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

Antoinette Castanon, Procurement and Support Services
Every single interaction I've had with Antoinette has been a solid five-star experience — if I could give six, I would. She’s the calm to my chaos, the GPS when I'm completely lost in the P2P system. Not only does she go above and beyond to get our suppliers approved (which, let’s be honest, deserves its own medal), but she somehow always has the time, patience, and magical know-how to help with any questions that arise. She is the gold standard of customer service and quite possibly a superhero in disguise.

Elaine Champion, Custodial
Elaine consistently surpasses her job responsibilities, taking initiative to address challenges and implement innovative solutions. Her ability to anticipate needs and act decisively has led to improved efficiency.

Elaine Champion, Custodial
Elaine keeps our library clean every day and is such a positive person with great energy. My whole staff loves her presence, and she has helped so many in our building in so many ways. She has dropped everything to help with a huge spill we had this week and had to deal with the delivery involved. We appreciate your dedication, Elaine.

Varselles Cummings, Cross Cultural and Gender Center
Varselles, Black Grad would not have happened without your leadership. Amongst our busy schedules and adjusting to climate change, you kept us on track to make this a momentous occasion for the graduates. Black Grad 2025 was one for the books, and the scholars felt celebrated and honored.

Jennifer Lewis, Library - Administrative Offices
A huge thank you to Jennifer. She was absolutely fantastic in helping us secure the library meeting rooms for the TEACH! Conference. Not only was she incredibly easy to work with throughout the reservation process, but she also went out of her way to ensure we had everything we needed including set up time. Jennifer, your support was instrumental in making this event happen, thank you so much.

Alejandro Mendez, College of Science and Mathematics - Office of the Dean
Alejandro is the epitome of a team player and is always eager to help no matter what the task is. He has played a crucial role in different college events. We are so thankful for him.

Matt Montez, Library
Matt was extremely helpful with a delivery spill and had to deal with the repercussions from it. He helped me and my staff tremendously and I am so very grateful that he was able to take care of it so quickly. He also helps out every day in ways that often go unnoticed,so I just want to say that Matt you are amazing and thank you for all you do.

Brittney Randolph, Kremen School of Education and Human Development
Thank you, Brittney, for looking beyond your job description and always looking for ways to stay connected to campus. You are always willing to support the students, and even if it does not align with your field, you dedicate time and energy to making their journey a success. You are amazing.

Manuel Sandoval, School of Nursing
Manuel has significantly streamlined our clinical placement process. All the clinical faculty consistently mention how much smoother things have become and how students are able to begin their clinical rotations in a timely manner. He works diligently to ensure that all student requirements are completed and verified, allowing placements to start without delays. His dedication and attention to detail have made a noticeable positive impact on our OB clinical courses.

Pete Serrato, Facilities Management
I want to say thank you to Pete for all his help that I constantly need to perform my day-to-day work. Pete is always willing to help me with issues and he follows up until he makes sure they have been resolved. His quick turnaround and support saves us a lot of time and his efficiency makes our work easier. Thank you, Pete, for your above and beyond work, it is much appreciated.

Terree Stevenson, Student Life
Thank you, Dean Stevenson, for your leadership. You helped guide us during commencement and went above and beyond to celebrate all of our students at multiple celebrations. Thank you for making the students feel heard and appreciated.

Jose Torres, Social Work
Jose consistently goes above and beyond in supporting students, staff, and faculty. He is frequently seen assisting students with registration, helping them locate their classes, and answering their questions with patience and care. Jose also provides valuable support to staff and faculty by identifying quick and efficient ways to complete tasks, often reducing the time and effort required. In addition to his day-to-day responsibilities, Jose is an active volunteer at campus events such as career fairs and student activities. His dedication and willingness to contribute make him an invaluable asset to our department and the campus community.

Marisol Valdez, Technology Services
I recently faced a technology challenge and Marisol was so patient and helpful. We went through multiple attempts to fix it, and she was always ready to try again and give new ideas. She managed to troubleshoot and stuck with it until it was all taken care of, even though I'm sure it may have been frustrating for her to hear from me multiple times. I greatly appreciate her genuine efforts to help and ability to solve difficult issues.

Provides Excellent Customer Services

Pablo Lopez, Technology Services
I had issues with my monitors and had a busy schedule filled with student appointments. Pablo was quick to act on the issues I was having, and with a positive attitude. He was very accommodating and understanding my schedule. His attention to detail helped speed up the process and effectively resolve the issue. He provided excellent customer service.

Modeled Principles of Community

BoNhia Lee, University Marketing and Communications
It was hard to pick a category for this High Five for Bo. Yes, she goes above and beyond; however, what is clear is that Bo is a beacon of grace and collaborativeness on top of everything else on her plate. It has been a pleasure working through how to support each other’s efforts for the marketing and communications needs for the Hmong 50 programming. I sincerely appreciate all of her guidance and patience with my small portion, knowing that she is working with many other individuals across campus to help spread the word about the breadth of activities taking place. Thank you, Bo.