LaSaundra Cotright was one of 11 employees honored at the Staff Excellence Awards luncheon this Friday where she received the UH 2013 Charles F. McElhinney Distinguished Service Award, UH’s highest staff honor that includes a $3,000 stipend.
Cotright
“When I won the Staff Excellence Award in 2011, I felt honored and grateful and didn’t think twice about winning anything beyond that,” said Cotright, business administrator for the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. “I am thrilled to be this year’s McElhinney Award recipient.”
Cotright began her career at UH as executive secretary in the department of biology and biochemistry in 2000.
After several promotions, she now manages NSM’s administrative, financial, budgetary and human resource operations. Cotright is tasked with a range of responsibilities including budget planning, supervising department business managers and office coordinators, and reviewing and approving the reconciliation of accounting records with university reports and financial statements.
“Her leadership skills, fairness and dedication are her best attributes,” said Elsie Myers, business administrator of the Department of Chemistry and immediate past president of Staff Council. “I truly appreciate LaSaundra. I’m extremely happy that her hard work and dedication have been recognized.”
Fred McGhee, executive director of college operations at NSM, said Cotright is the “epitome of staff excellence.”
“She is relentless in the pursuit of perfecting organizational efficiency, developing employees’ skills and leadership, and representing the University of Houston as Tier One,” McGhee said.
Cotright credits her success thus far to her college education, which was made possible by a scholarship to attend Louisiana State University at Eunice. She now holds a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University, and is currently working on receiving her Masters of Business Administration in strategic management from UH-Victoria in December.
“This is truly a family award for us,” Cotright said, referring to her husband, son and daughter. “We sacrificed valuable family time so that I can complete my education and do well in my career.”
Cotright says she enjoys the UH community, and is thankful to be a part of it.
“I’m always amazed when the professors we assist with day-to-day business functions are featured in news stories describing amazing research results that have practical applications,” Cotright said. “It is gratifying to know that the long hours and hard work that the staff and I put in are a critical part of fulfilling their research needs.”
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