Lambert, Mahan recognized by MVNU peers

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — Faculty and staff at Mount Vernon Nazarene University celebrated peers Paul Lambert and Jay Mahan during the Excellence in the Call awards reception held Feb. 22, 2024. Recipients are selected by an award committee through a review process of peer nominations.

Paul Lambert serves as the Facility Services Setup Housekeeper. In his role, Lambert maintains campus buildings and assists with event setup. His peers describe him as kind, personable, joyful, and caring.

“Paul Lambert brightens my day every morning I see him in the Ariel or PSU buildings. He has such a kind spirit, and his willingness to serve in any capacity is evident. People are important to him, and he will take time to get to know students’ names and talk with employees. I greatly appreciate Paul’s willingness to do what is needed, and he truly exemplifies the mission of MVNU through his actions,” cited one nomination.

“Paul is an amazing person and very hard worker. I often see him doing anything he can to keep Ariel looking great. Not only does he work very hard, but he is very caring and personable. He always asks others how they are doing and truly cares for the athletes. Many girls on my team have great things to say about him and his kindness as well. He brightens up Ariel and MVNU athletics,” stated another nomination.

Jay Mahan is the Assistant Registrar for the School of Graduate and Adult Studies and is an adjunct professor. He is described by his peers as a highly ethical, caring, and hard-working Christian person. Colleagues and students appreciate Mahan for his efforts to go above and beyond for MVNU and MVNU Online.

“He is such a good encourager and teacher. He is always available to help. Even though he may have a busy schedule, he is never too busy to stop what he is doing to listen and help find an answer to a question,” commented a peer.

“Jay has demonstrated leadership by taking on multiple areas of responsibility and excelling in each of them. He played a crucial role in building systems and processes to allow for the enrollment of students from other schools in our online courses, which has brought additional revenue to our school. Furthermore, Jay has been a key member of committees focused on organizing GPS involvement in unit level assessment through the Office of Institutional Effectiveness. Jay also leads a remote team of academic advisors who consistently provide outstanding service to our students. His commendable work ethic is truly inspiring, and he has left a lasting impact on our students,” cited another nomination.

The quarterly award includes recognition at an employee reception, a certificate, and $500. The honor was developed and sponsored by donors, who are members of the faculty and staff, to applaud outstanding service, innovation, collegiality, peer leadership, and going beyond the call of duty as recognized and nominated from their peers. Nominations are reviewed by the Excellence in the Call Award Committee, chaired by Mel Severns, University Registrar.