What began as a “bold idea” in the 2017 Bold Ideas Challenge has now come to fruition in Fresno State’s newest employee recognition program — High Five. Click here to read about how the program began.

High Fives are easy to give — simply go to the High Five website on the Organizational Excellence webpage, click “Give a High Five” and fill out the form to send kudos to anyone on campus. Your message will be delivered straight to their inbox, and recipients will be acknowledged weekly in Campus News.

Read below how your colleagues are going above and beyond to help the campus community.

(Note: Campus News edited comments only for misspellings and missing or incomplete words. They appear mostly as written for each employee.)

Goes Above & Beyond

Cathi Scherer, Technology Services
Whenever we have a very unusual request or very time sensitive request, Cathi is always there for us to make sure the job gets done or issue resolved.

Harry Zahlis, Technology Services
Harry went above and beyond on Friday to help a staff getting an laptop component for their home use. Talk about customer service, Harry was kind enough to drop off a charger at my porch when the original failed. Who does that during these difficult times? A kind, wonderful human being who goes beyond his duties. Thank you again Harry!

Kyle Breckheimer, Technology Services
Kyle has worked extra to provide helpful directions for people working at home. Even though it is time-consuming to make screenshots for directions, they are helpful.

Provides Excellent Customer Service

Katie Williamson, Organizational Excellence
I appreciate Katie's willingness to serve the Fresno State community during this time by offering relevant professional development opportunities. Just participated in second virtual training led by Katie. Great content, clarity, connections and community building. Appreciate all you are doing to provide ongoing learning, development, engagement and connections for our campus. Masterful and thoughtful facilitation — an excellent model of our principles of community. Great job!

Lu Lopez, Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships
We recently went live with a new program that allows students to complete, sign and submit documents electronically to our office. Following the go-live, our phones were inundated with calls from students trying to create their new account and/or complete their to-do items. We received over 150 phone calls, tons of emails and 55+ chats from students. Lu was one of our frontline staff taking calls, answering emails and helping with the live chat and I just want to give her a shout out for her hard work on April 9, and every day. Without having much experience in the new system herself, she was able to support students and help them get their accounts taken care of. Not to mention that this increased call volume came during the uncertainty of COVID-19 and Lu was having to adapt to taking calls from home, from a laptop, instead of a desktop with two screens. Thank you Lu, for helping our students on the frontline with patience and empathy during the chaos.

Yer Yang, Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships
We recently went live with a new program that allows students to complete, sign and submit documents electronically to our office. Following the go-live, our phones were inundated with calls from students trying to create their new account and/or complete their to-do items. We received over 150 phone calls, tons of emails and 55+ chats from students. Yer was one of our frontline staff taking calls, answering emails and helping faxes and I just want to give her a shout out for her hard work on April 9 and every day. Without having much experience in the new system herself, she was able to support students and help them get their accounts taken care of. Not to mention that this increased call volume came during the uncertainty of COVID-19 and Yer was having to adapt to taking calls from home, from a laptop, instead of a desktop with two screens. Thank you Yer, for helping our students on the frontline with patience and empathy during the chaos.

Wendy Nomura, Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships
We recently went live with a new program that allows students to complete, sign and submit documents electronically to our office. Following the go-live, our phones were inundated with calls from students trying to create their new account and/or complete their to-do items. We received over 150 phone calls, tons of emails and 55+ chats from students. Yer was one of our frontline staff taking calls, answering emails and helping faxes and I just want to give her a shout out for her hard work on April 9 and every day. Without having much experience in the new system herself, she was able to support students and help them get their accounts taken care of. Not to mention that this increased call volume came during the uncertainty of COVID-19 and Yer was having to adapt to taking calls from home, from a laptop, instead of a desktop with two screens. Thank you Yer, for helping our students on the frontline with patience and empathy during the chaos.

