Department of Human Resources
Office of Student Employment

UMD "Student Employee of the Year" 2007

Second Runner Up (Tie)

PHONG YANG

Phong is a valued member of the Library’s Administration Office work team. He has an outstanding work ethic, excellent interpersonal skills, and strong job skills. Phong is reliable. He sticks to his work schedule; immediately sets to work when he arrives for his assigned hours; and is very cognizant of the daily priorities. Phong assumes responsibility and ownership for each task assigned to him. When he is given an assignment, there is never any doubt that it will be done and done accurately.

This summer I noticed Phong had placed a copy of the “Task Timeline” document at his work station. The list is included in our office procedures manual. Every task assigned to the office receptionist is listed on this document under one of the eight “time” categories (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, end of each month, beginning of each month, each semester, occasional, every three months.) The fact that Phong had placed a copy in a prominent place at his work station demonstrated his commitment to doing everything assigned to him, and doing it when it was scheduled to be done.

Another excellent characteristic of Phong’s is his willingness to “go the extra mile” to help out the department. Many times over the past few years Phong has stepped in to help the department in times of change and flux. In March 2004 the only support staff member in the Library Administration Office resigned to take a position outside the University. Phong became the main support staff. He was asked to help with tasks that he had never done such as payroll and processing invoices. He did an excellent job.

This past summer our primary receptionist transferred to another University department and left us short staffed. In addition to our normal work, we had a number of special projects scheduled for the summer. Our first thought was “Oh, we wish Phong was here”. So we called Phong. He was willing and eager to move back to Duluth to work full time and take on all the additional responsibilities. So we hired him full time for the summer as a 2783 Clerical and Administrative Advanced level.

And once again he stepped in to fill an important role as a primary support staff member. Only this time, Phong was given full responsibility for numerous tasks including supply ordering, room reservations, room billing, and vendor invoice entry in the Library’s enterprise system. (Phong is the only student that the Library has given permission to “pay” invoices in the library’s acquisition module). He soon had the front office under control and running smoothly. It is important to note that he handled all of his usual “student jobs” as well as taking on a majority of the tasks assigned to our receptionist.

WE did fill the receptionist position this fall and Phong helped train her. He has been courteous, helpful, and serves as an excellent resource for her. Phong also has a remarkable eye for detail and process. Several times he has suggested ways to improve our workflow; he designed a file structure for organizing emails (within Mulberry) related to room reservation requests. This data is needed for submitting billing information to ITSS. This system allows us to sort and search requests electronically. This improves our ability to respond to inquiries about reservations by being more efficient. It greatly improves our customer service.

Phong has a positive attitude each and every day. His manner at the front desk when dealing with patrons is always professional. He provides quality service to patrons both on the phone and in person. He is well liked and respected by both library staff and fellow student employees. Phong does an excellent job of balancing the many demands placed on him by his multiple supervisors.

He is a highly valued member of our work team.