Mukarram Shahzad

Mr. Shahzad answered the phone when I called to follow up on an inquiry. My IT problem was urgent as I had over 80 quizzes and exams to download and grade for students. While I was frustrated he kept calm and offered me a list of solutions further explaining we would go through each one until we found an answer. He then respectfully requested to link to my computer so he could see what was happening after each solution attempt. His instructions for me were clear and in plain language that made it easy to understand. He would often explain the "why" of what was happening so I could understand and learn. Further he consistently was polite and respectful...never interrupting and clearly listening actively which was shown by his repeating what I had said in his own words to confirm his understanding of my questions. I told him at the end of the phone call that I felt he had demonstrated what Ritz Carlton Hotels defines as customer service...He really demonstrated that he owned my problem until it was fully resolved as if it was his own. Always patient, polite, respectful, innovative and sincerely cared about my problem. Truly world class customer service. I know because I have been in the Hospitality Industry for over 40 years prior to joining GMU. Mr. Shahzad should be rewarded and recognized for what clearly is his "normal".

Paul Magnant

Debbie Penny

Debbie was so incredible today! I needed help with an IT issue and she was not only helpful but so pleasant. If all customer service (and people in general) took a cue from her attitude, so many systems would run smoother. I asked her to provide me with a contact for so I could reach out to her supervisor to explain how great my experience was. She is a gem!

Jackie Beach

Ying Dang

Ying is amazing. Her most recent contribution has been her work on the new password change site. She is always willing to do what needs to be done to ensure applications work properly and is always willing to go back to the drawing board when something needs to be revised. She does it without complaining, and alway emerges with an answer. She is cooperative, competent and kind. She is a team player who knows how to ask the right questions without making other seem stupid.

Karen Bates

Whitney Sublett

This is a little tardy, but I didn't want Whitney's efforts to go unrecognized. Whitney was responsible for pulling on the extreme feat of the first virtual ITS All-Staff Meeting. Whitney was methodical in her planning, clearly communicated with every person involved, and made sure everything went off without a hitch. She's basically a one-woman show and we'd be lost without her. While I hope virtual meetings aren't here to stay, as long as Whitney is in charge, they will be perfect representations of her hard work and heart she puts into ITS. Thanks, Whitney!

Lauren Reese

Ying Dang

Ying was extremely helpful and provided great support when I reached out to her regarding high-impact maintenance planned for October 18. She jumped right in to help clarify the impact of the outage and looped in others to make sure there was awareness and understanding. She walked me through options for getting information on the Password Management website and was so quick to get it posted. Her willingness to offer support was a true display of "One ITs." Thanks, Ying!

Lauren Reese

Joe Balducci

I sent a last-minute request to Joe to inquire about getting info up on myMason regarding high-impact maintenance happening over the weekend. Joe didn't hesitate to put my request into action and within minutes had a mock-up for me to share with others. Joe is always very responsive, quick to come up with solutions, and embodies "One ITS." Thanks, Joe.

Lauren Reese

Matthew Tran

I had trouble adding my school email for a long time and I tried to do it but I could not. I had to call to IT services to help me. Matthew was an excellent knowledgeable person, very open minded and has a lot of passion in working with professionalism. I went step by step with him through the phone until I finished setting up my email for both desktop and laptop.
Thank you so much, I really appreciated it.

Abdeltif Bensouda

Anna Stackhouse

Anna was my POC while I was taking some much needed time off last week. She handled everything thrown her way completely and she provided concise and prompt updates when I returned. Having her step up as a reliable and competent backup not only helped me be able to disconnect but allowed Anna's skill and professionalism to shine. Thanks for all you do, Anna!

Lauren Reese

Elizabeth Redwine

Elizabeth provided service with the best care; she was patient, caring, and knowledgeable. I give my highest recommendation to her and hope management takes recognition of what a great asset she is to GMU.

Lucy Dilebo

Paul Damasco

Paul has kept a series of old university-issued Apple computers--a laptop and a desktop--alive, and transferred files, programs, and the operating system from the old laptop to the new one. In some of his visits, he was also helping train new ITS employees. He has done all this with amazing patience, efficiency, and attention to detail. He always shows up (in person or virtually) online promptly and dependably. He proceeds assuredly, with impressive mastery of multi-dimensional computer logics, communicating clearly what he is doing and why. He somehow created space in my old laptop, which had seemingly exhausted all existing space; and created work-arounds of Apple's protocols for file transfer, when I had forgotten some of the basic identification codes and passwords. Best of all, he has always exuded a spirit of pleasantness and grace. He deserves the greatest recognition.

