Nominee's Name: Daniel Morgan
Nominee's Unit: Payroll
Criteria: Problem Solver
Customer Service Example:
I nominate Daniel Morgan because he recovery the LARGEST OVERPAYMENT in ERSO's history since 2013 of over $ 137,000. Daniel handled this case with tact and finesse working with the affected employee. He answered numerous questions and provided detailed information in a sensible and clear manner to make the employee feel supported. The successful recovery of such a large overpayment benefitted both ERSO and UC Berkeley. The sheer volume of the recovered overpayment was impressive.
Nominee's Name: Sam Wong
Nominee's Unit: Reimbursement Services
Criteria: Anticipates Customer Needs
Customer Service Example:
Sam provided excellent customer service guiding a postdoc through the dependent care reimbursement eligibility process. This is an infrequent program; Sam researched the process/policy, provided detailed guidance to the postdoc and PI, and shepherded the exceptional approval process, to the final resolution. Through the process, Sam's emails were customer centric and demonstrated the qualities of a service organization. Thanks Sam for providing great customer support!
Nominee's Name: Miriam Kader
Nominee's Unit: Research
Criteria: Team Player
Customer Service Example:
Miriam stepped up to help with a last minute proposal resubmission. The Lead PI contacted us at the last minute and I was out of the office. Miriam located the original submission and clarified details with the Lead so that I could get the proposal to SPO by the end of the day. Thanks for being a great colleague Miriam!
Nominee's Name: Esther Gomez
Nominee's Unit: Research
Criteria: Team Player
Customer Service Example:
Esther is most deserving of this staff salute for her willingness to jump in and assume responsibility for a center ERSO supports. She took on this new responsibility with a wonderful attitude, can-do spirit, service focus and most importantly a smile throughout the transition process. Esther, you are truly a team player. The Center has already shared with me that working with Esther has been such a joy and they are so grateful for her. Thank you, Esther!
Nominee's Name: Sam Wong
Nominee's Unit: Reimbursement Services
Criteria: Anticipates Customer Needs
Customer Service Example:
We received a last-minute urgent request to register 7 foreigners for a conference, which the registration is closed the next day. The request came in without all the conference registration required info, and the conference site was not easy to navigate. Sam was able to prioritize this request, diagnose the issues quickly, work with the Dept. and the conference organizers via numerous phone calls to register all the attendees immediately and successfully before the deadline. I appreciate Sam is available to act quickly with the situation and manage it well. Thank you, Sam.
Nominee's Name: Anne Krysiak
Nominee's Unit: Research
Criteria: Problem Solver
Customer Service Example:
Anne recently inherited a portfolio for a very busy PI with a lot of complex projects and a ton of personnel. She has been assiduously going through and updating, cleaning up, providing projections, getting all the personnel sorted out, and all while dealing with some very tough extenuating circumstances. She shows up and does the work even on the hard days, and she does it with precision and an eye for detail - truly showing commitment, problem solving, and going above and beyond. She is a rock star, and I am very grateful for having her be a part of ERSO.
Nominee's Name: Alice Wong
Nominee's Unit: Purchasing
Criteria: Above & Beyond
Customer Service Example:
Alice's commitment to customer service and supporting ERSO's community is on display daily. She is the go to person to help troubleshoot or provide expert guidance on how to navigate processes or clarify processes. She is available to staff to support and provide guidance. One of our long term partners made a point to recognize Alice's excellent customer service and support. We are fortunate to have Alice on our Team!
Nominee's Name: Angela Brito Baldwin
Nominee's Unit: Research
Criteria: Team Player
Customer Service Example:
ERSO is so lucky to have Angela as part of our team! Although she has a full workload, she generously volunteered her time and effort to help train a new research administrator. I am grateful to have her as a colleague; her contributions to ERSO and research administration are so valuable.
