Kelly Wood Head Student Assistant, Pipeline Programs
Ms. Wood is always reliable. At times, her continuous commitment to her job and the level of seriousness and maturity that she brings to the department leads me to forget that she is a student and not an actual hired employee. She submits quality work on time and always goes a step further to ensure that all processes used within the department are the most efficient. Added to this, she has helped with departmental trainings and willingly took ownership of many of the program-related processes. Even during this tumultuous time, Ms. Wood’s response has always been “How can I help?” She is an amazing student worker and an even better young professional and I know she will be a valued addition to wherever she may land post-graduation.
For the past two years, Ms. Wood has overseen the production of the department's e-newsletter, powerpoints, and funding proposals. Her work is impeccable. As a result of this product, she has been approached by 3 different departments on the UH campus with requests for her to create and design their newsletters.
Ms. Wood's initiative is one of the main reasons I opted to create a "head student assistant" position, of her ability to handle more. She is a quick learner and is adept at suggesting ways for improvement. She has also taken on a number of additional tasks in her effort to expand her skill sets to the point where I heavily rely on her expertise during my day-to-day routines. There have been many times when Ms. Wood’s initiative and ability to think ahead have helped craft department processes and guidelines, and even assisted with emergencies that arise.
Ms. Wood is as professional as they come. In addition to working within my department, she was able to secure opportunities through Teach For America, Americorp, and a local judicial internship. Additionally, Kelly handles all incoming student emails, calls, visitor drop-ins, and follow-up correspondences.
Ms. Wood is nothing short of excellent. I value her input on almost all student-related decisions I make because she is able to provide a grounded, mature response to address concerns. Ms. Wood is considered one of my employees and if she didn’t have to graduate would have continued to be my right-hand person for the rest of time.