Lisa McCrae wasn’t surprised to receive an email from UVM’s President, “I just thought it was a campus-wide communique,” So the actual content -- alerting her that she was a recipient of UVM’s 2024 Our Common Ground Award -- caught her completely off guard. “I was shocked. And of course, happy, and honored, and all of those good things, but mostly just surprised.” The award recognizes staff members who exemplify the qualities of the University of Vermont’s Our Common Ground, the statement of aspirations and shared values of our community: Respect, Integrity, Innovation, Openness, Justice, and Responsibility. McCrae is the CALS & Extension Business Manager in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean’s Office and many of her colleagues agree that she exemplifies the Our Common Ground values.  McCrae started UVM as a part-time administrative assistant, 17 years ago, and now she manages a team. 

She takes the Common Ground values though it is difficult to choose just one Common Ground value as her favorite, McCrae says that “Justice” really resonates with her.  She volunteers for her local restorative justice center.  “I work on something called COSA, which stands for circles of support and accountability. We work with people coming out of prison. We're accountability focused, but it's also just about welcoming someone back to the community, letting someone know that we believe they are our community. They're not the worst thing they ever did.” She’s been doing this Restorative Justice work since 2018.

When asked how she embodies the Common Ground values in her work at UVM, she laughs a little. “I'm the Business Operations Manager. So in addition to my daily expectations of things I'm going to get done. I never know what I'm going to have for questions, and I lead with the goal of helping or supporting. I know it's not specifically a common ground tenet, but I think it’s just by having what I consider to be a position that helps my co-workers.” McCrae enjoys things happen behind the scenes to support the programs of CALS and Extension. “UVM is just a great place to work. I have great people that I work with. I have great people that I work for. I'm very, very, very pleased to receive this award. And as I said, honored and surprised. I can't say surprised enough.”

Congratulations Lisa!