I am pleased to announce that Julia and Andrew Sama have a new blessing!
Their baby daughter, Devon Kelly Sama, was born on January 10th at 7:08 pm and weighed 6 lbs and measured 19.5 inches. Julia, Devon and Andrew are all doing well. Please join me in wishing the Sama family the very best.
Shannon Cullinan
Dear UR Colleagues:
I am so very pleased to announce that Beth Ferlic and her husband Nate Lazenga are the proud parents of a perfect little girl! Novena Katherine Lazenga was welcomed into the world last night (December 9th) at 9:09 p.m., weighing in at 5 pounds, 13 ounces. Both Beth and Novena are doing well. Notes of congratulations can be sent to Beth at 1610 Cedar Street, South Bend, IN 46617. Please see adorable picture attached.
Warm regards,
Katherine Lane
Dear Colleagues –
The position of Coordinator, Donor Experience has been posted on the HR web page. This position reports directly to the Manager, Donor Experience (a position which is currently open in the organization).
The Donor Experience team is principally responsible for providing a high level of support directly to the more than 10,000 members of recognition societies at Notre Dame who contribute more than $27.5 million in annual giving to support the University. The Donor Experience team serves donors who are members of the Sorin Society, the Order of St. Thomas More, the John Cardinal O’Hara Society and the Rockne Heritage Foundation Director’s Circle.
Core processes in the Donor Experience area include: acknowledgements, football ticket support, concierge service, annual renewals, voice of the donor engagement, and phone and e-mail communications. High service levels are being targeted principally through the application of continuous improvement methods to drive standard work and flow in the Donor Experience operations. Innovation and adoption of best-in-class stewardship practices from other organizations are critical to the continued success of these efforts.
Interested candidates are encouraged to apply on-line and contact me directly to discuss the position.
In Notre Dame,
Brian Couch, Sr. Director, Annual Giving Programs
Please join me in wishing Mary Jane Elias, Coordinator, Office Services, good luck and well wishes as she begins her retirement from the University after 15 years of service. Mary Jane joined the Notre Dame family in 1997 with the Office of Residence Life & Housing and later transitioned to Athletics in 2000.
Today is Mary Jane’s last day in the office (seriously this time) so please be sure to stop by her office (located behind the basketball auditorium between the Men’s & Women’s Basketball offices) this morning to wish her well! Mary Jane will keep her email address if you wish to contact her in that way: melias@nd.edu
Good Luck Mary Jane!!
Please join us in congratulating Paul and Janet and their son, Jonah, who welcomed the newest member of the Weikel household over the holiday break. Their second son, Ethan Longjie (LONG-JEE-A), was born the morning of Dec. 28th, 2012.
They wish to offer their thanks to everyone for all of the well wishes and prayers. Paul offers this on their son’s name:
“In case you were wondering, Chinese names are typically 2 words put together poetically. “Long” means “dragon” and “Jie” means “outstanding qualities of”. So, if you take the meaning of his Hebrew name and put it all together he becomes a “outstanding, long-lived and wise dragon”. I doubt he’ll ever live that down!” 
Please welcome Sue Lister, our new associate director for internal communications, effective Jan. 7. Sue will be responsible for developing and implementing strategies for communicating with Notre Dame faculty and staff through ND Works, The Week@ND, Today@ND, listservs and other channels. She also will contribute to the crisis communications team and assist with other areas in University Communications.
Sue most recently worked at Whirlpool Corporation, including both internal and external communications. She also served as communications coordinator at nearby Lake Michigan College, associate commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, and in sports information and media relations at Duquesne University and her alma mater, Bethany College (West Virginia).
Sue’s office will be on the fifth floor of Grace Hall with other members of University Communications.
Welcome, Sue!
Dennis Brown, University spokesman and assistant vice president for public information and communications
Jay and Renee Rizzi, with Big Sister Paloma, welcomed Donato Joseph, on Tuesday, January 8th. Donato weighed 7lbs 8oz; his parents are tired and happy.
Please join us in welcoming Liz Harter to University Communications. Effective Jan. 7, Liz will take on the position of Social Media Program Manager and will be responsible for developing, managing and executing the overall social media and online community strategy for the University, plus managing Notre Dame’s presence on Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels. She also will oversee monitoring and analysis of social media activity around the Notre Dame brand, working closely with Athletics, Alumni, and other departments to ensure a unified voice and presence.
Liz is a 2009 Saint Mary’s graduate who served as the Saint Mary’s news editor of the Observer as an undergrad. She joins us from the Cincinnati-based software company Cincom, where she had been working as an associate public relations specialist focused on Web and social media, e-publications and video production.
Follow Liz on Twitter at @EAHarter, and be sure to get to know her in person as well. Her office will be located on the 5th floor of Grace Hall in the multimedia suite.
Welcome, Liz!
Julie Flory, Director of Public Relations
Please join me in welcoming Mayuri Changede as a new data analyst with DIS. Her role will be to collaborate with others in University Relations in performing analysis, design, development, support and maintenance of the system applications which support our development goals. This includes web development, Business Objects, and the creation and maintenance of standard reports and ad-hoc requests.
Mayuri graduated in 2008 with a B.S. in Computer Science from University of Pune (Smt. Kashibai Navale College of Engineering) in India. She comes to Notre Dame from Infosys Technologies Limited which she worked as a Software Engineer for 3 years before moving to the United States with her new husband. Mayuri’s technical background and educational background will be a great asset to the department.
Mayuri will join the DIS team on January 7. Please welcome Mayuri to Notre Dame!
Carleen Quinlan, Director of Development Information Services