Andrew Luna, Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships
We recently went live with a new program that allows students to complete, sign and submit documents electronically to our office. Following the go-live, our phones were inundated with calls from students trying to create their new account and/or complete their to-do items. We received over 150 phone calls, tons of emails and 55+ chats from students. Andrew was one of our frontline staff taking calls, answering emails and helping faxes and I just want to give him a shout out for his hard work on April 9 and every day. Without having much experience in the new system himself, he was able to support students and help them get their accounts taken care of. Not to mention that this increased call volume came during the uncertainty of COVID-19 and Andrew was having to adapt to taking calls from home, from a laptop, instead of a desktop with two screens. Thank you Andrew, for helping our students on the frontline with patience and empathy during the chaos.

James Herrin, Technology Services
What we need in this world is someone knowledgeable, friendly and kindhearted just like James Herrin. The IT and Fresno State should be very proud to have people like James helping their colleagues. Thank you for your patience and for taking the time to walk me through the setup without rushing me. You and the rest of the team made it much easier.

Rob Bartsch, Technology Services
Rob has been reported to have excellent customer service by several people that have called the Service Desk and appreciate his patience to explain certain things about working from home. His patience and knowledge is very helpful to the staff and faculty that need help during the COVID-19 crisis. Thanks!

Herb Denny, Technology Services
Herb takes the time to follow up and make sure people's issues are resolved. He was helping with an Office 365 account issue and his knowledge and follow through helped to make sure the issue got resolved quickly. Thanks!

Department
Catering
I just wanted to give Food Services — Catering staff a shout out for providing the breakfasts and lunches on campus a few times a week for those of us who are still here. The ladies doing the serving are so friendly and accommodating and the young lady who works the register at the Dining Hall is also so nice and chatty when we walk in to pick up our food. They always have smiles on their faces. I appreciate them being here for us during such a stressful time and being a bright spot in our day. Thank you!!!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3

Saved My Bacon!

Eileen Schlundt, Technology Services
With all this madness, I was not aware of that my computer did not have the proper security and Eileen not only was quick to respond to my emails, but was able to find me a laptop to use from home. Eileen, had to go back to Fresno State to retrieve the laptops and get them to work. Thank you for all that you do. You help our small department more than what you can imagine, many blessings!

Pang Thao, Admissions
Pang is always willing to do what she can to help other departments succeed. She has always been easily available and accessible whenever I or my team have admissions questions. Most recently, with the rapid changes of COVID-19, Pang got us set up on the Live Chat system and provided private training so that we were able to jump in and start helping students in a new way. She has been amazing in getting this up and running with set up, custom forms and canned messages. I appreciate her!

Models the Principles of Community

Janet Booth, Office of the President
In the effort to maintain social distancing measures, many of the employees in the Office of the President are working remotely. Janet was kind enough to volunteer to maintain a physical presence in the office. She ensures that anything that gets dropped off or comes in the mail gets routed appropriately. She copies things for people who are working remotely and continues to provide admin support for all of us. Without her being so collaborative at this point in time ... our work would be infinitely more difficult. Thank you for making a positive difference, Janet!

Erin Connor, Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships
Erin is an excellent representation of Fresno State's Principles of Community both within our office and across campus. The level of respect, kindness and collaboration that she brings to work each day are not only apparent in one-on-one interactions with her, but also through her connections that she has built across campus with different departments and students. Colleagues across campus trust Erin’s opinion because they know she serves our students with honesty and compassion. In student social media groups, I often see students encouraging other students with financial aid questions to ask for Erin, and students regularly do ask for Erin. She assists them without judgement and explains financial aid in a way that is easy for those who do not work in it daily to understand. While she treats all of our students with empathy and respect, she is especially a point of support for LGBTQ students. These students are appreciative to receive the financial aid help that they need without feeling the pressures and/or judgments that they may regularly feel in their lives. In the office, Erin is welcoming to new staff and will try to help or assist colleagues however she is able. She goes above and beyond to make sure that staff are recognized for their work. This includes submitting high-fives on behalf of her colleagues and submitting articles to highlight colleagues in the division newsletter. I appreciate Erin’s representation of the Principles of Community and I’m glad to have her as a part of our team!