Spirit of Innovation (Classified)

Beth Stanze Tate

Inspiring, happy and highly productive, are just a few modest words that describe Elizabeth “Beth” Stanze-Tate and the amazing coordinating efforts she conducts regularly as senior customer service assistant in the Physical Plant department.

“By the time we were able to hire Beth, the customer service assistant function was in such disarray that I thought it would be years before we would ever recover,” said Bill Knotts, associate director of the Physical Plant department. “In a matter of weeks she had everything under control.”

By the end of her first year she created a standard operating procedures manual and on-the-job-training procedures for all aspects of the position.

“Beth has never needed any direction. She is always pursuing something to better herself, the department, the university or society as a whole,” said Knotts.

Stanze-Tate has participated in numerous projects and groups across campus.

These include participating in a Lean Value Stream Mapping project for Engineering and Construction project managers and facilitating a professional development team that came out of the Division of Business and Finance’s appreciative inquiry process. The team developed an on-boarding process for new Physical Plant hires.

Additionally, she has been a member of the Staff Development Day Committee and Combined Giving and Campus Scholarship and Innovation campaigns for the Division of Business and Finance.

She was recently elected to the Classified Staff Advisory Council and has organized the Physical Plant’s participation in Fall Fest and April Craze. Additionally, she participates in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life each year.

“One thing that I have learned is each great organization has at least one person that can bring a smile to everyone’s face that works there,” Knotts said. “By their actions they put us in the right frame of mind to do our best. They inspire us to be a better person. Beth is one of these individuals.”