Less than two years on the job and Megan Yeatts has already won the hearts and respect of her co-workers in her role as marketing specialist for the Department of Ophthalmology in the School of Medicine.Her enthusiasm, commitment and abilities to provide an array of communication services for the department led them to nominate her for UAB’s Employee of the Month, and she was selected for June.
Yeatts describes her role as one to “promote and raise awareness of faculty accomplishments through all media channels available.” She does that through the departmental website, which she helped create, by planning and organizing events and also working with UAB’s Media Relations specialists to promote faculty achievements.
What is her special skill? Multi-tasking. “I enjoy it, and I have to do it,” she said.
That is a statement of fact, according to praise for her works.
“Megan plays many roles: event coordinator, public relations specialist, marketing specialist, editor, etc. She seems confident in each role,” said Christalyn Cooper, ophthalmology residency program coordinator.
Administrative Assistant Judy Longfellow, who has worked with her on numerous projects, agreed: “Megan is a hard-working self-starter who invariably understands what a project is all about.”
Yeatts, who joined UAB in August 2013, said one of her first challenges was making the adjustment from a publishing house to a university. “I had to learn the structure of a university and how its gears turn so I was best able to benefit ophthalmology faculty and programs,” she said.
She seems to have succeeded in the eyes of faculty who depend on her. “I am impressed with Megan’s ability to effectively communicate the vision of the department,” said Russell Read, M.D., Ph.D., Max and Lorayne Cooper Endowed Professor for Ophthalmology Residency Training. “She is meticulous and detail oriented, and her work resonates with quality.”
Co-workers also respond to her enthusiasm for her work and generosity with others.
“She is motivated, kind, patient and excited about the work she does for UAB,” said Program Coordinator Jennifer Spears. “Megan’s positive attitude is contagious, and I see her positive influence in everyone she contacts for work.”
Yeatts said at times her sense of perfectionism has clashed with the pace of her schedule, but it doesn’t slow her down or limit her options. In fact, she is six weeks from graduating with a master’s degree in business administration from UAB, which she says has helped in her daily job.
On a personal note, she and her husband of three and a half years, Patrick, a lawyer, have adopted their first dog, a standard poodle named Jane.