NC State staff members Holly Jordan and Jamie Pendergrass have earned the highest honor a state employee can receive: the Governor’s Award for Excellence.
The award recognizes state employees for accomplishments above and beyond their job duties. This year, 41 state employees received the award and were honored at a ceremony held Nov. 19 at the State Archives of North Carolina in Raleigh.
Jordan, the NC State Extension director for Buncombe County, won the award in the outstanding state government service category. Pendergrass, an associate director for Scholarships and Financial Aid, won in the customer service category.
NC State will recognize the Governor’s Award winners by lighting the Belltower in their honor. Jordan and Pendergrass will each get to choose a day for the Belltower to be illuminated in their honor.
Earlier this year, Jordan and Pendergrass were among 12 employees who won NC State’s Award for Excellence. The award is the most prestigious honor bestowed upon nonfaculty employees at the university. All 12 winners were eligible to win the Governor’s Award.
Holly Jordan
Jordan won the Governor’s Award for the exemplary role that she played in helping coordinate Hurricane Helene relief efforts in Buncombe County.
“This was a team effort, and there are a lot of people out there in state government work that did a lot for Helene recovery,” Jordan said in a Governor’s Award for Excellence video. “My name just happened to be on that nomination form.”
Buncombe County endured vast damage to its residential, urban and agricultural areas due to Helene. Jordan led the Buncombe County Extension Center so local agents could focus on providing aid and relief in the agricultural community.
With help from neighboring county Extension offices, statewide personnel and federal officials,
Jordan aided Buncombe County Extension agents with coordinating supply drops. Over two weeks, agents delivered cleaning supplies, generators and other essential items for people in need.
The Buncombe Extension Center and the WNC Agricultural Center distributed over $55,000 worth of clothing and outerwear donations to community members. An Angel Tree program coordinated by the Buncombe 4-H agent helped to get 60 families $41,000 in donated items.
Jordan also led an effort to coordinate supplies for the farming community. Regional Extension agents and outside partners help conduct hay and livestock feed distribution. Helicopters and trucks delivered over 10,000 bales of hay. Additionally, agriculture agents distributed 24 pallets with 60,000 pounds of cover crop seeds to address soil erosion concerns and to begin the soil restoration process.
Read Jordan’s nomination letter.
Jamie Pendergrass
Pendergrass received the honor for his efforts to ensure that NC State complied with the FAFSA Simplification Act and that students received their financial aid in time for the 2024 fall semester.
“What I put forward in my work here at NC State is I always put students first,” Pendergrass said in a Governor’s Award for Excellence video. “I value very much the ability to be able to serve this institution that gave me so much being a first-generation college student.”
In late 2023, the FAFSA Simplification Act caused the broadest revision to the formula, processes and systems used to administer federal financial aid. To offer financial aid to fall 2024 incoming students, NC State and universities nationwide had to rework their financial aid systems. NC State’s Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid faced an immense challenge as a result of the act.
Pendergrass took on the challenge, and over the first six months of 2024, he worked long, stressful hours. As a result of Pendergrass’s work, NC State was one of the first universities to offer aid to incoming fall 2024 students, the largest incoming class in university history. NC State disbursed financial aid for all students on time in August 2024.
“NC State is in the business of admitting and educating and graduating students,” according to a nomination letter for Pendergrass. “Financial aid is a critical component to this mission. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that for the first six months of 2024, Jamie was critically important to fulfilling the university mission.”
Read Pendergrass’ nomination letter.
This post was originally published in University Human Resources News.
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