Tran Wins Governor’s Award for Excellence

Tuyen Tran, textbook manager for NC State Bookstores, will receive a Governor’s Award for Excellence. He is one of five winners in the Outstanding State Government Service category who will be recognized during a ceremony Nov. 30 at the North Carolina Museum of History.

Tran was honored for his dedication to helping students and faculty by improving textbook ordering and service. He has increased the number of used textbooks available, made digital textbooks accessible and worked with the libraries to put copies of all adopted textbooks on reserve.

He was instrumental in helping the university meet the requirements of the new Higher Education Opportunity Act —a year ahead of schedule. Tran created a template that allows students to view the textbook requirements for their classes via links within the course registration site. They can print a book list or begin placing an order from the same screen. He expanded the course materials adoption process for faculty through the portal as well.

Tran wrote a program to streamline distribution of online textbook orders before the start of the fall 2009 semester, earning rave reviews. Because of his work, the bookstore was able to distribute more than 9,000 online orders, twice as many as the previous fall. To cope with the increase in online orders, he helped create a quick, electronic check-in process that replaced long lines in the August heat. By the time students arrived at the pickup point, their orders were ready.

Tran, an employee since 2004, first worked in the bookstore as a student. He earned a Pathways Leadership Development Program Achievement Award in 2007.