Congratulations to Najla McClain, Ramon Sotelo, and LaWanda Forte on being recognized for their Commitment to Excellence. This staff recognition program celebrates staff who demonstrate the highest standards in their commitment to supporting our mission, vision and values. We thank all of those staff members who consistently demonstrate excellence in what they do for our School community. Click here for more information about the program and how to nominate a staff member.

Read their nominations below:

"It’s an honor to submit nomination for Commitment to Excellence on behalf of Ms. Najla McClain, program coordinator of the MSN program. Anyone who can efficiently organize more than 300 graduate-student admission interviews during four days for more than 14 tracks deserves our praise, recognition (and a giant 5-pound chocolate bar!)  She did this work with grace, patience, professionalism and effectiveness. Throughout the interviews, she also escorted students to faculty doors, trouble-shot the ZOOM links and played interference with communication got lost—in essence, she was the ring leader for our circus all week and successfully ensured incredible customer service!

I’m truly honored to recognize her and applaud her tireless efforts to make us ALL look good. Thank you, Najla!" ~ Anne Derouin, associate professor

"This nomination is for Ramon Sotelo for his on-going commitment to excellence at the Duke University School of Nursing. Ramon is a constant at the SON. He is always willing to go beyond to provide excellent customer service to various stakeholders including faculty, staff, and students. He is willing to trouble shoot problems and find solutions to mitigate issues that might arise. Ramon does so in a pleasant and enthusiastic manner. He is committed to providing our students the best education possible. Ramon provides stellar services for recording lectures by creating a comfortable, supportive atmosphere in the recording studio. He has been very helpful in streamlining the process of getting videos closed-captioned for students with hearing impairments. He follows up with the process from beginning to end. 

Ramon is also willing to be an active, vibrant member in the DUSON community. He participates in various staff and faculty team-building activities. It is clear to see his investment in making DUSON a better place to work. This spirit is contagious with members of his direct SON-IT team as well as with the entire DUSON community." ~ Margie Molloy, assistant professor

"In recent days and weeks, LaWanda Forte has put forth great effort and work to promote DUSON and our new US News & World Report rankings. To date, our rankings have gone ‘viral’ on social media, and reached thousands of prospective students, current students, alumni, donors, and more. She also helped ensure that our rankings were prominent on all of our outreach channels. LaWanda’s hard work is appreciated and she deserves an award for doing a great amount in a very short timeframe." ~ Amy Baskin, assistant director