Nominee's Name: Angela Brito Baldwin
Nominee's Unit: Research
Criteria: Above & Beyond
Customer Service Example:
Angela exemplifies "above and beyond," "team player," and "demonstrates commitment!" She has has taken on the role of ERSO RA Trainer for the past year, and recently she has really gotten into all of it. She is developing training plans, training new RAs, providing training plans for more veteran RAs, updating the master training document, creating training resources, etc. She is going above and beyond her already crazy workload to ensure consistent training for ERSO RAs, and she is in the process of developing and providing refresher trainings for seasoned RAs, too, showing commitment to the job, to the ERSO Organization, and to campus. Thanks, Angela!
Nominee's Name: Michael Banderas
Nominee's Unit: Purchasing
Criteria: Team Player
Customer Service Example:
Michael stepped in to help get H-1B checks processed quickly when a Dept Manager was unfamiliar with the BearBuy process and not able to approve at the Org Node level. The Professor's work authorization expires in less than two months so it was crucial the checks were processed asap as the department pursues a change in work authorization status. Thank you for your quick action Michael!
Nominee's Name: Erik Hoopes
Nominee's Unit: Shipping & Receiving
Criteria: Above & Beyond
Customer Service Example:
Erik is always willing to step up and help. In this case an ERSO unit needed to review documentation in order to move forward on a recruitment and Erik was able to locate the folder on campus, scan and send quickly. Very helpful. Thank you Erik for your support!
Nominee's Name: Dan Matsuoka
Nominee's Unit: Computer Support
Criteria: Above & Beyond
Customer Service Example:
Dan helps me get everything updated on the ERSO Hub, and it is no small task! I email him monthly, if not weekly or daily for updates, changes, and revisions. I know he is very busy with other more pressing duties for our organization, but he really goes above and beyond. Within a couple hours if not sooner (and it's almost always sooner!), all of the requested changes have been made. He is a rock star, and I am so glad that I get to work with him. Truly a stellar, committed, team player who always manages to do more for us even when we don't realize it. The Hub could not exist without him, so this salute is to recognize all of his hard work. Thank you so much, Dan!
Nominee's Name: Sarah Gaughler
Nominee's Unit: Research
Criteria: Above & Beyond
Customer Service Example:
Sarah definitely goes above & beyond in helping others! I feel that she is my go to person for ordinary and out of the ordinary questions on so many things. She will always help and offer training when needed.
Nominee's Name: Sam Wong
Nominee's Unit: on loan to ERSO-Payroll
Criteria: Team Player
Customer Service Example:
I'm nominating Sam for supporting ERSO-Payroll on processing Direct Retros (DRs). Sam was loaned to us at the start of the pandemic via job share: we are so grateful! ERSO-Payroll is short-staffed and over-worked ( as many are ). Sam provided (and still does) excellent support to complete our DR-approval workload, which is monumental most of the time. He was a quick learner, was courteous and professional in his approach to all. Sam is a team player with steadfast commitment to excellence. It would be difficult for ERSO-Payroll and the RAs to meet our (DR) commitments with Sam's help. We are so fortunate to have Sam on our team. Thank you!
Nominee's Name: Krystle Bartholomew
Nominee's Unit: Human Resources
Criteria: Team Player
Customer Service Example:
I wanted to thank Krystle for being such a supportive colleague! I truly appreciate her selfless assistance whenever I am in need. I admire her positivity, her patience, and her helpful nature. She is not only a supportive colleague but also a great trainer who has knowledge with a clear understanding of every step of the process and answered all my questions during and post training. I am glad I had been trained by her to deliver my job.
Nominee's Name: Sam Wong
Nominee's Unit: Reimbursement Services
Criteria: Anticipates Customer Needs
Customer Service Example:
I want to recognize Sam's above & beyond Customer Service, with sharing a recent email from one of our Professor's. This email expresses the dedicated service Sam delivers on a daily basis, representing ERSO's commitment to excellence.
