Faces of UAMS: Mike Pense, MVP for February 2024

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Thousands of us make up Team UAMS, and that makes getting to individually meet any one of you a special moment for me. When the team member I meet is someone we are recognizing for making a special contribution to our university, it enhances the experience all the more.
Yesterday, I met one of those exemplary people - Mike Pense, the MVP for February. Mike serves as a heating-ventilation-air condition controls technician on the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus in Fayetteville. In the course of his work, he puts into practice the UAMS values of integrity, respect, diversity and health equity, teamwork, creativity, excellence and safety. Please read what one of his nominators wrote about how he does that:
During the most recent snowstorm in NWA, a supervisor was out of town on vacation. Mike Pense was left in charge of managing the plant and the facility. Mike decided to bring some extra clothes in case of an emergency and ended up staying at the facility for six straight days.
During this time, Mike kept the facility running efficiently and ended up dealing with multiple HVAC failures and even a small flood on the first floor of the main campus.
Mike has been with UAMS for almost 15 years, and as long as I have been as UAMS he has always been very dedicated to his trade. He is an excellent example for the rest of the UAMS NW Campus Ops team.
We will recognize Mike in several ways as this month’s MVP. Look for his photo on the Employee Appreciation Wall outside the Chancellor’s Suite in the Central Building. A Faces of UAMS video will feature him, and we’re giving him some great UAMS swag. At one of my cabinet meetings, we will present to Mike a certificate and monetary award and honor him and other awardees at the year-end MVP luncheon.
Do you know someone who should be the next MVP? If you have someone you’d like to nominate, please visit go.uams.edu/mvp/ and fill out the form.