Each year students, faculty and staff nominate members of the Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) staff to be recognized with a staff award. After scoring each nominee, the university Staff Council chose Yolanda Ballard and Cristina Briseno as the 2019 Staff Employees of the Year.
For Yollanda Ballard, the Assistant Director of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute Administration, receiving the award came as a shock.
“I was not only surprised and excited to receive the award but am honored and humbled. TAMUK has so many talented and wonderful staff members and that I was selected as a recipient of the Staff Council Employee of the Year means a great deal to me,” Ballard said.
As an Assistant Director, Ballard assists graduate students with academic or research needs they have. She also helps with budget planning, financial reporting, and supporting a team of more than 10 people so they have the resources and training necessary to continue making the institute and TAMUK’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources- shine.
Ballard has been working at TAMUK for 33 years. Ballard started at the Wildlife Research Institute as a student worker who helped process a mass mail out of the institute’s annual report. After she graduated, she was hired as a part time secretary. During her time at the institute she has also worked as an accounting clerk, office manager and administrative assistant.
Cristina Briseno has been working at the university since 2002. Briseno is a TAMUK alumnus from the College of Business Administration. Briseno first started working at the university in the Office of Financial Aid. She then found her way to the Center for Student Success and works as the Administrative Assistant for the Center for Student Success. Her favorite part of the job is working with different people on campus.
“[My] favorite part of my job is that I have the opportunity to work with all people on campus, from the students to the Deans. But I must say that I truly enjoy guiding students and parents to the many wonderful resources we have in the area of Student Success and knowing that they are doing their part to make the grades and graduate on time,” Briseno said. 
Both Briseno and Ballard were chosen by TAMUK’s staff council to be awarded Employee of the Year. Staff Council secretary Patsy Rios explains that each person who is nominated is scored on their work performance, communication skills, confidence and personality, willingness to assist and train, and their respect and concern for others.
“Each person that was nominated is voted blindly within their category. Each employee that was nominated is assigned a number. All nomination forms are then copied with the name of the nominee removed, so all remains fair throughout the process. Original nomination forms with all the information are kept separately. A rubric with different categories and point system is used to vote. The executive committee, which includes the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Member-at-Large plus the Employee of the Year Committee, are the ones that vote,” Rios said.