The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences recognized three staff members with its 2025 Outstanding Staff Award.
Outstanding Staff Award recipients are nominated by their peers at Eberly College and are selected based on their demonstration of WVU’s core values: service, curiosity, respect, accountability and appreciation.
This year’s recipients are Julie Frum, Kevin Dixon and Robert Phipps.
Julie Frum serves as Eberly College’s Facilities Coordinator. Frum has spent the past few years coordinating a string of full‑scale renovations in multiple buildings as well as department moves. At the same time, she remains the point person for card‑key access, and she coordinates with Eberly College’s building managers on day‑to‑day maintenance with a sense of calm and good humor. Faculty appreciate her project‑management savvy and people‑first approach.
Kevin Dixon has been with the Chemistry Department for more than 25 years, evolving from stockroom manager to Program Assistant and Building Supervisor. He tracks every gas cylinder, chemical order, and safety bill, and has also absorbed front‑office duties, covered the prep room and spent entire days packing and reorganizing labs. Faculty credit him with sourcing specialized teaching technology - he personally researched and ordered an iPad setup that saved an organic‑chemistry course. Whenever a task is “too big” or “outside scope,” Kevin’s already doing it —making him indispensable to students, researchers, and colleagues alike.
For nearly three decades, Robert Phipps has provided Eberly College with technology support, and this year he was invaluable during the move into Field Hall. Phipps helped coordinate the after-hours relocation and reinstallation of workstations and classroom systems to help ensure a smooth (or invisible) transition for faculty and staff. As Lead Desktop Support and IT Project Coordinator, he has rolled out new software tools and hardware solutions. His mix of service, respect, and accountability creates a culture where everyone else can thrive, whether he is bringing ink to a departmental plotter, troubleshooting legacy machines for emeritus professors, or calmly defusing classroom tech bottlenecks with clear, friendly explanations.
