Ariel Daugherty Named UW Staff Employee of Third Quarter

Ariel Daugherty has a reputation for “providing amazing customer service to students, while maintaining compassion and a professional image” as the interim supervisor of Student Financial Operations at the University of Wyoming.

Those qualities have earned Daugherty UW’s Staff Employee of the Third Quarter award.

Daugherty has been employed by Student Financial Operations since March 2013. Before working as the interim supervisor, Daugherty was assistant supervisor and medical loan administrator for Student Financial Operations.

Daugherty’s duties consist of managing the medical loan contracts on campus for programs such as WWAMI (medical education program); WYDENT (dental education program); WICHE (medical professionals); and BRAND and WPNPC (nursing programs). These programs are provided to offer loan forgiveness in return for working in medical professions in Wyoming. Daugherty also helps manage the Federal Perkins Loan program on campus.

“Ariel is known for being extremely thorough and detail-oriented when working. She plays a vital role on campus, both while students are attending UW and after they graduate,” a nominator says. “With her current position, she has been able to take utilized and outdated manual processes and turn them into seamless and precise processes that are compatible with technology.”

Daugherty’s job requires that she ensure students are provided excellent customer service while on campus and after graduation.

“The professional relationships that she builds with students pay off when working with each student to maintain requirements of state statutes,” the nominator adds. “She always handles these students with compassion and professionalism.”

Daugherty says the best part of her job is interaction with students.

“I love the interaction I get to have with students from all aspects of life. One day, I can be helping a freshman student on campus and, an hour later, have a phone call with a WWAMI doctor who is doing their fellowship in Washington,” she says.

A nominator says Daugherty always takes her work seriously and gives her all.

“While no one is perfect, she is always at 99 percent. She is a team player and displays the most willingness to help and engage I have seen from any of my staff,” a colleague says. “Despite how frustrating it can be to answer the same questions over and over, or provide duplicate information, or attend what feels like the same meetings with the same information on a regular basis in order to get all departments on the same page, she handles this challenge with a positive, bright attitude and is always kind, helpful and encouraging to other departments.”

Daugherty adds how fortunate she is to have a good team around her.

“I love the people I get to work with every day. This university is filled with amazing individuals who keep things running, and I am lucky enough to work with some of the best of those individuals on a daily basis,” she says. “Our department would not be able to succeed without the great leadership we have in Ashlie Reese and Aaron Courtney, two great leaders who keep this department running. They are both incredibly hardworking and understanding individuals, which helps everyone who works under them to want to work just as hard as they do.”

A reception honoring Daugherty is planned at a later date.

Employee of the Quarter nominees can be any UW staff employees, and each must receive three nomination forms from three separate individuals. Nominations must be submitted to the Staff Senate office. The forms are on the web at www.uwyo.edu/staffsenate/employee-of-the-quarter.