Illinois State University will recognize distinguished service from Civil Service and Administrative Professional staff during the Founding celebrations on February 16, 2023.
Civil Service Distinguished Service Awards
The Civil Service Distinguished Service Award acknowledges outstanding contributions by Civil Service staff. It is the highest non-faculty award presented to Civil Service staff members by the University.
Trish Gudeman, History
Patricia “Trish” Gudeman’s 10 years of service at Illinois State began in the Student Accounts Office as office support. After two years, she moved to Sociology and Anthropology where she has remained until recently joining the Department of History. Much of her time in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology was in support of faculty, helping to provide a positive work experience for coworkers. As an employee in the office support series, Gudeman was a full-time member of the AFSCME Local 3236 clerical union. There she served on the executive board and in a variety of other capacities, including as a delegate to the Bloomington and Normal Trades and Labor Assembly.
Jamie Sennett, Alumni Engagement
Jamie Sennett ’99 is a graduate of Illinois State University with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and recreation. She has spent her career in the nonprofit sector, specializing in volunteer development, project management, and event planning. Sennett has worked for Illinois State’s Alumni Engagement office for over 16 years, currently serving as senior director and working across campus units to strategically engage alumni. She is involved in campuswide initiatives, such as the Foundations of Excellence committee, Academics and Careers Council, Hancock Stadium Task Force, Special Events Risk Assessment Committee, and the Redbird Proud Committee. She is the recipient of the 2006 University Advancement Rookie of the Year Award, 2007 Emerging Leader Award, and 2009 Educating Illinois in Action Award.
Lindsay Vahl Dean, Alumni Engagement
Lindsay Vahl Dean ’06, M.S. ’09, began her career at Illinois State in the Office of Admissions. She took on increasing levels of responsibility through her seven-and-a-half-year tenure in Admissions, supported scholarship programming, and spent the latter part of her time developing, implementing, and evaluating recruitment programs. She now focuses on building rapport with Redbird alumni and friends in Alumni Engagement. She serves as a senior director, where her responsibilities include execution of programs ranging from smaller networking events to larger engagements with presidential involvement and coordination with constituents. Among Vahl Dean’s career highlights are creation of the Latinx Alumni Network, implementing an online scholarship application and selection process for alumni networks, designing fundraising plans for affinity groups, and curating logistics for Redbirds Rising: The Campaign for Illinois State’s Chicago event.
Administrative/Professional Distinguished Service Awards
The A/P Distinguished Service Award acknowledges outstanding contributions by A/P staff. It is the highest non-faculty award presented to A/P staff members by the University.
Sharon Mills, Applied Social Research Unit/CAS
Sharon Mills, M.S. ’94, retired January 1, 2023, after 30 years of service to Illinois State. She started as an industrial/organizational psychology master’s student and a Financial Aid graduate assistant. She later joined the Applied Social Research Unit in the College of Arts and Sciences. She directed research, assessment, evaluation, and training projects related to community and workforce development, education, and health and human services. Since 2014, she has directed the Central Illinois Area Health Education Center (AHEC) to improve the diversity and distribution of the health care workforce in rural and underserved areas. In 2022, she helped transition the Central Illinois AHEC to the Department of Health Sciences and select its next director. She was inducted into Illinois State’s Million Dollar Club in 2018 for securing sponsored project funding totaling more than $1 million.
Tricia Larkin, Communication Sciences and Disorders
Tricia Larkin ’90, M.S. ’91, earned a bachelor’s degree from the former Speech Pathology and Audiology program and a master’s degree from the department’s Speech Pathology program. After serving as a licensed and certified speech language pathologist in clinical settings, Larkin returned to campus as a clinical educator and course instructor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). Larkin brings multiple clinical experiences to her work at Illinois State given the care she provided in schools, hospitals, private practice, early intervention, home health, and rehabilitation settings. Her work in CSD offers opportunities to learn through clinical practices for gender-affirming communication services and course instruction.
Derek Story, Human Resources
Derek Story ’99, M.S. ’09, is the director of human resources systems, training, and communication. He has worked for Illinois State University for over 20 years. He serves as adjunct instructor in the Business and Information Systems program, as well as in the College of Arts and Sciences in the School of Communication. Major milestones during his time at Illinois State include implementing two online candidate application and position description systems, launching a new employee orientation program for staff, implementation of a Human Resources Information System, and every experience he has had as an instructor in the classroom. Story holds an associate’s degree from Illinois Central College, and a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in communication from Illinois State.
Ani Yazedjian, Office of the Provost
University Professor Ani Yazedjian has served as associate provost at Illinois State since 2019. Dr. Yazedjian oversees new program development through the Illinois Board of Higher Education and institutional accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission. She has been actively involved in the creation of the College of Engineering. She supervises the Center for Civic Engagement, Office of International Education, and University Assessment Services, and serves on the University strategic planning steering team. For two-and-a-half years, she also served on the COVID-19 steering team. She previously chaired the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at Illinois State.
Administrative/Professional Emerging Leader Award
The Emerging Leader Award recognizes A/P staff whose professional performance has shown tremendous promise for and commitment to the University.
Brittney Vietti, Politics and Government
Brittney Vietti, M.S. ’15, serves as director of enrollment management and undergraduate studies for the Department of Politics and Government. She advises all political science majors and minors and oversees all recruitment and retention initiatives within the department. Vietti was previously employed as an academic advisor for the College of Business. Her efforts have been recognized as a past recipient of the Impact Award. Vietti serves as a representative on the Academic Advising Council (AAC), is a member of the AAC Professional Development and Training Committee, provides support to students as a Title IX advisor, and teaches a section of the IDS 128 Thriving in College course.
Civil Service/Administrative Professional Esprit de Corps Award
One individual representing Civil Service and A/P is selected for special recognition for work on behalf of the University that has gone above and beyond the call of duty.
Terry Jackson Jr., Clinical Experiences
Terry Jackson Jr. ’13, M.S. ’20, works in the Lauby Teacher Education Center as the coordinator of data and clinical experiences, where he focuses on Illinois State Board of Education annual reporting, Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, Illinois State University educational data, and student teaching placements. He previously worked in Illinois State’s offices of Admissions, University Housing, and University College. Jackson has been a member of the Administrative/Professional Council and worked with designing a framework for a possible merger of the A/P Council and Civil Service Council. He is a trained job search advocate, a member of the HLC accreditation team and the retention synergy committee, and he teaches an honors exploration class. He is also currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Educational Administration and Foundations.
