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

Benjamin Kirk, College of Arts and Humanities
As the College of Arts and Humanities communications specialist, Ben Kirk has worked nonstop spreading the word on all platforms about the dozens of arts and humanities events that happen each month. With special skills in video, he brings the collaborations between our faculty and students to life, telling vivid stories about the transformative education Fresno State provides. Ben has also spearheaded our first-ever Arts in Motion Showcase Week (April 5 to 9) with programming featuring all of our departments, culminating in Arts in Motion on April 10, for which he will be producing an over-one-hour video on our College of Arts and Humanities Students of Distinction. Ben has done all of this despite the restrictions of virtual work over the past year, always remaining optimistic and working very hard to get the good news out to the community.

Provides Excellent Customer Service

Bryan Alvarado, Technology Services
Thank you for your effort and time in helping create a TDX ticket for Bulldog Connect. I really appreciate the time you spent helping me, Bryan!

Veronica Valez, Accounting Services
It has been great working with Veronica! She is always quick to answer my questions and goes above and beyond! It's too bad that our interaction has been all-virtual and could never be in-person. I truly appreciate you, Veronica. You are always accommodating even when we bug you with a deadline or getting our students linked.

Saved My Bacon!

Greg Varela, Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship
Since I've taken on a new position handling funding opportunities for graduate students through the Division of Research and Graduate Studies, Mr. Varela has help me substantially! He's walked me through the "Academic works" system and has led me toward a higher level of confidence with this new information! Also, he's quite welcoming and receptive to all my inquiries! Thank you, Greg!

Marie Fernandez, Office of Institutional Effectiveness
Marie has been incredibly reliable and informative as I've been learning how to navigate Qualtrics! She is patient, perceptive, and has no problem with me reaching out to her with my many inquiries! In taking on new responsibilities, I'm relieved to know that such facilitative help is available through Marie Fernandez! Thanks, Marie!

Svetlana Korol, Admissions and Recruitment
Lana is helping me with the daunting task of configuring spring 22 majors (undergraduate domestic and international) in Webadmit. Lana has set up and cleaned over 200 majors with efficiency and accuracy. Lana is an inspiration on how to get things done by "dividing and conquering." For this and so much more, I am thankful for Lana!