David Padgett is Gold U Award winner

David Padgett is the Gold U Award winner for the final quarter of 2016.

Padgett, who has been at UNMC for more than nine years, is the lead developer for the Academic Department Information System (ADIS), and he also works closely with the Office of the Chancellor on strategic planning.

Carmen Sirizzotti of the UNMC Department of Human Resources singled out Padgett’s work in developing the UNMC Staff Online Performance Evaluation System when she nominated him for the Gold U.

“He listened to the customer and developed an outstanding system,” she said. “He took all the ideas and was able to translate them into an outstanding system.

“David pursues excellence in everything he does,” Sirizzotti said. “Once the system was developed, we tested the system, and he was willing to make any adjustments and/or edits we requested. Once the system was implemented, he quickly followed up with any minor glitches we encountered. His follow up with customers was outstanding — and always with a positive attitude.”

It’s easy to have a positive attitude when the people you work with are “great,” Padgett said.

“I work with a lot of the different leadership groups,” he said. “They give me a lot of autonomy within my projects, so I’m able to work closely with the stakeholders.”

As a result, he said, he is able to work both sides of the program — the technical creation and then hands-on work with the end users to troubleshoot the program.

“That’s so unlike a typical business, where you’re stuck into a development role and you don’t get the interaction with the customers on the other end,” he said.

Padgett called the Gold U a humbling honor.

“My goal is never to be the guy in the spotlight,” he said. “I want to deliver the best product I can and to help my customers do their job as best they can.

“So, basically, I’m oiling the gears.”

He also pointed out that no one wins a Gold U alone.

“There are multiple people who go into whatever takes place for one person to get this award,” he said. “In a way, it’s kind of unfortunate that I get recognized for something that other people had roles in, as well. So I want all of those people to know how appreciative I am for the effort they put in, too.”