UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Rebecca “Becky” Cross, academic program coordinator and undergraduate student services supervisor in the School of Global Languages Literatures and Cultures, in the College of the Liberal Arts, has been honored with the 2025 Support Staff Award.
The award recognizes the overall high-quality performance of a full-time member of the support staff with at least five years of active service in fulfilling the mission of the University and of their college or administrative unit. It also recognizes dedicated focus to customer service, commitment to quality improvement, outstanding skills and abilities, teamwork and professionalism.
Nominators said Cross leads the undergraduate student services team, supervising three full-time staff members and works with faculty, staff and students. She oversees the scheduling for hundreds of sections of basic languages courses as well as the undergraduate courses for 17 undergraduate majors and 14 undergraduate minors.
“Cross solves scheduling issues that look near impossible to others and manages interactions among different institutional timetables and deadlines in order to ensure that things get done,” a nominator said. “Further, she is our go-to person for high-level problem-solving related to anything affecting undergraduates.”
Nominators called Cross a mentor to staff and one of the first people others reach out to when trying to solve complex problems. She’s known for being able to effectively schedule courses so that students face no disruptions in their path to a degree.
“She consciously, explicitly, mentors our other staff so that they too can acquire what she knows, participate in solving problems, and join with her in learning how to find University resources and deploy them for the immediate or long-term benefit of students,” a nominator said. “She is an extraordinary leader and mentor, all the while delivering an amazing student-centered performance herself.”
Cross’ achievements include:
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Improving direct services to students while strengthening teamwork among her staff. She accomplished this through a shared student services email inbox so that students receive advice and answers promptly.
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Meeting regularly with her mentees, listening and valuing their input. Further, she develops toolkits and checklists to streamline training and workflow.
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Approaching tasks with the highest level of integrity. Nominators said no job is beneath her and she leads by example, volunteering for some of the less desirable and more routine tasks.
“A great many members of our school – including students, faculty, staff and others – rely on Becky for her guidance, knowledge, willingness to help others advance, and her more than 20 years of passionate dedication to her job,” a nominator said.