Institutional memory and attention to detail are a powerful combination. Jane Kennedy O’Neil has both – she recalls every little thing – and every big thing at the University of Vermont going back to the past 33 years.
As her colleague in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Emeriti Professor Lyndon Carew said, “one of Jane’s most important characteristics is her ability to remember detail and apply it to current situations.” Carew nominated O’Neil for the number one award for staff employed by CALS. And on April 15 at the College’s annual Honors Day celebration, she was the Outstanding Staff Award seventh annual recipient.
Originally from Storrs, Connecticut, O’Neil earned her bachelor of science degree in animal sciences from the University of Massachusetts in 1978. She came to UVM that same year as a lab technician in animal pathology. From 1985-2009 she advanced her position, implementing experiments on dairy herd health, supervising students, keeping the lab stocked and efficiently running and publishing in a peer-reviewed journal.
In 1995, when she added the title of business support generalist of animal science to her toolbox, O’Neil brought along her analytical skills, scientific method and precision. These came in handy working with payroll compliance, recruitment support, accounting, grants, archiving department history, cataloging resources and a wide range of financial and personnel issues. She is everyone’s mentor on PeopleSoft. And it is Jane O’Neill who rushes to resolve lab and building emergencies, injuries and even lost students.
She’s Like an EMT of Building Issues
From 2005-2009, when the construction of the Davis Center inadvertently affected the heating and cooling systems of Terrill Hall, which is the home of animal science, it was O’Neil who led faculty, staff, students, movers, carpenters, plumbers, construction workers and the like in the temporary move from Terrill to McCauley Hall – and back one year later. (In fact, Jane O’Neil’s award nomination packet may be the only one in the College’s history to include a letter of recommendation from a plumber.)
With an uncanny understanding of engineering and the big-picture vision of a contractor, she was instrumental in Terrill Hall being awarded Gold LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council; these are design guidelines that indicate high energy efficiency and environmental design.
In January, O’Neil was liaison among six different UVM units to pave the way politically and practically for UVM Extension’s move to the former bio-research lab on Spear Street. And then, wearing respirator and safety equipment, she personally cleaned and decontaminated the site.
“Because of her, our students are safer, our lab work is seamless and our budgets are balanced. Jane is the consummate ‘MacGyver,’” says her colleague Pat Erickson.
She has served and led many UVM committees including safety, traffic, faculty searches, Mastering the Maze and staff art exhibit. She was twice nominated for the UVM employee of the year award.
An accomplished award-winning photographer, she has run her own business for more than a decade, photographing community, charitable and sports events for regional and national publications. Hers is a long history of community and state service as a photographer, race official and supporter of her hometown of Essex.
‘Break a Leg’ Does Not Mean 'Good Luck'
Last Easter she suffered a broken leg that required several surgeries and long recovery, yet two days later she was conducting business by phone and email. “Given her prompt replies and detailed responses,” said department chair André-Denis Wright, “many were unaware that Jane was in the hospital! Short of taking away her personal Blackberry…there was no keeping Jane down.”
In presenting the award before an audience of more than 150 students, parents, staff and faculty, CALS Dean Tom Vogelmann, echoed Wright’s sentiment when he said, “Alas, even when in good health, instead of relaxing and enjoying down time on evenings, weekends and holidays, she takes photos for CREAM or Everything Equine, picks up job candidates from the airport at midnight, even answered an alarm on Christmas Day 2009 when an elevator malfunctioned.” He wondered whether later she’d divulge the story of her rendezvous with the ghost of John Dewey. “Now that’s going beyond the call of duty,” he said with raised eyebrow.
Her nominators for CALS Outstanding Staff call her “devoted, conscientious and loyal.” They praise her for putting her heart and soul into her work. We are all well aware that these acts are not in her job description. Letters on her behalf are a chorus of examples of when Jane saved the day.
Vogelmann concluded, “And so we save today – to mark the anniversary of her breaking her leg – and to honor Jane Kennedy O’Neil as Outstanding Staff of UVM’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.”