Robyn Whipple
Merilee Gustafson’s office is the “lost and found” department in the Taylor Health Science building. It plays a small part in my job that does not seem like much but actually provides an important service to help reunite students, faculty and visitors that come to the Taylor building with their lost item. For the most part, I do not have much face-to-face interaction except for when someone will come to my office looking for their lost item. Most of the time I do not have their item so I take their information to contact them if the item should be turned in.
The highlight is when someone comes to my office asking if their lost item was turned in and I am able to say that I do have it. This happened not too long ago when a patient from the Dental Clinic on the first floor had left her sweater there. Fortunately, someone found it and brought it to me. When the patient came to my office asking if I had her sweater, she almost cried when I told her that I did have it. She then proceeded to tell me how special it was to her and that she was so grateful that I had it. It made my day as I chatted with this woman and saw how thrilled she was to be reunited with her lost sweater. No customer service is too small because it can mean the world to someone else.
Mary McFadden
Mary McFadden had a woman call her who was helping another woman who escaped a cult. The second woman was sure that she went to Dixie State for four years and got licensed to teach elementary school. She said she had seen her license but her controlling uncle refused to give it to her. She had been working in an elementary school for a few years. They called registration to get her diploma and figure out if she still had a teaching license, but they were told that she wasn’t showing up in Banner. Mary told the woman she would look into it. She looked in all her files and couldn’t find any information about this woman. Mary asked if she was sure that she had gone to Dixie State. All she remembered was that it was about an hour from where she lived. Mary Googled the distance from where she was at to SUU, and it was also about an hour to get there, so Mary informed her that was a possibility.
She then wondered how they could find out her USBE-issued CACTUS number. Mary told her that she could look that up. She looked in the USBE system and couldn’t find a CACTUS number for her. She told her that she would have had to take the PRAXIS test before enrolling in a school for teacher certification, and was told she did take the PRAXIS test and was holding a copy of the Praxis report in her hands at that moment. Mary asked her to take a picture of it and text it.
When Mary got the text, she read the report and realized that this women took the test to become a paraprofessional, not a licensed teacher. Then Mary gave her information on who she could contact for information about becoming a paraprofessional again or becoming a licensed teacher if that were her preference. The point is that Mary made every effort to help this woman when she could have just told her that she was never a student at our school, and good luck with figuring everything out. Now she has an idea of her options, and one of those options is enrolling at Utah Tech.
Ruth Bruckert
She often receives phone calls from the campus operator, but often not a question she can resolve. Ruth will provide her phone number to the recipient prior to the re-transfer to make sure that if the person that Ruth connects to isn’t correct, that they call back and she can help them find the person they need to speak with.
Robyn Whipple
A student called trying to receive transfer credit for a class they had taken here at Utah Tech (formerly Dixie State). The student was asking for a syllabus, but the instructor wasn’t on campus. Robyn found a syllabus of the same class taught by the same instructor and asked if the student could use that and to let Robyn know if there was a problem and she’d find the syllabus, but it would take longer. Then she kindly reminded the student of the need to “forward”, not “reply” to her email to submit it for the transfer credit.
Leslie Twitchell
Had a student with life issues call up and unload emotionally about concerns with a class, requesting a new instructor. Leslie listened to everything that was said, then told the student she would call back to make sure that a resolution would be received. Leslie contacted the Department Chair and briefly explained the concern and summarized the “unload.” There wasn’t another section of the class to change to, but the faculty did reach out to help address the concern. When Leslie did call this student back later, the issue was being addressed even though another instructor wasn’t possible. Example of compensation: allow the student to be heard even though the request could not be granted.
April Ficklin
I had a young man on crutches stop in the day after my training to ask where he could get a parking pass. He explained that he was trying to park closer since he broke his ankle. Originally, I planned to send him over to the parking office, but I realized my maps were out, so then I had to print more maps. I grabbed my customer service notebook, and then realized I needed scissors, and then realized that I wasn’t sure how to spell Valerie’s last name. When I got back with the maps he asked, “Could we just call them?”
What a brilliant idea. “Yes, come sit down by the phone and I’ll get parking on the line,” I responded. Parking explained his options. I asked if he had a plan when the call ended. He said yes, he was going to wait until Monday when he’d get a handicap parking pass from the Dr.
Leslie Twitchell
Over the past year, CHASS has experienced several changes in departmental administrative assistants. Each one of the admins has stepped in at one point or another to train, welcome, and mentor the new hires. They also took on additional responsibilities during times when a department is missing an admin. The teamwork and friendship these amazing admins have shown toward each other is remarkable.