University of Hawaii Announces 2001 Governor's Award Nominees

University of Hawaiʻi
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Posted: Aug 9, 2001

The University of Hawaiʻi has nominated Randall Yamada of the Facilities, Grounds and Safety Department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa and the team members of the Information Technology Demonstration Project for the 2001 Governor‘s Awards.

Yamada has been nominated for the 2001 Distinguished State Service Award. He is currently a Custodial Supervisor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa campus. He supervises a team of custodial staff who are responsible for the daily cleaning and maintenance of the classrooms, restrooms, offices and common areas of several buildings that are utilized by hundreds of students, staff and faculty on a daily basis.

Randy, as he is known to staff, is described as a "patient, hardworking and caring individual who tries to bring the best out of his workers." Many times he is seen working side by side with his workers to show them how a job should be done and to take pride in their work. "If a job has to be done, do it to your best ability," is Randy‘s motto.

The team members of the Information Technology Demonstration Project, which included Debra Ann Ishii, Chase N. Kawakami and Eric Tanigawa, have been nominated for the 2001 Team Excellence Award of Merit (TEAM). The project was a new classification and compensation approach for the University‘s IT professionals that departed from the traditional position classification and pricing, and also included a compensation program that enabled the University to recognize individual credentials, professional growth and exceptional performance.

The team members successfully implemented this project in an extremely short time frame and were described as having "performed in a superior manner, both as individuals and as team members, to bring to fruition the vision of a dynamic and relevant system which provides needed staffing in a competitive market."

The nominees will be recognized at the Governor‘s Award Ceremony to be held on October 5, 2001, at the State Capitol, with a reception to follow at Washington Place.