By Mike Greife,
May 10, 2018
WARRENSBURG, MO (May 10, 2018) – Rachel Clements, Warrensburg, office professional
in the Department of Middle, Secondary and Adult Education at the University of Central
Missouri, received the Outstanding Staff Award at the annual UCM Staff Appreciation
Breakfast May 9.
The Outstanding Staff Award is presented to a non-exempt employee with at least one
year of service to UCM who has demonstrated superior service to students, staff, faculty
and the community, and who models professionalism, shows a commitment to go above
and beyond normal duties, and promotes teamwork and collaboration.
A U.S. Navy veteran, Clements joined the UCM staff as a dispatcher with the UCM Department
of Public Safety in 2001. She completed a bachelor’s degree in elementary education
in 2009 and master’s degree in educational technology in 2011, and she currently working
toward completion of a second master’s degree in student personnel administration.
She has served as an adjunct instructor in educational technology.
Clements was a reporter for “The Muleskinner,” the UCM student newspaper and worked
for the biology and physics programs while completing her undergraduate work. She
joined the Department of Career and Technology Education as office professional in
2014 and has continued to serve through the reorganization of the department to its
current name.
She serves as advisor to UCM Prism, a student organization that connects students
with those in the community with LBGTQ issues for the exchange of ideas, community
and advocacy. She also serves on the executive committee of the Johnson County Community
Emergency Response Team and as an umpire with Warrensburg Parks and Recreation and
record keeper for Christ Episcopal Church, Warrensburg.
Clements’ nominator noted, “Rachel takes time to help students with various problems….There
is no challenge she refuses to meet and no problem she cannot work through…..While
in meetings and working with colleagues, Rachel regularly pulls everyone together
and keeps them focused on the task at hand.
“No matter what I ask of her, she does it with 110 percent effort….I appreciate that
I can send my students to her when I’m not on campus and know they will be well taken
care of.”
Clements and her husband, Michael, also a UCM employee, are the parents of two children
who will be freshmen at UCM in the fall, along with a niece who is a UCM junior.