Mark Jacobs

Tracy Holt

At the start of the semester, we were having problems with SSO on Blackboard. Tracy contacted Unicon, our authentication service provider, and provided assist with troubleshooting. Also during this time, the Support Center received reports of authentication problems with Navigate, the Academic Advising application. Tracy reached out to his contact in Academic Advising to check if the issues were related. He then looped back to the Support Center to let us know they were not. Tracy is a true team player, and during hectic situations he knows the importance of communication!

Teresa Gibbons

Cherie Galantis

Cherie shared her expertise with me for the Zoom Topic Spotlight that was published on the ITS website last month. Specifically, she answered the many questions I had about Mason adopting Zoom as a new tool. The article ended up being such a hit, it was shared in The George! Thank you for your help, Cherie!

Anna Stackhouse

Matthew Berlejung

Matt shared his expertise with me for the Zoom Topic Spotlight that was published on the ITS website last month. He even allowed me to interview him about his favorite features on Zoom and his overall excitement for the tool. The article ended up being such a hit, it was shared in The George! Thank you for your help, Matt!

Anna Stackhouse

Brad Sullivan

Nothing ever goes as expected and we are always looking for more. And the MS Teams Smartphone Pilot has been no different. While focused on individual users, many customers also asked about shared phone lines. Brad jumped in over multiple meetings with both Microsoft and the project team to learn and implement the calling queue features. This meant much trial and error, and most of all patience while working with the rest of the team. This lead to successful testing of the calling queue which has not been implemented for his team as the first test case.

John Prette

Denise Coates

Denise worked well into the night entering phone numbers for porting to Microsoft Teams as part of the ITS Pilot project. As this effort was requested relatively last minute to be ready prior to the start of school, it is imperative that ITS complete the steps accurately and timely. Denise’s effort helped get nearly 500 Mason phone lines to the Microsoft Teams Soft Phone environment. And without fail, she was right back at it with the next round of users to add to the pilot. And did I mention that this also included learning about a brand new phone system at the same time!

John Prette

Matt Berlejung

Matt seems to be everywhere I’m working these days. From digging in to learn the ins and outs of MS Teams Call queues so ITS can look to use the capabilities to developing communications and training materials for the MS Teams Calling Pilot team to coordinating with end users and sharing knowledge, he’s always there. In addition, he was able to work to communicate and close over 75% of the Webex Training and Events accounts and coordinate with account holders on prepping to close the remaining. A great help in getting that effort underway successfully.

John Prette

Christina Frasson

Christina hadn’t even been back from her leave for a week and while attempting to catch-up, jumped in head first to learn the Teams Phone system and develop a user guide to be shared with the end users. In a time when she could have just been listening and digesting the changes from the past 3+ months, she chose to embrace the change and use her position as someone new to the technology as a way to create help for others who are in the same situation.

John Prette

Cherie Galantis

Cherie jumped in and went above and beyond in working to transition nearly 500 Mason phone lines to the Microsoft Teams Soft Phone environment. When tasked with an urgent request to expand a small proof of concept into a full-blown pilot that included high profile users from across Mason, she coordinated and completed extremely manual work in building and submitting lists of users to Microsoft for the pilot and coordinated with IT Directors from across Mason answering all their questions and providing details. When, in typical Mason fashion, deadlines were missed, Cherie adjusted and took on additional work to help see to it that all those who requested were taken care of and received their accounts.

John Prette

Tracy Holt

Tracy jumped in and went above and beyond in working to transition nearly 500 Mason phone lines to the Microsoft Teams Soft Phone environment. When tasked with an urgent request to expand a small proof of concept into a full-blown pilot that included high profile users from across Mason, he willingly went above and beyond to ensure the transfer of all the phone lines we received from our customers was completed successfully including configuring multiple licensing steps within the Microsoft environment. This included working at odd (read: very late) hours to ensure little to no break in service.

