Keely Arbenz-Smith and VA-MD Vet Med Dean Dan Givens
Dean Dan Givens presents the December 2020 Staff Member of the Month award to Keely Arbenz-Smith.

Keely Arbenz-Smith

Administrative assistant
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences

Keely has been an invaluable part of the small animal department. She ALWAYS goes above and beyond the tasks required of her job to help faculty. Personally, she helped me to organize and host the new intern orientation. I would not have been able to successfully enact such a gathering without her assistance. The new interns gave her extremely high remarks throughout the orientation. Additionally, Keely has such a positive and infectious personality. For such a tense and stressful time, she is always cheerful and enjoyable to be around. For me, this has been a "shining light amongst the dark times." Keely is completely deserved of this award. I hope this nomination will propel her to getting it.

SECOND NOMINATION

Keely is responsible for assisting 65-plus faculty members for the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences (DSACS). She works countless hours to assure all requests are completed, which keeps the department running smoothly and efficiently. Keely is a team player and works great with other college members. She is always willing to share valuable information and ideas that can benefit the college. Even though Keely is fairly new to the college, she has managed to come in and make some great changes in DSACS. One of the many tasks she has tackled is updating all departmental forms, making it much easier for faculty members to access and complete more easily. Keely has also brought in many great ideas to better serve the high volume of locums traveling to our college to help assist DSACS.

THIRD NOMINATION
Keely has been amazing in all tasks that are thrown at her. She is kind and respectful with everyone and never hesitates to help in any way she can. She has done a tremendous amount of work to make the department more efficient with processes and procedures, while minimizing unnecessary spending. She brings joy to the department with her personality.