Outgoing Board Member Receves 2017 FSA DAA
May 10, 2017
For a fourth year, the FSA is partnering with BCIT and the BCIT Alumni Association for the Distinguished Alumni Awards (DAA) by honouring a BCIT alumnus who returned to the Institute as an FSA member. In November 2016, we put a call out to our members for nominations and received submissions from a number of departments. The FSA board* deliberated over the nominees and we are thrilled to officially announce our selection.
In the years since we started presenting this award, I have been struck by how key the work of our members is to British Columbia. Training professionals who are ready to work with current technologies and who are prepared to be innovators is essential to BC’s economic growth. And the applied research work performed by FSA members is a vital part of creating the talent pool needed to grow BC’s knowledge economy. Joe Newton is part of this vital work.
“I am truly grateful that my colleagues and the people I work with think me deserving of this award. I love the work that I do but mostly I love the people I work with. It’s great that I get to work on solving problems on a daily basis and I get to do it with talented and brilliant people.”
Joe Newton, a certified ASTTBC AScT from the MAKE+ team in Applied Research, received acknowledgement in his nomination not only for being part of BCIT as a former student – graduating from both Robotics and with a Bachelor in Technology Management – and current employee but also for the many volunteer roles he has taken on while working here. Joe has been a strong advocate for his colleagues and all members across BCIT. There was no shortage of commentary on Joe’s contributions as a co-worker.
“Joe has played many roles here at BCIT that extend beyond his job title. Part of Joe’s career excellence is the manner in which he has grown with the Institution and contributed in so many areas. It is as a result of his intelligence, engagement in problem solving, and ability to stand up for his beliefs that he has made a marked difference in every role he has taken on with BCIT.”
Joe is known as a trusted colleague and someone who can be counted on. He has shown fierce dedication to his colleagues and to student success and has also been a strong and involved director of our union. Authenticity, integrity, diligence, passion, principled, and dependable were just a few of the words used to describe Joe in the nomination package for this award.
One of the letters of support we received has this to say about Joe:
“He is the go-to person for many of our team members to this day. His combination of technical skill, leadership strengths, and sense of humour makes Joe a rare and valuable team member.”
Joe demonstrates the best of BCIT’s educational system – someone with skill, knowledge, a strong work ethic, and an ability to work with others. On behalf of the FSA, we are so pleased to honour Joe for his many work accomplishments, his depth of knowledge, and his “conviction to ensure the betterment of the Institution, his colleagues, and students alike” as his nominator so aptly put it! We look forward to presenting the award to Joe in October at the DAA gala event. We encourage members to watch for an opportunity to nominate their co-members next year for the 5th annual BCIT FSA Distinguished Alumni Award.
*Note that because we had a nominee from the board that they weren’t present during the deliberations.