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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, missing or incomplete words. They appear mostly as written for each campus employee.)
Above & Beyond
Bonnie Inthisane — Henry Madden Library, Circulation
Bonnie and the rest of the circulation team (Christine, Cindee, Arnel, Taylor and Arnantes) always make the extra effort to ensure that Fresno State students, faculty and staff have access to the library resources they need.
Sarah Pech — Henry Madden Library
Sarah Pech stepped forward last year to lead the Library Diversity Committee, an important committee that works to underscore diversity, equity and inclusion as core tenets in defining success in the Library. Sarah has moved the committee forward with a successful open house, held regular meetings and identified activities that connect our students, encourage a sense of belonging in the library and highlight the diversity on our campus. Most recently, the committee screened "Change the Subject," a documentary about labels, libraries and the national immigration debate. Sarah is leading an exemplary service to the Henry Madden Library and our campus community.
Mary Owens — Procurement
Marcee Varela — Division of Research and Graduate Studies
Kendall Boliba — Student-Athlete Services
Kendall helped develop a pen pal program between the Women's Water Polo team and a first grade class at West Fresno Elementary School. In talking with the principal at West Fresno Elementary, it is clear that this program is making an amazing difference in student motivation for writing and school in general.
Jonathan Biggane — Management
High Five to the team that created High Five! Thank you to Dr. Jon Biggane for leading the CAIFE team that made faculty and staff recognition a priority. We appreciate your leadership and all the work the team did to bring this important program to life at Fresno State. The team worked for nearly a year assessing current employee recognition programs, exploring best practices, surveying employees and coming up with a recommendation to cabinet on programs that would be meaningful, doable and sustainable. Three cheers to the CAIFE team, which included Adrian Ramirez, Mary Bennett, Jonathan Castro, Nancy Kobata, Matt Doyle and Katie Williamson. We appreciate you!
Martina Granados — Outreach and Special Programs
I am in the midst of writing an annual program report that goes to the Department of Education. It is my first time to write it and Martina has provided me unwavering support throughout the process. She has come to my office to help. She has come to teach others in my office how to do the report. She has introduced me to people from other institutions that can be a resource for me and she has offered her personal cell phone with instructions to call her at any time. I am pretty sure that Martina never sleeps! I can't express the level of appreciation for all she has done to help me, but I know I am blessed by her.
Sheri Osborn — Psychology
Sheri is simply amazing! She is always going above and beyond for any and every student or faculty member that comes to see her. She works hard to make sure all the faculty schedules are accommodated and preferences are considered, regardless of tenure.
Robert Rodriguez — Human Resources
Robert is kind and approachable. He is knowledgeable about the HR process and provides accurate information to me.
Saved My Bacon
Mary Owens — Procurement
Martina Granados — Outreach and Special Programs
Martina is determined to help me get a great big annual report ready to send to the department of education. She is there when I need her and I think she has some sort of panic GPS because she always seems to call just when I feel super worried about the report. She has called me, met with me, met with my staff and even brought in others to help as well. I am certain, knowing what I know now, that I would not have gotten through this report without her. You completely rock, Martina. Thanks for sharing your gifts and talents with others. I am a better person for it!
Luis Flores — TRIO SSS-D
I am in the midst of writing a large annual performance review for the Dept. of Education. Luis is so skilled he can do his in his sleep and it is my first time to do one. He has been so generous to me and my staff. He took time out of his busy schedule to come to our office for a tutoring session with everyone on how to do the report. So gracious! He figured out where we were, showed us where to go and offered unending support while we wrap up the project. I just couldn't have done this in the time I have without him. Thanks so much, Luis! I hope there is some way to repay your kindness.
Excellent Customer Service
Matthew Doyle — Henry Madden Library
Bonnie Inthisane — Henry Madden Library, Circulation
When I refer students to Bonnie and the rest of the circulation team (Christine, Cindee, Arnel, Taylor and Arnantes) for help, I know that they are going to provide excellent, friendly service.
Crystal Quintero — Human Resources
Crystal always has a smile and a friendly greeting when walking into the Human Resources/Payroll office. For the most part, everyone walks in with problems and/or concerns, but no matter what my issue was or how many questions I had, she made me feel as if I mattered and my voice was heard. Even if my problem didn't have an immediate solution, I was satisfied that someone was doing their best to solve it. Thank you Crystal for having a great attitude and a smile to greet everyone walking into HR.
Mary Owens — Procurement
Ruth Aparicio — Philosophy
Ms. Aparicio is the central contact that everyone encounters in Phil. She knows how to meet the needs of any one entering the office whether they are faculty or staff. No one leaves feeling discounted and if she cannot directly help, she finds a way to ensure their request is met.
Marcee Varela — Division of Research and Graduate Studies
Patrick Femiak — Sports Medicine
By simply working track and field for Fresno State!
Cody Laird — Technology Services
Cody saved the day! My docking station was out this morning and nothing we tried would bring it back to life. I called the help desk and they assisted me in creating a service ticket, but due to the holiday we figured it would not be able to be fixed until next week. To my surprise, Cody called and offered to come by this morning to take a look at it. He arrived early, explained what he was troubleshooting and literally had it up and running in about 30 seconds. He saved the
day and now I am able to work on my large dual screens, instead of the tiny laptop screen. Thank you Cody! I appreciate you.
Christina Alvarez — Athletics, Business Office
Kent Cruz — Auxiliary IT
Kent seems to always find time to immediately and without hesitation work on solutions to our IT problems. Kent services his clients BOLDLY!
Gena Behrens — Athletics, Bulldog Foundation
For all Bulldog home football games this season, Gena (herself a three-time softball Bulldog All American) supervised the establishment of the very successful Club Red (former Fresno State student-athletes and coaches) tailgate area. This included taking reservations to set up the unique tent area, to pounding in the support stakes, to arranging food vendors and hosting. Besides directing this football game experience, Gena also had oversight on securing over 10 Honorary Captains (former student-athletes) for each game's on-field recognition. Among those saluted this season were Paul George and Aaron Judge. As one of the Bulldog Foundation's development directors, Gena definitely provides excellent customer service.
Sheri Osborn — Psychology
Faculty and staff feel very comfortable going to her for questions — she is warm and welcoming. She makes everything easy to understand and makes dull paperwork easy to get trough.
Brittany Isom — Human Resources
Brittany is always available and supportive. She is responding to my questions related to the hiring process in a timely manner.
Modeled the Principles of Community
Chinda Dor — Traffic Operations
Chinda modeled kindness in the most sincere way to his colleagues in the Public Safety Department. He took it upon himself to cook a meal for the entire department (about 40 on duty employees). He performed this kind action with the intention to bring everyone together. He was so inclusive in his meal preparation, he made several options to accommodate all dietary restrictions. At the end of the day, everyone had the opportunity spend time together and build relationships over a delicious meal. We all walked away feeling fulfilled and encouraged to spread kindness the way Chinda did.
Martina Granados — Outreach and Special Programs
WE ARE COLLABORATIVE. Martina is the poster child for collaborative. She has been unwavering in her support of my completion of a giant task ... and we don't even work in the same office. She has been in my shoes and she is so supportive to help teach me the way. She has created for me a positive work environment in which I feel so like I have a partner to tackle this big task. Her dedication to Fresno State is beyond measure and I am so grateful that she is here.
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