Jem Squires, winner of the 'Outstanding Customer Service' award.

Success for Jem at the Professional Services Recognition Awards

The enthusiasm, dedication and approachability shown by one of the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences’ most recognisable figures has been recognised at a recent University awards ceremony.

Jem Squires received the prestigious “Outstanding Customer Service” accolade at the recent Professional Services Recognition awards ceremony, held on the Streatham Campus.

Jem, who acts as Front of House for the College and is universally known as the ‘face of the Harrison Building’, secured the award after receiving a vast array of nominations from students.

His citation at the awards ceremony read; “The volume of nominations for Jem shows the impact of his customer service. His introduction of a coursework dropbox that was available 24 hours a day was a highlighted example of customer service.”

A large number of students supported Jem’s nomination, outlining why they believed he should win the award.  The comments included: “From day one at Exeter and coming to and from Harrison, Jem has been by far one of the most friendly people around. He truly seems to want to help when you need it and is friendly and kind even when you don't.”

Another student wrote: “Jem works tirelessly in order to ensure that the Harrison building runs smoothly.  He goes above and beyond to be a friendly face at times when students are in dire need of it with exam and coursework stress.  Plus he plays a pivotal role in the running of the post offer open days which attracts many students. Without him the college and university would be at a great loss. 

“I think I speak on the behalf of a lot of students when I say that he has touched a lot of our lives and cannot imagine doing our degrees without him at the entrance to the Harrison building greeting us with such joy every day!”

Professor Ken Evans, Dean of the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences said: “On behalf of everyone in the College, I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to Jem for this ward, which is richly deserved.

“Everyone who knows Jem understands how important providing the very best care for our students is to him, and he does everything with a smile and unabashed friendliness. The fact so many of our students nominated Jem is testament to how much they appreciate his efforts, as we all do. I am delighted that his hard work, dedication and all-round enthusiasm has been recognised with this award.”

Also at the awards, the cross-College Doctorial Training Portfolio, including Fiona Pac Soo and Adrian Bailey from CEMPS, won the Outstanding Partnership Working award, while the CEMPS Education Team were finalists in the Outstanding Team Improvement category.

In total 560 nominations were received from staff and students across six categories - a 276% increase on the 149 nominations received in 2013. 

Speaking at the end of the evening Geoff Pringle, Acting Chief Operating Officer at Exeter said: “I was delighted to see the variety of projects that PS staff undertake across the University that contribute towards making this such a fantastic place to work and study. All the winners thoroughly deserved their award and I congratulate them, but I am also immensely proud of the whole PS team who all play their part in the overall success of the institution.”

 

Date: 1 August 2014

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