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

Renaldo Gjoshe, Henry Madden Library
Renaldo has gone above and beyond to find ways to help the Library lower operating expenses, even if it means taking on more work himself. He is also willing to work with faculty, staff and students across campus to devise technological ways to solve their problems or support their initiatives. During the extended power outage on campus on Friday, June 19, Renaldo came to campus to tend to library servers when he realized that the battery back-up had been exhausted and the temperature in the server room was above 100 degrees (something he monitors from home). Keep up the good work Renaldo!

Maiku Vang, Admissions and Recruitment
Maiku Vang works above and beyond by ALWAYS sharing and effectively communicating her knowledge and information with all staff on her team by regularly sending emails regarding processing updates that involve all aspects of admissions. Maiku also provides training to other staff and is a valuable team player. Maiku has gained the respect of her team who know that they can always go to her with questions. High Five to Maiku for a job well done!

Fotini Alfieris, Advancement Services
As we are trying to pull together reports for various foundations, Fotini was able to provide necessary information in a quick and timely manner that makes pulling together the reports quicker and more efficient than in the past. We couldn't have done it without her!

John Wagenleiter, Technology Services
John always contributes more than his share, and that has continued during our remote work. His contributions help make many processes move more quickly and smoothly than they would have otherwise.

Amanda Eberlein, Admissions and Recruitment

Provides Excellent Customer Service

Jessica Calhoun, Financial Aid and Scholarships
Jessica is so great to work with — she is always so collaborative and helpful! When an issue arises, she is always willing to help brainstorm, think of creative solutions and resolve the issue. When I have questions, she has so much knowledge on the processes and always provides good information. I appreciate her help and enjoy working with her — she is definitely an asset to the office!

Sabas Martinez, Financial Aid and Scholarships
Sabas is great to work with! I really appreciate that he gives us a heads up when he is sending out communications to students so that we know when to anticipate a spike in phone traffic. This helps us prepare to serve students better. In addition to that, Sabas is always willing to explain a process to me so that I can better understand the behind the scenes of our processes. If I have questions, he is always willing to answer or find the answer. He's an asset to the office and a great team player.

Principles of Community

Maria Pena, Henry Madden Library
Maria is one of the smartest and hardest working people on campus, but she would never admit that because she is so kind and modest. Maria always has a smile, even when you ask her to do a lengthy, complicated task. She goes out of her way to help others and has a born-teacher’s way of explaining confusing concepts in an understandable manner. Even though Maria has more than enough work to keep her very busy, she is always thinking of what more she can do. Her desire to continue learning is inspiring. Maria exemplifies the principles of community.