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Cade Cruickshank

Unclassified employee of the month

Started at KU: Cade Cruickshank has been with the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications since 1996.

Current title: Engineer.

What that means: He takes care of the school's technical needs in the areas of computing, networking and broadcasting, serving 40 faculty members and administrators and 400 students.

Notable: He has figured out ways to keep television station KUJH-TV running without many of the major expenses that most broadcast stations incur. If the signal goes out, Cade knows how to get it back. He is always on call and frequently travels from his home in Tonganoxie to take care of broadcasting issues outside of regular hours. He's known as the school's go-to person whenever a technology problem needs to be resolved, is the first to volunteer to help with after-hour events and attends seminars to stay up to date with the latest technology.

Recent feat: When the school received a tuition enhancement technology allocation, Cade provided the technology committee with advice on what items needed to be purchased. He set up the entire network for the school's new multimedia newsroom in Dole.

Carlotta Liska

University Support Staff

Started at KU: Carlotta Liska began her KU career in 1980 as a housekeeper.

Current title: Senior administrative assistant in Facilities Operations.

What that means: If you have ever called FO to report a dripping faucet, an icy patch on the sidewalk, a broken lock or thermostat problems, you have probably spoken with her.

Notable: Carlotta takes all calls about problems in the Facilities Operations area - an estimated 50 calls per day. She dispatches work requests and answers calls using a two-way radio. She processes all the necessary paperwork dealing with jobsites, personnel, scheduled maintenance and work orders, handling approximately 5,000 work orders each year.

Recent feat: Carlotta has helped to design new work order software that is going to be implemented soon. She has been pulling extra weight in the department so that colleagues can attend meetings about the new software and has volunteered to work extra hours to assist with the project. With her supervisor, Butch Larios, she will train all FO units to use the new software.