Kudos & Congratulations
Congratulations to Lisa Osborne and John Wardle (Network & Communications Infrastructure) for winning the May 2017 prize drawing!
UIT staff recognized for their excellent work
A big shout out to the Network Operations student staff! The network team has been assisting other departments to make some very tight project timelines along with experiencing a decline in our student staff due to graduation. Those who remain at the NOC desk have been pinnacle in "keeping the lights on" here at the NOC, and I could not be more thankful! Big shout out to Dominic Mathison and Chadd Barney from Network Operations! Also, a HUGE thank you to Alex Hawks who has stepped up and assisted the NOC during this tough time. Thanks guys! You are outstanding!
~ Tyler Sauer, Network & Communications Infrastructure
The Identity and Access Management Team recently enlisted the help of selected UIT, ITS, and Campus HR managers on a pilot project to test the new User Access Review process. As project manager on this, I truly appreciate the valuable feedback already provided by Emily Rushton, Mike Madsen, Heather Kingsford, Joan Gines, Andrea Brown, Greg Nance, Christy Benson, Shawn Wells, and Peter Panos. Thank you! As the pilot proceeds and we get more feedback from other participating managers, we’ll be able to refine the training and roll-out process by the time regular user access reviews are required University-wide.
~ Rachael Sheedy, Project Management Office
Mark Curtz should be recognized for his work ethic, thoroughness, ideas, precision, and tireless pursuit to keep the CIS portal redesign project on a positive trajectory. His leadership and organizational skills are top notch, he can take a punch and not lose his cool, and he's very easy to work with day in day out.
~ Marc Thompson and Marv Hawkins, University Support Services
I just wanted to take a moment and express my many thanks to the work Chris Livingston continues to do for our team. He has worked on several of our team projects and always bends over backwards to give us the help we need.
~ Mark Johns, Information Technology Services
Your new guy, Chase Nelson, helped with my most recent VM ticket. He was awesome - completely helpful and patient, and got me pointed at my mistake.
~ Jack Hattaway, Budget and Analysis
I'd like to say kudos to Matt Juber of the server team for stepping up to the task of helping web hosting restore a VM that was having issues to multiple backups in order for us to troubleshoot the issue iteratively 'over time.' Thanks to his efforts, we were able to find several important pieces of evidence that led to us resolving the problem. I really appreciated his patience, professionalism, and willingness to do whatever was necessary to assist us in resolving the issue. Thanks again Matt!
~ Ben Kulbertis, Software Platform Services
The Summer Fiesta event at the Gallivan Center was a big success thanks in part to Emily Rushton's excellent event planning and organizational skills. Emily took the lead on behalf of UIT on the party committee, participating in weeks of planning activities and helping to make sure the event went smoothly. Thank you, Emily!
~ Cassandra Van Buren, Strategic Communication
A long-overdue thank you to Kenny Larson, our main camera operator at the TLT studio in the Marriott Library. I've labeled him "unflappable" because he handles all situations in and out of the studio calmly and professionally. Whether the instructor slides in at the last second with a PowerPoint on a flash drive, or spills tea on the studio floor, or is having trouble discreetly snaking a microphone cord up a shirt, Kenny is there to smooth the waters.
~ Jane Wolfarth, Teaching & Learning Technologies
CHPC would like to give kudos to Brian Haymore, who is our lead on our HPC clusters and a leader in many of the CHPC technical areas. You may also know him from his leadership on the ITX – University of Utah IT Exchange Committee. We especially want to thank Brian for his recent efforts to move our HPC clusters to a new operating system, CentOS7. The difficulty in upgrading this complex environment took a great effort due to the many changes and modernizations of the new version. Brian’s efforts in understanding these changes were integral in making the transition a smooth one. Brian plays a critical role at CHPC and is recognized not just here, but regionally and nationally as a leader in HPC cluster administration. Thank you Brian!
Another leader at CHPC deserving big kudos is Anita Orendt. She has been a CHPC Staff Scientist for Molecular Sciences since 1999. She became CHPC’s Assistant Director for Research Consulting & Faculty Engagement about four years ago. In this role, she oversees the faculty collaboration efforts of all CHPC staff members and acts as the point person for communication with the CHPC user community. With a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, she consults and collaborates with various research groups on the use of molecular science applications, along with doing software installations and providing general user support. Anita is also an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Chemistry. Her communication and organization skills are amazing and this has led her to be a natural leader of many CHPC projects. Her contribution to the success of CHPC cannot be overstated. She is also highly respected at both the regional and national level. Thanks for all you do Anita!
~ Julia Harrison, Center for High Performance Computing
A big thank you to Brandon Gresham for all the guidance and support he provides to all of us on the USS AUX/HR team. I can't say how much I've appreciated the time Brandon takes to explain a process along with the ins and outs of how it all works. No matter how many projects he's working on he takes the time to help others. He's enabled me to feel more confident in my role as a Product Manager and teammate and is always looking for a better way for us to improve processes and the work we do. In the end it's the university as a whole who truly benefits from his knowledge and hard work. He's a great asset to our team.
~ Jan Lovett, University Support Services
I would like to recognize Kelsey Loizos and Nic Courdy. Kelsey and Nic recently collaborated on a website redesign for the Financial Aid & Scholarships office, and the plan was to use it as a blueprint for future projects that fall under our new charging model. In order to draw in redesign projects, our plan was to take a very user-centered approach by incorporating usability tests and methods, and to communicate our findings in a way that demonstrates the value of those methods. The project was a big success, in part because of Nic’s amazing content design and layout skills, and in part because of Kelsey’s efforts in leading the usability testing, as well as leading the creation of the usability results report. Their work on this project has laid a great foundation for future project successes!
~ Barb Iannucci, University Support Services
Anyone can submit an item for Kudos & Congrats!
Submit your kudos and the people you recognize will be put into a drawing to win gift cards, event tickets, merchandise and more. Those who submit entries will also be put in a separate drawing for more prizes. (UITL members and associate/assistant directors not eligible for prizes.)
A special thank you to some exceptional campus organizations that, in the past, have donated tickets, merchandise, and gift cards to help recognize UIT employees: Athletics, Auxiliary Services, Dining Services, Kingsbury Hall, Pioneer Theatre Company, Red Butte Garden, UIT Leadership, and Utah Museum of Fine Art.
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