Employees' Milestones of Service celebration to be held on May 13

At 3 p.m., Wednesday, May 13 in Carter Hall, 44 USI administrators will be recognized for their milestones of service. The milestone markers begin at five years and a new milestone is reached every five years thereafter. The event is sponsored and coordinated by the Administrative Senate and is open to University administrators.

Among those being honored are Ingrid Lindy (35 years), manager of Human Resources Information Systems and Ray Simmons (25 years), director of Athletic Communications.

Ingrid Lindy

At 19, Ingrid Lindy's first job out of college was as computer programmer at Indiana State University Evansville, (now USI). She remembers that grades would be recorded and bussed overnight to Indiana State. Registration was done by punch cards. "Students would pick up a class card for every class they wanted to enroll in," she said. Lindy worked in the Computer Center (now Information Technology) for 11 of her nearly 36 years at USI. She spent two and a half years in Institutional Research and her remaining time in Human Resources.

Lindy has left her mark across USI. She was instrumental in the installation of the Banner database system, assisted with the onsite payroll conversion, wrote computer programs to track student data and was a key player in developing the University's first Human Resources personnel system.

She has invested time and energy beyond her regular job duties, sitting on the Data Standards Committee, Banner Operations Committee, United Way Committee and Administrative Senate. She also volunteered as a ticket taker at basketball games.

Lindy has invested in USI's future, establishing the Schmidt Memorial Nursing Scholarship to memorialize her mother, Patricia Schmidt, who passed away four years ago. Her mother was an OB nurse and had such a passion for nursing she took some nursing classes at USI at the age of 70.

Lindy is currently working to establish an engineering scholarship in the name of her father, Floyd Schmidt, who was an engineer with the Amax Coal Company. Education was important to both parents, but her father was never able to attend college although it had always been his dream.

Ray Simmons

As a student at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Ray Simmons had dreams of being the next Jack Buck, a popular major league baseball broadcaster. He hadn't even heard of the sports information career path, much less imagined he would spend the next 25 years in the field.

Attending games in the early days meant carrying a briefcase and typewriter to type play-by-plays. Today, Simmons and his crew bring five computers, two for stats, one for the message board, one for instant replays and another for music. Also in the beginning, he would travel to nearly every away game in many of the USI sports, but now has set-up a system at home to be able to watch and report on games.

Sharing the victories and promoting the achievements of USI's student athletes have also been factors keeping Simmons in the profession for so long. "Being a part of the euphoria of national championship wins would be the highlights in my career," he said.

He says he's made his closest friends in this profession through working together. "Those friendships are as strong as any relationship," he said. "You want to take care of each other. I know if I don't do my job, they can't do theirs."

Other employees being recognized at the Milestones reception include:

5 years of service

• Constance Walker, academic advisor, College of Nursing and Health Professions
• Ruth Metzger, grant writer and coordinator of Interprofessional Education, College of Nursing and Health Professions
• Aaron Adkins, advisor and coordinator of First Year Experience and Career Counseling, Academic Skills
• Timothy Fitzgibbon, director of advising, University Division
• Christopher Crawford, head men's tennis coach
• Gerad Good, assistant men's basketball coach
• Rodney Watson, men's varsity basketball coach
• Paula Nurrenbern, resource development specialist, Outreach and Engagement
• Dianne Herrmann, manager of payroll, Human Resources
• Amy Smith, assistant director of admission and Ivy Tech Transfer coordinator, Admission
• Karen Huseman, assistant director of programming, Residence Life Service Center

10 years of service

• Jeanne McAlister, research coordinator, Planning, Research and Assessment
• Edward Shelby, senior programmer/analyst, Information Technology
• Gary Burgdorf, construction administrator, Physical Plant
• Donna Koewler, assistant director, Special Events
• Wendy Bredhold, media relations specialist, University Communications
• Stephanie Walden-Schwake, associate director, Recreation, Fitness and Wellness

15 years of service

• Deanna Odney, writing specialist, Academic Skills
• Lori Saxby, reading specialist, Academic Skills
• Renee Rowland, director of advising, College of Liberal Arts
• S. Beth Thompson, director of Charles E. Day Learning Resource Center, College of Nursing and Health Professions
• JoEllen Bush, academic advisor, University Division
• Andrew Black, production coordinator, Information Technology
• David LeRoy, distance learning producer/director, Information Technology
• Richard Beury, computer network technician, Information Technology
• Shannon Hile, assistant director of admission and transfer coordinator, Admissions
• Shelly Blunt, associate provost, Academic Affairs
• Peter C. Whiting, serials technical services librarian, David L. Rice Library

20 years of service

• Kristine Dedmond, academic advisor, Pott College of Science, Engineering and Education
• Nils Johansen, advisor, University Division
• Larry Back, academic services analyst, Information Technology
• Susanne Stanley, travel manager, Travel Services
• Richard Stein, women's varsity basketball coach
• Joanna Riney, associate director, Student Financial Assistance
• Scott Gordon, dean, Pott College of Science, Engineering and Education

25 years of service

• Debra Laster, assistant director of development, Development
• Jimmy Prior, principal software development/analyst, Information Technology
• Carol Schmitt, email administrator, Information Technology
• Cindy Miller, associate bursar, Bursar's Office
• Mary Hupfer, associate vice president for budgeting and planning, Foundation
• Ray Simmons, director, Athletic Communications

35 years of service

• Ingrid Lindy, manager of Human Resources information systems
• Cynthia Brinker, vice president, Government and University Relations

40 years of service

• Linda Cleek, executive director, Lifelong Learning in Outreach and Engagement