Information Technology Support Specialist May Bolden was honored with a 2018 Prudential Productivity award in a ceremony on June 5th along with other dedicated state employees, including four additional teams from Florida State University. Recipients of this award are recognized for contributing significantly to productivity and for promoting innovation that improves the delivery of state services while saving Florida taxpayers and businesses money.

Faced with limited financial resources, Bolden researched, designed, built, and implemented a new and useful Field Application System for College of Social Work students pursuing internship placements. The internship requirement for both undergraduate (BSW) and graduate (MSW) programs at the College necessitates the routing of hundreds of applications for interviews and field placements each semester.

Working with social work faculty and staff along with University partners, Bolden determined that an automated system could be created through FluidReview software already licensed by Florida State rather than using outside vendors. She also recognized that existing student data could be used to facilitate coordinating internship placements and reporting. She took the initiative to develop this system to cut down costs for the Field Education Office while also tailoring it to the College’s field placement process, including beta testing the system to ensure effectiveness and efficiency.

With the new system, service delivery to students has significantly improved along with improved productivity for field faculty tracking students. Bolden assisted with implementation and usage of this new system by developing training materials for students, faculty, and administrators.

Since 2012, Bolden has been with the College providing administrative and technical assistance. Bolden’s role gives vital support to the College of Social Work to offer the very best social work education experience to its students, including the integral field education component. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration and has several years of administrative service with various governmental and non-profit agencies before beginning her tenure with Florida State in 2010.

Read more about the other FSU recipients of the 2018 Prudential Productivity Awards here: https://news.fsu.edu/news/university-news/2018/06/07/fsu-efficiency-honored-with-prudential-productivity-awards/.

To see more pictures from the event, click here. To learn more about Prudential Productivity Awards, visit http://www.floridataxwatch.org.