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

Lars Newlander, Technology Services
Lars and his colleagues delivered the 28th Annual Global Finance Virtual Conference via webinar on Zoom on May 27-28. Over 200 academicians and scholars from all over the world participated. The delivery was flawless and superb. Lars went over and beyond and personally welcomed participants and made sure that their presentation went smoothly. Thank you, Lars.

Maipahoua Xiong, Stephanie Covacevich, College of Science and Mathematics, Advising and Resources Center
Maipahoua and Stephanie are true team players! We are preparing for Dog Days New Student Orientation and they have stepped up to help in so many important ways as our office continues to operate while being down a staff member. They each have their own responsibilities to take care of and are always willing to help where needed.

Technology Services
Vice President and Chief Information Officer Orlando Leon; director, Fred Nainavaii; consultant, Lars Newlander; Fatih Yenen; web developer, Will Tubbs, and the DISCOVERe staff, worked Above & Beyond to make the Craig Schools's 28th Global Finance Conference that was delivered virtually worldwide a total success. Over 200 professors, scholars, and practitioners from around the world witnessed the professional capabilities of the IT professionals at Fresno State. Thank you, Mr. Leon and team. Thank you!

Provided Excellent Customer Service

Lars Newlander, Technology Services
Lars provided the best customer service at the Global Finance Conference during May 27-28. As the Zoom host for each session, he was courteous and stayed from the beginning to the end of the conference.

Lori Few, Accountancy/Information Systems and Decision Sciences
I am a 71-year-old woman who needed help finding someone who could teach me how to learn Quick Books or Quicken. I Googled Fresno State Department of Accounting and found Lori Few's email address. I emailed her and asked if she knew how I might get this particular help. Lori was kind enough to email Professor Aimee Jacobs for me to see if she might have a student who could assist me. Professor Jacobs posted "a small accounting job" on the school's job board and one of the business students responded to the job posting. During this process, Lori was kind enough to email me several times letting me know how she was attempting to secure help for me. She did this for me, a complete stranger, who emailed her out of the blue, with a personal request for help. The kindness Lori showed to me restores my faith in humanity. After all, aren't we all here to help one another? Many thanks and many kudos to Lori Few!

Ryan Lowry, Sean Cha, Tiffany Burmeister, Warehouse and Property Services
Tiffany, Sean, and Ryan continue to demonstrate high-level service to the university every day, from their respective positions in the Warehouse. In the past 15 months, as most campus employees have worked from home, this trio has tirelessly continued to be among the unsung heroes of the Administrative Services division who've remained on-ground. Day in and day out, they continue to handle a heavy volume of pickups, deliveries, and logistical puzzles of all kinds. They respond to inquiries with great patience, kindness, and thoughtfulness. I'm grateful to count them as colleagues.

Saved My Bacon!

Nick Petitti, Technology Services
Nick has saved my bacon in helping to get some work completed. With all he has to do I am very thankful he has been willing to go above and beyond in helping me to get this task completed. He is always ready and willing to help in any situation and at a moment's notice. Big kudos and thanks to Nick for his hard work and willingness to help!

Principles of Community!

Ann Berg, History
Ann was kind and collaborative this week. She helped me when I was not sure what to do. Thank you, Ann, for your help!