Three outstanding colleagues have been designated employees of the year by the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The three honorees are:

• Kirsten Apodaca, undergraduate program assistant in the Department of Physics
• Jean Balch, manager of finance and operations in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB)
• Patrick Tally, assistant dean of academic and curricular affairs in the dean’s office

The employee of the year award, which comes with a $1,500 bonus, is presented annually to A&S staff in recognition and appreciation of exceptional job performance. 

Apodaca has shown great dedication and high-level performance as she worked to update the degree requirements, revamp advising for College of Engineering and Applied Science and physics and spearhead the concurrent BS/MS admission procedures to better serve students.

Nominators praised Apodaca for her “competent and firm management skills” and “expert analysis and ability to see problems before they arise.”

Balch has served her department with expertise, guidance, and dedication during one of MCDB’s rocky transitional periods, and this allowed the department to maintain maximum functionality with minimal disruption. This was an impressive feat.

Besides being a highly regarded resource in MCDB, Balch has served on the strategic planning committee, research administrators' leadership team and has done consulting work with other campus entities.

Tally’s leadership and his staff’s dedication and professionalism have been evident as they deftly managed the challenging task of directing the complex and diverse undergraduate academic and curricular activities throughout the college.

Additionally, Tally took a guiding role in the General Education implementation process, which has proceeded smoothly and efficiently in large part due to his efforts. Many of Tally’s nominators noted his ability to see faculty vision and drill into details while also keeping the students first and foremost in his mind.