Many employers describe their employees as a family. This family of workers will always have a few employees that go above and beyond what is asked of their job title. UIS is no exception, with over 1,000 workers, including the 2022 UIS Employee of the Year.
Yokasty Owens, a building service worker at Brookens Library, won the employee of the year honor in January at a reception in the UIS Student Union. Each 2022 Employee of the Month had a chance of winning the employee of the year. Owens was named Employee of the Month in May, and one of the main reasons she won was her tireless cleaning efforts when there was a water leak at the UIS archives in Brookens Library.
Owens humbly explained what she did after the water leak. “When there was a problem (the water leak), I took care of some stuff,” she said. “I dried the water, I moved some stuff like a shelf, and I cleaned the mess on the floor. That’s what I did in there.”
Owens has worked with UIS for four years; her boss has been Patty Meyer for two of those years. Meyer, the UIS Director of Facilities, is excited about Owens’s much-deserved win. Meyer said, “She’s (Owens) always willing to go above and beyond to please the people on her floor and try to do anything that they need done. She’s just a very good worker. I think she does a lot of extra little things for people that make her stand out. Not only that, but I think she does a lot for her fellow co-workers that stands out. She bakes stuff all the time and brings it in for her co-workers. I just think she’s got a really friendly and great personality.”
Meyer also mentioned that Owens can work equally well within a team setting or by herself.
Owens is a part of the UIS family, and her family is a part of UIS. Owens’s husband also works for the university in human resources.
Owens is beloved by her work family at UIS, but the moment her name was announced as an employee of the year was still shocking to her. Owens said, “Oh my God, it was crazy. I was surprised, because there were 10 other people nominated.”