"I want to really express deep thanks for your exerting supreme efforts on what seemed at first a mundane transaction which turned into anything but. Your professionalism and followup are typical (but typically extraordinary) of ERSO staff, who save so many from mind-bending confusion and mystifying puzzles."
Thank You Sam!
Nominee's Name: Joel Spitzer
Nominee's Unit: Human Resources
Criteria: Team Player
Customer Service Example:
I am nominating Joel for this Staff Salute as he really is an amazing team player. Whenever I have a question about anything HR related, I know Joel is available to answer and help me. He takes his time and patiently explains the reasoning behind the answer/process, and he provides/suggests best practices. As an RA with limited knowledge of the HR side, this is incredibly helpful as it furthers my education and allows me to each and assist others. I cannot thank him enough how much he's helped me over the last 6 years, and how lucky I feel to have such an awesome partner within our ERSO team. Thank you, Joel, for always helping me out, being such an awesome team player, constantly going above and beyond, and dealing with my incessant questions. You rock!
Nominee's Name: Daniel Morgan
Nominee's Unit: Payroll
Criteria: Above & Beyond
Customer Service Example:
Daniel embodies all the criteria of the Staff salute. He took on the monumental task of analyzing the Potential Overpayment reports that UC Path blasts out. Though we receive these reports periodically, the most recent report appeared to a gigantic house-cleaning effort by UC Path with the largest number of cases we've seen since 2019. This is an extremely significant case load. Daniel bravely reviewed all the ERSO cases, analyzed them and is currently collaborating with ERSO-HR and departments to provide resolution. The overpayment process is arduous and lengthy for everyone, especially the impacted employee --- regardless of fault. I am so grateful that Daniel's staunch commitment to ERSO, and for his superior mathematical and analytic skills. Recovering and (better yet) preventing overpayments helps all of UC Berkeley in the long run.
Nominee's Name: Daniel Morgan
Nominee's Unit: Payroll
Criteria: Team Player
Customer Service Example:
Daniel conducted a wonderful CalTime training for the RISE Lab's new group of 2021 Spring (12) Student Assistants. While the presentation was complied with others in ERSO-Payroll, Daniel' s delivery and management of the Zoom session went very smoothly. The delivery was very clear, easy to understand for the audience's level of experience with UC Berkeley systems: in some cases, this is the very first job for some students. We now have a great Presenter and training material that can be used with other groups if needed. The RISE Lab has a solid foundation for timekeeping processes to support efficiency and accurate pay.
Nominee's Name: Gina Banton
Nominee's Unit: Human Resources
Criteria: Above & Beyond
Customer Service Example:
Gina received accolades for her work in support of the ICM Path team. This is a complicated HR case involving closing out a massive project which involves many sensitive HR issues. Gina has been at the helm of this project and doing an exceptional job! The email below is from Director, Tom West praising Gina for her recent contribution.
Hi Gina, Thank you for your willingness to speak to the Connected CorridorsTeam this morning. Your knowledge, empathy and overall demeanor was exceptional and really seemed to put the team at ease. Thanks for offering folks the ability to reach out to you directly, as I suspect that this will be quite helpful. Thanks again!
Nominee's Name: Angela Brito Baldwin
Nominee's Unit: Research
Criteria: Team Player
Customer Service Example:
Angela is such a pleasant team player who is always willing to help. Back in November of 2020, Angela was working on a large collaborative proposal in which my PI was one of the co-PIs. My PI provided his COA not compliant with NSF's requirements. I happened to be busy that day trying to meet another deadline. Angela went ahead to make the modification of the document on her own, even though she too had a lot on her plate at the time. Angela is a such a generous and true sense of team player, which I appreciate so very much.
Nominee's Name: Sara Rivera
Nominee's Unit: Payroll
Criteria: Problem Solver
Customer Service Example:
Sara has been very instrumental and extremely timely in processing the payments for our part-time employees for the two projects that I have been working on.