Skip to Main content

Annual Rowan Award to Honor ASU Staffer

February 14, 2013

Three Angelo State University staff members have been nominated for the third annual Chancellor’s Colonel Rowan Award for Excellence in Execution, and will be honored at an awards ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 21, in the Houston Harte University Center, 1910 Rosemont Drive.

The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. in the University Center’s C.J. Davidson Conference Center.  The three award nominees by title and department are Sarah Logan, assistant vice president for research and accountability, Research and Accountability; Michael Martin, director of graphics, Communications and Marketing; and Wendy Storms, director of educator support services, Educator Preparation Information Center.

The Rowan Award recognizes a staff member who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in carrying out a major project during the last academic year, and includes a $500 honorarium.  It is based on the story “A Message to Garcia” by Elbert Hubbard.

The story recalls President William McKinley’s need to get an urgent message to Gen. Calixto Garcia, who in 1899 was leading an insurgent force against Spanish troops in Cuba.  However, Garcia was deep in the mountains of Cuba and no one was sure of his exact location.  So, the president summoned Col. Andrew Rowan, and gave him a sealed pouch and one simple command: “Get that message to Garcia.”  Four days later, Rowan reached shore in Cuba, and three weeks later he emerged from the jungle having successfully delivered the message to Garcia.  Col. Rowan did not procrastinate, he simply executed the task he was given.

Candidates for ASU’s Rowan Award are nominated on the basis that they demonstrate the ability to, 1) accomplish an objective quickly and efficiently with minimal oversight; 2) accept clearly communicated assignments with minimal instructions; 3) ask the right questions first, so they can seek precise answers; 4) prepare plans with goals, milestones and deadlines; 5) ask for resources or help when needed; 6) report back and show their work; and 7) under-promise and over-deliver.

The full text of “A Message to Garcia” is available online at www.actonfoundation.org/pdf/messagetogarcia.pdf.