Feel the Teal: Reflecting on 2017 successes!
As the end of our semester and calendar year quickly approaches, I want to reflect on the many successes we’ve experienced this year as they relate to service excellence. Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” In this same spirit, we must continue to strive for excellence while reflecting on our successes and learning from our failures. Today, we focus on the success!
At the end of last year, I commissioned a Presidential Task Force on Service Excellence to continue the service priority we created in 2012. This dedicated team of professionals has worked throughout the year toward accomplishing four separate goals, and they have succeeded in making remarkable progress in each of the following four areas: recognition, collaboration, student training, and service excellence within higher education.
One of the goals set forth was the formation of an international association that focuses on service excellence and customer service within higher education. I am proud to say that Coastal Carolina University has officially filed the required paperwork necessary to found the Association for Service Excellence in Higher Education (ASEHE). The mission of ASEHE is to advance, strengthen and promote service excellence within higher education through ongoing collaboration, research and leadership. I look forward to the inaugural board meeting in February.
Another tremendous achievement of 2017 was the creation and implementation of a universitywide recognition program. Since the inception of the Feel the Teal® initiative in 2012, there has been a need to publicly recognize the service our employees provide. I am pleased to inform you that the recognition team from the task force recognized 15 employees as Chauncey’s Service Excellence Champions earlier this month. This new program allows you as an employee to tangibly reward others for the excellence you see and experience.
These are two of the many examples of service excellence accomplishments that I’ve experienced this year. While the members of the task force have made significant progress toward achieving each of their goals, I know that each of you have your own service stories of triumph from this past year. I encourage you to share these achievements and celebrate your success as we move into 2018.
For a list of Feel the Teal graduates, please visit https://www.coastal.edu/feeltheteal/feelthetealrecognition/.
Sincerely,
David A. DeCenzo, Ph.D.
President
