(WACO) – Three longtime Texas State Technical College employees in Waco have been honored by the college for their skills and contributions to technical education.

Jennette Alvarez, David Kofnovec and Rosie Smiley have received this year’s Chancellor’s Excellence Award.

“Those selected model excellence for us all and are recognized for both their sound character and for advancing TSTC’s new direction,” said TSTC Chancellor Mike Reeser. “Due to their caring and dedicated efforts, TSTC continues to make a difference in the success of our students.”

Alvarez of Waco has worked as a bookstore specialist for 13 years. Some of her tasks include working with instructors at the Fort Bend County, North Texas and Waco campuses in adopting and ordering books and ensuring books are organized on shelves. Alvarez also works with vendors on credits and invoicing.

“I live my life the way I was raised,” she said. “Do your best every day, treat people the way you want to be treated, never judge, give and you shall receive. I am me and will be the best me I can be.”

Alvarez, 50, is a native of Waco and a graduate of University High School and McLennan Community College, where she studied business accounting.

Kofnovec is a senior financial analyst in the Finance, Analytics and Budget Office. He has been at TSTC for 19 years and has served as a vice president of financial services and held accounting positions in the TSTC system.

Kofnovec, 60, works with the chancellor’s office on legislative financial reporting, which includes fiscal notes, appropriation requests, cost studies and performance measures. He also studies the accuracy and integrity of financial data and reporting, makes recommendations for monetary adjustments and manages projects.

The work has evolved from a time when he and co-workers used penciled ledgers and spreadsheets in the late 1990s to now using desktop programs to consolidate accounting tasks.

“I enjoy the sense of everyone around you making you feel like a family,” Kofnovec said. “No matter which of our many locations you visit, that same feeling always exists. The family feeling energizes you to plow through your daily trials and tribulations knowing you are contributing to the common good of the family.”

Kofnovec is a native of Abbott and a graduate of Abbott High School. He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas. He lives on land that is part of his family’s farm in Hill County.

The third campus award recipient, Rosie Smiley, is executive director of the Physical Plant. She has worked for seven years at TSTC and said working with the campus community is what she enjoys most about her job.

Smiley, 37, of Elm Mott is a graduate of Chilton High School in Falls County. She has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from Texas A&M University in College Station.

Award recipients will be invited to attend the annual National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development’s International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence in May in Austin.

This is the 17th year the recognition has been given to employees across the 10-campus system.

For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.