Give your colleagues a “High Five” for things such as excellent customer service, “saving my bacon” and going above and beyond.

High Fives are easy to give — simply click “Give a High Five” and fill out the form for a faculty or staff member only. Your message will be delivered straight to the recipient's inbox, and they will be acknowledged weekly in Campus News.

Continue below to read about 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.)

Works Above and Beyond

Angela Bracamonte, University Advising Center
Angela is the glue that holds us together. Her role as our admin support goes far beyond just supporting us administratively; she is a constant listening ear and reliable friend. She supervises our front desk students, cares well for them, and guides them professionally as they often stay with us their entire time at Fresno State. She helps our team feel like family. She readily accomplishes tasks and takes time to explain the budget and other somewhat confusing procedures to help us have the supplies and items needed. Thanks to "cheerleader" Angela.

Teresa Brooks, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Professor Brooks went above and beyond to help with this year's BOND ISA training. She gave us her time and led an outstanding Grading for Growth training session. This is a new grading style for most ISA's and faculty, and she went into great detail and answered all our questions. She's incredibly open-minded and takes ISA perspectives into consideration when adjusting course material and standards. She is a logical thinker who always acts in the best interest of incoming students. Even if they don't immediately understand the value of each assignment, she does an excellent job of looping back and explaining the big picture. Thank you so much, Professor Brooks, for your inspirational academic innovation. We give a collective "O Canada" shout-out from the BOND program.

Dianna Clayton, Services for Students with Disabilities
Dianna, thank you for being so supportive and willing to take on something outside of your usual daily tasks. You stepped up, stayed in tune, and delivered a pitch-perfect presentation.

Ashley Fagundes, University Advising Center
Ashley is a reliable and trustworthy colleague and friend. She often steps up to help in any way she can. Her students truly value her and her guidance. Other departments consider her their "go-to" academic counselor. She assisted with the New Advisor Training, does guest presentations, and other additional presentations for special groups throughout the semesters, all while seeing her caseload of students. Thank you, Ashley, for consistently going above and beyond.

Sarah Kern, Technology Services
Sarah consistently works above and beyond; she routinely helps get projects and tasks done ahead of schedule without delay and does great work. Thank you, Sarah.

Monica Olmedo, University Advising Center
Monica is a consistent and reliable colleague and friend. She is resourceful and offers many good ideas and suggestions for the benefit of the office. She is highly organized and has helped with updating our presentations and other procedures in the office. As the lead for our interns, she offers well-rounded and professional training for upcoming professionals. Her students truly appreciate her and her support as well. Thank you for all you do for UAC and your students.

Modeled Principles of Community

Procurement Services
I'd like to thank the Department of Procurement for modeling kindness and a collaborative team. I was assisted by the department with the setup of new vendors and various questions about requesting requisitions for our first weeklong Fresno State LaunchPad camp. Thank you to the team for all the assistance received via phone, email and through CSU Buy P2P system. The Fresno State LaunchPad committee thanks your department.

Provides Excellent Customer Service

Perla Perez, University Advising Center
We love Perla for her energy and always being available to table at events, help with icebreakers, and do various Spanish presentations at Dog Days and other events. She is an enjoyable and reliable team player in UAC. She has served in other capacities on campus and has been instrumental in cross-campus collaborations for our office. She will always say yes to presentations or tabling events as she loves to engage with students and colleagues; her positivity and energy are contagious.

Monica Solis, University Advising Center/Bulldog Connect
She is the Bulldog Connect guru! Monica offers so many helpful suggestions, ways to use Bulldog Connect to ease advisor loads and engage more with students and is a great team player. She assisted with the recent academic counselor and intern training and regularly offers individual and small group training for Bulldog Connect. Her big-picture thinking contributes to more effective and helpful ways to approach advising, tracking students, and connecting various offices, services and resources together to offer the best and holistic support for students. Thank you, Monica, for all you do.

Heather Van der Paardt, University Advising Center
Heather led the recent new advisor, new intern, and advanced level training for staff and student advisors. She and her team did an amazing job working together to offer exceptional training to our newest professional advisors and interns. With so many presentations, activities and advising needs also happening at the same time, she and her team (Monica Solis, Krista Hall, Ross Whitton and Chris Beck) handled it all with professionalism and a positive attitude. Thank you for making training a positive and welcoming experience for our newbies and some seasoned advisors.

Facilities Management
We recently completed an office move, and we couldn’t have done it without the incredible support from our Facilities team. From start to finish, their dedication, professionalism, and hard work made the transition smooth and successful. A heartfelt thank you to Carmen Abarca, our wonderful building janitor, whose help was invaluable; to our skilled electricians, including Chris Tift (and a special thanks as well to the other electrician whose name I didn’t catch); to the roof tile folks who ensured everything was in perfect condition; and to Rachel Atwood for her exceptional coordination and support throughout the process. We’re truly grateful to be surrounded by such a dependable and hardworking team. Thank you all for going above and beyond to help us settle in.

Technology Services
A huge thank you to our amazing Technology Service team for consistently going above and beyond to ensure our office runs smoothly. Your behind-the-scenes work doesn't go unnoticed, and we’re so appreciative of the way you always respond quickly and effectively to any issues that arise. A special shoutout to Joshua Tolbert for your incredible responsiveness and support. Thank you, Eileen Schlundt and team, for making sure our team’s needs are always met. We’re truly grateful for your dedication and expertise. Thank you for all that you do.

Saved My Bacon

Ashley Yu, Accounting Services
Thank you, Ashley, for your dedication and quick response to a request for a hand-delivered check to one of our vendors. The Fresno State Launchpad committee team thanks you.