The Exceptional Customer Service Award Narrative: Catherine Luallen
In 2005 when Jeff Davis passed so unexpectedly, I mourned his loss and later felt that no one could fill his shoes and offer the customer service we in Facilities had been accustomed to receiving. How could anyone not already privy to the internal workings of the University even stand a chance of providing Facilities with the support that was needed with both our public works jobs and varied equipment and maintenance service contracts? It just didn’t seem possible.
It is encouraging to know, there is someone at GSU who took the baton and continued to run.
Catherine Luallen is one of those people you feel like you have known all of your life. She was already familiar with public bid requirements for large projects, so the typical learning curve was not required. In fact, within a very short time, she began to provide much needed instruction and counsel. The turn around times for posting projects was phenomenal. When she would receive a complete bid package, it is not uncommon that the documents would be reviewed, repackaged and posted within a few hours of receipt (sometimes within a few minutes). On several occasions she has communicated that she was willing to assist the project managers with putting together the bid packages to reduce the possibility of errors or oversight. She has also volunteered to sit on initial selection and pre-construction meetings to help establish ground rules and procedures for working successfully on Georgia State University’s campus.
When it’s time for business, Catherine is personable and forthright. She is so professional that once you get up from the floor you feel at ease and that she has done you a favor. As a steward of sound procurement practices, she will clearly communicate the best practices as it relates to state and federal regulations. She does not sugar coat the issues. Even so, she also will not hesitate to offer options of how to handle special challenges when they arise. She’s very knowledgeable about her area and will provide individuals the direction that’s needed.
There has been countless times I requested the contract purchase orders to be quickly created or modified to keep the project or paperwork flowing. Only if she had a pre-scheduled meeting would she not interrupt her activities to comply with my request. Iarrived in her office at various times of the day, even sometimes at the end of day, with contract documents and other paperwork that would need reviewing and processing. Understanding the urgency of the situation, she would do her best to resolve any issue and get the contract executed. I can recall several instances when she has even offered to work late to get the contracts processed and updated in Spectrum.
Once incident particularly stands out for me. It occurred one late Friday afternoon during FY 08 year end. I had brought several contracts by her office that needed to be processed. She did not blink an eye, but welcomed me into her office so we could populate what was needed in Spectrum to commit the funds. Because of prior obligations I could not stay past 5:30p, but she continued to work and committed to getting all the contracts entered to meet the deadline. She did not question my reasons for needing to leave and even insisted that I do so to fulfill my commitments. (She may have been just trying to get rid of me, but her thoughtfulness and diligence was immensely appreciated). Sure enough, when I returned on Monday morning, all the contracts had been entered, budget checked and posted in the system.
Catherine routinely goes above and beyond the call of duty and consistently works with Facilities to prevent unwarranted delays and miscommunications to potential vendors, and to safeguard the University fromvendors who may not have professional and ethical standards as a typical practice.
She functions as both a guardian and an advocate. We are very pleased to have her working for University.