On behalf of the Board of Regents, I am pleased to present a KUDOS award to Erik Palafox, a software engineer in development and operations in the UNMC Department of Information Technology.
Erik's nominator praised his diligent work ethic, winning attitude and commitment to accountability, and specifically noted his work on two specific projects: online enhancements to UNeVal, UNMC's employee performance evaluation process; and an online process for non-clinical and clinical stipends in the ADIS system. The latter of which eliminates paper forms, increases data accuracy and fully documents each step for auditing purposes.
In fact, the ADIS project was so successful that HR Compensation is working with Erik on a related project to achieve additional efficiencies.
"His positive attitude is contagious," said his nominator, Carmen Sirizzotti, associate director of UNMC Human Resources. "When you meet with him to discuss the project, he leaves you with a positive engaging force...he assures you that he will work on the project or issue, and he delivers what he says he will deliver."
Erik, who has been at UNMC for more than five years, says he loves his job and the people with whom he works. He also loves tinkering with things to make them work better.
"A lot of the things we do are new; nobody has done them before," he said. "You can look online for something similar, but you have to think about how you want to do it here…To think about how to create a new system or a new process . . . I just really love it."
With that kind of 'can-do' attitude, Erik continually asks: What can I do to resolve this technical problem?” And, combined with his enthusiasm, work ethic, teamwork and customer service skills, he consistently improves UNMC's systems and automated processes.
Today, Erik is accompanied by his nominator, Carmen Sirizzotti, and supervisors Dave Padgett and Nicole Becker.
Please join me in thanking Erik for his many contributions and dedicated service to the University of Nebraska Medical Center.