Ceremony honors University staffers

For 30 years, lab attendants Tom Hacker and Michael Jackson have worked behind the scenes together in the Chemistry Building, preparing and cleaning the lab rooms and "doing the things that have to be done for the labs to actually go on," Hacker said.\nYesterday, Hacker and Jackson were the two winners in the service staff category of IU's 21st Annual Staff Merit Awards. Other winners were from the library, the continuing studies department, the theater department and the school of education.\nRoberta Partenheimer, administrative coordinator of curriculum and instruction for the school of education, was one of the winners. She said she has learned a lot working at IU.\n"When I first started here, I thought that I knew everything I needed to know," she said. "After all these years, my learning still goes on."\nThe award is designed to recognize a few of "the inspired and inspiring staff," said Bloomington Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis.\n"Without the work that these people do, it is unlikely that IU would be able to compete with other institutions," he said. "(They create) a friendly and collegial atmosphere here that inspires more effort in each of us."\nSeventy-four staff members were originally nominated for the award, after which a committee chose finalists, interviewed them and came up with the six winners, two from each category.\nContinuing their work in the Chemistry Building, Hacker and Jackson are just happy to be recognized.\n"It's just a really good feeling to be recognized from somewhere," Hacker said. "Sometimes we just don't realize how complicated our jobs have really become."\nThe winners in the professional staff category were Yolanda Cooper-Birdine, human resources officer for IU libraries, and Sally Jones, program developer/coordinator for continuing studies. The winners in the support staff category were Vicky Crowe, department secretary and script librarian for the department of theater and drama, and Roberta Partenheimer, administrative coordinator of curriculum and instruction for the school of education.