Career and Skills

National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Award Winner

I received this honor from Century College in April 2013. I never sought out to win this award, it somehow just happened while I was helping students and staff at Century College.

National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) has emphasized the importance of teaching and leadership excellence in institutions of higher education. NISOD has worked to serve, engage, and inspire teachers and leaders through our conferences, publications, web services, partnerships, programs, and more.

__________

Minnesota State Shark Tank Winner for a proposal to "Welcome to the Conversational economy - Let’s Build a Chatbot for Minnesota State" April 2017

Awarded/won/earned $25,000 grant to build a chatbot.

_________________

You two are likely aware of Randy's latest project. This newest Digital Knowledge section is such an asset for our students, faculty and staff, and will be especially appreciated by our new NSS faculty for training this spring and fall as we add more technology components to NSS. We are indeed fortunate to have Randy's expertise on our campus.

K

__________

Thanks, Randy. Please know I am resting easier knowing you have this under control.

L

__________

Thanks for your tireless work with faculty and students --- we all know that it doesn't "just happen!" Your ideas and enthusiasm are great encouragers! LG

_____________

We hope to continue the wonderful work Randy LaFoy has done in the past with organizing this valuable student event. (Student Success Day)

Quotes from People I've helped or worked with

...Randy is one who can look directly into the problem, perceive how to solve it, and simplify the explanation to everyone else. This quality makes him, in my eyes, an excellent administrator as well as teacher...

__________

Just want to give a big kudos to Randy. He was the coordinator extraordinaire for Student Success Day. Look what happens when he takes on the program. A big thank you for all of your work!!!

__________

Thanks to Michele Jersak and Randy LaFoy freely sharing their vision and enthusiasm for this college. Their positive attitudes are contagious and I do think their energy helps power (and empower) our campus community.

_________

Again you have inspired my students to set their sights beyond what they had thought possible! ... I thank you again for your teaching style and easy manner. The students have often mentioned how approachable you are. I will continue to bring them your way.

_____________

I do want to thank you again for your very informative help with this project. I went into it with trepidation but with your encouragement ended up having a blast creating it....Your enthusiam is catching- it was a fun project, and once I knew what I was doing it was as hard to stop as it had originally been to begin.

_________

As an instructor, he has met every request (and there have been many!!) I've ever asked positively, almost instantaneously with resources at his fingertips. He makes frequent visits to my office and classroom and responds to phone calls and emails just about any hour of the day.

Many (students) feel overwhelmed by technology in general and have stated repeatedly how accessible and helpful Randy has been. They feel comfortable attending his open lab hours and always seem to leave feeling less frustrated and stressed out. We utilize hisuser-friendly help sheets, videos and other support material daily.

________

Thanks for responding to my email "cry for help" so quickly! At your suggestion, I reviewed some of the efolio tutorials (Century website and YouTube) and thus was able to figure out where I was going wrong. I'm now back on track, so I won't need to impose on your time on Wednesday (altho I know that you're always willing to help students out of a tough spot).

It's really kind of exciting to have my own site - even my teenage daughter is impressed...now THAT is really something! Thanks again for your help!

__________

I wanted to let you know that I was reading through my students reflection assignments from SSD, and several of them went to your eFolio workshop to get a refresher course. They felt like they learned a lot, and also commented that you were a great teacher and they loved your lecturing style.

Just wanted to share that feedback with you! Thanks for all the great work you do with students!

_________

Thanks for lunch today --- your sincerity and integrity were always a breath of fresh air. Thanks

_______

I just got an A on my e-folio from Ms. L*. Thank you so much for your help, I couldn't have done it without you. The project went from one I initially dreaded to something I became very proud of and put a lot of myself into. Thanks again, it was so much fun and you really made it that way with your enthusiasm- your attitude was catching and I actually ended up helping other people and I learned so much. Feel free to use my e-folio as an example to other students - I'd be honored.

__________

You are so wonderful in explaining teaching how to start my eFolio with examples and I enjoyed the good and useful walk-through.

__________

How can we possibly thank ou enough for jumping in and helping us out the way you did?!? This was a timely and relevatn topic, and you provided the young women with valuable insights and information. Thank you for sharing your time and talents with us! KV

_________

Say, I did finally end up getting a job as a temp worker at 3M, with the possibility of full time hire, so thank you for all the encouragement- you were a very positive person at a time I really needed it. Thank you. K.

__________

Thanks again Randy for a terrific efolio presentation. It was so well done and the students do enjoy your humor and encouragement. Thanks again for taking the time to do this for the class. It was terrific. L.

________

I can't thank you enough for coming in and "efolioizing" my class on such short notice. It's a true pleasure to work with you. You have become a significant resource for the students, staff and faculty at this institution. J

_________________

You are amazing as a support person for eFolio and the rest of your realm. I truly appreciate what you do everyday. K

_______________

Thank you for all you've done for Century and the consortium to make eFolio a dynamic force. Linda

__________

On behalf of my study group, we just wanted to say "thank you" for all of your help with the survey. We're really grateful for your support and the support of the instructors you work with!

It was a success - over 66 people participated and provided feedback! The information they gave us is very useful to us in terms of the project.

__________

Thanks for coming on Friday Randy & thanks for all your help over the past couple of years.

It was a pleasure to work with you & thanks for helping all my students over the past few years too.

____________

I like it Randy! You've got such a good eye for design! I'll get this started in InDesign today! YT

____________________

I owe you tons for all of the mentoring and guidance you've provided. It has (been) such an honor working for you! Please continue to stay in touch, forwarding me design articles, keep me up-to-date with your little projects, etc. Thank you tons!! CF

__________________

Thanks. I know you do this as a job, but thanks for what you are doing on the GPS because you're purposely kept a lot of students in school and graduating.

Mark

__________________

Thank YOU for all of your work! Your creativity, dedication, and drive toward continuous growth and improvement make you shine in what you do. So many benefit from the fruits of your labor.

Katie

___________________

With your charisma and good looks you’ll have them hooked in no time! Not to mention how great GPS LifePlan really is ;)

That’s a Renaissance Person for you!

Great job!

Tom

___________________

Randy..thank you for this thoughtful message. I means a lot to me. It's always been my objective to be of service and do what I could to help. I've always considered you to be a positive influence in your years of service as well. I'm glad your still there. Respectfully, L

____________________

Words cannot express my gratitude to you for your tremendous support during a most challenging time of my career. K

_____________________

When I walked in to the interview and saw your face, it immediately helped me relax since we’ve chatted a few times in the past. The entire search group was very friendly and had great questions.

You are a very smart, talented person and always very pleasant.

____________________

R, you are amazing! That was a terrific presentation. After class, students commented hat it was very valuable. Thank you also for designing an ePortfolio site for us. I inlcuded the link in the Professional Development D2L course and I will encourage students to build thier ePortfolios. Thatn you for all you do for studetns. Randy, You are an increddible resource person here at the college! Brovo, L

____________________

You are the most innovative person at Century.

___________________

so fabulous you coordinated the video/cable taping!

_________________

You are the best thing that happened to Century

__________________