburg campus. As such, he manages the USF St. Petersburg library systems, web environment, and Student Technology Center. Kaya van Beynen, Interim Campus Library Dean and Librarian, nominated him for this award.
Berrie oversees the library’s open lab areas, library employee computers, systems and platforms, and onsite and virtual help desks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Berrie led NPML in making the transition to continuous remote service. He helped coordinate both student and faculty borrowing of library laptops, and transitioned the Student Technology Center to provide online support to students with technology questions. Through his efforts, NPML was able to digitize articles and book chapters for faculty and students in need, increase interlibrary loan service, and provide vital systems support for USF St. Petersburg online courses.
One USF Libraries have greatly benefited from Berrie’s IT knowledge and experience, as he has standardized library-specific software programs including interlibrary loan, catalog, and library management systems. He informally helped the USF Sarasota-Manatee Information Commons adopt new standards and programs, and has mentored Sarasota-Manatee library staff on IT-related issues. As a result, faculty and students in St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee now have enhanced library services that have long been the norm on the Tampa campus.
More recently, Berrie responsibilities have expanded as he’s assumed supervisory oversight of systems staff in the USF Tampa Library. Berrie has also been integral in the effort to consolidate the USF Tampa and USF St. Petersburg digital repositories onto one shared platform, merging institutional histories, digital collections, and faculty and student scholarship.
Berrie’s ability to communicate at the level of his audience is outstanding. He quickly finds solutions and ensures continued access for the USF community. He often works behind the scenes to help everyone, and always works for the greater good. We are very lucky to have him, and we congratulate him on this outstanding award!
All of the 2021 Outstanding Staff Award winners are available here. To watch the virtual Outstanding Staff Awards Ceremony, that was held on Thursday, September 23, 2021, go here.