TOP DRAWER ; HIGHLIGHTING THE NEW AND NOTEWORTHY [Columbia Daily Tribune (MO)]

ONWARD & UPWARD

Aaron Crews has joined the staff at The Little Gym as gym director. With Crews' hiring, Sheila Dalton-Crews -- who opened the business with her father, Jim Dalton, in 2005 -- will assume the role of full-time program director. Aaron Crews is a Columbia native and graduated from the University of Missouri College of Business in 2003. Before joining The Little Gym, he was purchasing director at Cartridge World in St. Louis while also working on a master's degree in theological studies at Covenant Theological Seminary.

Crews

Samson

Moss

McNeil

Lyle

Steinhaus

Smith

Yelon

Titta Samson recently joined Great Southern Travel. She has five years of previous travel agency experience from a top agency in Jefferson City and also worked as a travel consultant in Finland, where she earned her bachelor's degree in tourism. As a leisure consultant, Samson specializes in family vacations, honeymoons and weekend getaways.

Phil Moss has joined Marathon Building Environments as operations manager, overseeing warehouse and installation facilities and staff. Moss has spent the past 19 years in operations management.

Fei Ji was promoted from system analyst to programmer analyst at Missouri Credit Union. Ji will continue to work at the downtown Columbia location.

KUDOS

Tina McNeil, admissions counselor at Columbia College, was named this year's Rising Star by the Missouri Association of College Admission Counseling at the annual MOACAC-Great Plains Association College Admission Counseling Conference. The award is given to a member who has been in the college admissions profession less than three years and has contributed to helping students with enthusiastic and professional involvement. As an admissions counselor for Columbia College, McNeil co-advises student ambassadors; oversees individual registration appointments; meets with tours and prospective students; coordinates campus visits; and plans preview-day events, guidance counselor luncheons, scholarship days, scholarship presentations and departmental showcases.

Ken Lyle, chief financial officer for Fulton State Hospital and an adjunct faculty member at William Woods University, is the first recipient of the new Graduate College Distinguished Professor Award, which was established to recognize professors providing outstanding teaching and service to the university's Graduate College.

Phil Steinhaus, CEO of the Columbia Housing Authority, was recognized as recipient of the 2012 Columbia Metro Rotary Vocational Services Award. The award was presented during the club's May 16 meeting at the Columbia Country Club. The award recognizes someone in the community public sector who adheres to the highest ethical standards in his or her work, including the fair treatment of employers, employees, associates, competitors and the public; and one who contributes his or her talents to the problems and needs of society.

Clint Smith, a reinsurance underwriter with Shelter Reinsurance Co., was presented the 2012 Excellence Award by the Central Missouri Chapter of the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters during a presentation May 4 at Shelter Insurance. The award is given annually to an individual who exemplifies excellence through dedication to insurance education and professionalism and through continuous support and contributions to the members of the Central Missouri Chapter.

Harriet Yelon, a prominent member of the William Woods community who retired in 2010 but continued to teach on a part-time basis through last fall, was presented the inaugural Jane Bierdeman-Fike Inspiration Award. The social work department instituted the new award to honor the late Bierdeman-Fike, who helped establish the social work program at the university.

Columbia Public Schools is one of 29 Missouri school districts to have received the 2012 What Parents Want Award from SchoolMatch, an independent school selection consulting firm.

Stephens College announced several employees received awards at the annual Stephens College Honors Convocation on April 9. Rusty Elder, instructor of music, received the Century Candle Award for outstanding contributions to student life at Stephens. Margaret Campbell, director of the Stephens Student Success Center and senior tenured faculty, received the Stephens Star Award. Becky Clervi, assistant professor and chairwoman of the Department of Equestrian Studies, received the Distinguished Advising Award. Beth Leonard, dean of the School of Performing Arts and chair of the Department of Theatre, received the Distinguished Teaching Award. Deb Duren, vice president for Students Services, received the award for Outstanding Commitment to Stephens Faculty and Students. Caroline Bartek, instructor of design and fashion, and Kirsteen Buchanan, associate professor of fashion, received the H.E. Wilkerson Award for Outstanding Service to Admissions. In addition, Stephens recognized the hard work and dedication of staff April 12 at the Employee Recognition Luncheon. Tony Coleman, director of security, received the Distinguished Service Award, the highest level of recognition the college provides to an employee. Clay Stem, director of equestrian facilities, and Michael Burke, director of production in the School of Performing Arts, received the Community Service Award, which emphasizes the commitment of staff to improve and add value to the community at large. Diane Cook, administrative office manager, Kathryn Hart, staff accountant, and Chris Herbold, network manager, received the Customer Service Award for quality service to customers. The Stephens security department received the Teamwork Award. Greg Mankey, director of facilities management, received the Diversity Award for efforts to create, promote and advance the concept and spirit of diversity and inclusion on campus. Gena Boling, financial aid student advocate, Rodney Carrier, maintenance superintendent, and Lita Pistono, student support specialist, received the Student Support Award, which recognizes and honors employees who demonstrate exemplary service to students. Darren Gallup, facilities support manager, and Mankey also received the Reaching for the Stars Award for innovative thinking in the workplace.

Central Methodist University presented nine seniors in the social sciences division with special awards in a ceremony May 5. Daniel Primm, a history major from Coppell, Texas, was presented the Dr. Harold Sunoo Award for Excellence in History and Political Science. Primm also was co-recipient of the Judge Andrew Higgins Award for Excellence in Pre-Law Studies. Lauran Burgin, a communication studies major from Greenwood, was the recipient of the communication department's Student Media Award. Laurin Hatfield picked up the Martin E. Kooi Memorial Award for Excellence in Communication Studies. She is from Salisbury and majored in communication studies. The Dr. Robert Barker Award for Excellence in Sociology was presented to Merikate Novak, a sociology major from Richland. Co- recipient of the Judge Andrew Higgins Award for Excellence in Pre- Law Studies was Knial Piper II from Springfield, a criminal justice major. Heidi Pope earned the Pi Gamma Mu Award for Scholastic Excellence. She is a Fayette resident who has majored in nursing. Deanna Quisenberry, a psychology major from Columbia, earned the Award for Excellence in Criminal Justice. The Gen. Lewis M. Means Award for Excellence in the Study of Political Science was presented to Eldar Rizvanov. A political science major, Rizvanov hails from Sterlitamak, Russia, and his American hosts are Sunny and Robin Helton of Brinktown. Adam Russo, a psychology major from Columbia, was recipient of the Award for Excellence in Psychology. Programs within the social sciences division at Central Methodist include communication studies, criminal justice, history, political science, psychology and sociology.

Alicia Pigg, an online course review specialist at Columbia College, has been selected as a presenter at the 28th annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning scheduled for Aug. 8- 10 in Madison, Wis. Actively involved in course development, syllabi review, course monitoring and faculty training at Columbia College, as well as an online instructor of art, Pigg will speak on "Four Steps for Designing Successful Discussion Topics" for online courses.

BUSINESS CALENDAR

The Columbia Chamber of Commerce has events for the following day:

TUESDAY

The Chamber Ambassadors, 10 a.m., ribbon-cutting, Columbia Public Schools' first school and community garden, Ridgeway Elementary School, 107 E. Sexton Road

Are you proud of the recognition your company or one of its employees has received? Send a short description to [email protected]. If you have a picture, email the image as a jpeg attachment.

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This article was published in Saturday Business on page 4 of the Saturday, May 26, 2012 edition of The Columbia Daily Tribune. Click here to Subscribe.