Carly Rae Zent is the Spring award recipient
Congratulations to Carly Rae Zent, Digital Media Specialist, for winning the Spring 2025 Classified Staff Excellence Award!
Warm congratulations to the other award nominees:
- Amanda Harlen, Program Specialist, Workforce Education Services
- Amy Tam, Program Manager A, Entry Services
- Heidi Eckman, Fiscal Tech Supervisor, Bookstore
- Juniper Colville, Secretary Senior, WPTE & STEM
- Joanne Savage, Program Specialist 3, Office of Instruction
- Ken Pruett, IT Customer Support, Information Technology Services
- Katie Wallis, Admin Services Manager, WPTE & STEM
- Linda Healy, Program Manager A, Advising
- Mike Aguirre, Program Specialist 2, Credential Evaluations
- Shelly Williams, Music Program Coordinator, Fine Art Division
- Koda Leab, Program Specialist 2, Enrollment Services
- Laurie Mitchell, Fiscal Tech 3, Accounting
- Russell Costa, Custodian 1, Custodial Services
- Xiaoxue Xing, Early Childhood Program Specialist 3, Childhood & Family Services
Excerpts from Carly Rae’s Nomination
“Carly Rae joined the team a year ago and has taken her role seriously, taking on the management of the college’s social media channels. She consistently delivers high-quality work, even under tight deadlines. She is organized and detail-oriented, ensuring accuracy and timeliness in all her tasks. Carly Rae attends events across campus for social media posts, ensures the college is well-represented to the students and the community, and continues to uplift the students and the college brand. She tracks social media data monthly throughout the year, and we have seen significant growth in our audiences across all social platforms. Her approach to developing new, frequent, and engaging content has resulted in 1,960,952 impressions (+57% year-over-year growth) and 70,138 engagements (+24.8% year-over-year).”
“Carly Rae led the charge to set up a new social media channel like TikTok which appeals to the students, and nurturing the channel with relevant and engaging posts. In addition to holding quarterly meetings with all social media handlers from the college, Carly Rae shows her cooperative spirit by taking the initiative to work on a Canvas course in social media considerations and best practices for college colleagues who may be considering setting up new social media accounts and has enabled departments to better manage their social media accounts. Specifically, it was evident with her outreach work with Financial Aid re: FAFSA; Entry Services re: Application, Registration & Information Sessions; Tutoring; and community events like Noche de Familia and monthly student activities. She finds ways to promote these events on behalf of the college and diligently monitors the responses and results of the posts.”
“Carly Rae is always patient and helpful and willing to help all who come to her seeking help with their department’s social media accounts. She works closely with various departments throughout the college to revive their social media accounts – often successful in solving mysteries of missing or duplicate accounts, reinstating usernames, and forgotten passwords. This past summer, she researched and worked with the AAG office to update the college’s social media guidelines to ensure compliance with current laws. Last fall, Carly Rae also invited her former college professor and award-winning writer, Kaveh Akbar, to speak as part of the Columbia Writers Series.”
“Carly Rae is laser-focused on the college’s strategic plan and our commitment to DEI. She actively looks for opportunities to showcase our DEI initiatives, events, and messaging in all the social media posts she produces. She is always ready to respond to difficult comments on the social media channels that she manages with a positive, equity-centered response.”
About the Classified Staff Excellence Awards
Established in 2005, the Classified Staff Excellence Award recognizes classified staff who have demonstrated exemplary work performance, a positive and cooperative spirit, special achievements, or contributions to the college community, and supports individual and organizational diversity and inclusion. Through the support of the Clark College Foundation, the recipient will receive a $400 cash award.
Nominate a Colleague for the Summer 2025 Award
Do you have a colleague who deserves to be recognized? Nominate them for the Summer 2025 Classified Staff Excellence Award using this online submission form. Nominees must be a current classified employee who has been in their current position for more than six months. Award recipients will not be eligible for another award for three years. Visit the Clark College Employee Recognition page to learn more about this award.