John Prette

Carolyn Combs

Carolyn jumped in and went above and beyond in working to transition nearly 500 Mason phone lines to the Microsoft Teams Soft Phone environment. When tasked with an urgent request to expand a small proof of concept into a full-blown pilot that included high profile users from across Mason, she willingly went above and beyond to ensure the transfer of all the phone lines we received from our customers was completed successfully. This included working at odd (read: very late) hours to ensure little to no break in service.

John Prette

Ryan Sakai

Ryan assisted us in setting up new laptops on the domain remotely. Under current conditions, the impact here can't be overstated. Not only are we saving a lot of time in not having to travel to Enterprise to set them up, but Ryan is helping to keep our team safe in allowing us to avoid unnecessary trips to campus. Ryan is consistently helpful and creative when we bring configuration problems to him, and we are always grateful for his help.

Kathi Gelona

Saima Khan

I had a simple request for Saima that was complicated by it requiring the input of 5 different offices within ITS. Every incremental update and change, Saima delivered with a smile and patience. Thank you Saima. I hope the rest of my tickets are easier!

Matthew Berlejung

Whitney Sublett

Whitney looks for opportunities to help the ITS team. When she sees an opportunity, she takes initiative to act and provide assistance. There are countless instances where Whitney has taken tasks off my plate and addressed them with ease. She makes light work of so many things due to the relationships she has across Mason. Whitney has also taken steps to remind me of important tasks that need my attention.

Charlie Spann

Charles Thilking

Charles helped to solve a PC imaging issue to help complete an installation in Buchanan D023. Charles was great at helping us getting this PC up and running so final testing and room commissioning could occur.

Rodrigo Alva

Douglas Whetzel

Doug jumped into assisting installation efforts in Buchanan D023 as part of the summer project when we needed a ton of help getting PCs imaged! Thanks Doug!

Rodrigo Alva

Ginnie Mahoney

Ginnie helps us with our office needs. She has always obtained whatever office supplies we need and successfully organized office parties. She is efficient and organized. Ginnie is always cheerful, kind, and empathetic. She goes out of her way to assist us. I know Ginnie enjoys working with us.

Elizabeth Boyen

John Prette

John took time out of his busy project management schedule to talk to me about MS Teams and his successes with it for an ITS Spotlights article. While this originally wasn't something on his plate, he had no hesitation in making it a priority to help me out. He is always so willing to support me with anything I need or answer any questions I may have. Thank you for your constant support of me and our Communications team, John!

Anna Stackhouse

Jim McLean

In Joe's absence, I called Jim to get his take on some Blackboard specifications we were giving to Burge. I *thought* there was an obvious error that needed Joe's attention on return from his short time on leave. Little did I know Jim would help me with many other points as well. We will still confirm with Joe, however, Jim really stepped up to make all of ITS look better.

Matthew Berlejung

Allen Santora

Allen always makes himself available and quickly resolves anything we ask of him, even if it's on a sudden notice. He made time and coordinated the redirect for our antivirus webpage to point to our new tool.

Scott Rendin

Tsinwah Lee

Tsinwah very quickly updated our antivirus website to remove our Symantec product and input language for our new tool. She is always very responsive and communicates through all steps of the process.

Scott Rendin

Richard Wood, Matt Berlejung and Rich Eggleton

When the university President, Chief of Staff and Provost take time out of their hectic schedules to write thank you messages for your good work, you know you're doing something right. Thank you for your continued dedication to ensure Mason thrives throughout this pandemic!

Susan Kehoe

Lauren Reese

How does Lauren Reese embody One ITS? Well, for starters, she has a box of green ITS polos. Another example occurred today. Today, I reached out to her and expressed my urgency for getting a service catalog page online because it was a sticking point for our full launch of Zoom. She created the entry within minutes. Then, after the URL changed in TeamDynamix (a mere hours later) she UPDATED the link to the correct link. No questions asked. I enjoy Lauren's positive attitude, go-getter spirit, and her smile. She is pretty awesome and has more insight and forethought than most, and we should reward that. Stay awesome Lauren!

Matthew Berlejung

Susan Kehoe

Susan has been tasked with shepherding non-ITS hosted events as they move to a virtual world. Susan embodies ITS's role as technology-enablers. She is polite, professional, and really really competent. If many recent events did not have her touch, they would have been worse for it. Thank you for all you do Susan, both inside and outside of ITS!

Matthew Berlejung

Robert Solander

Robert provided and in-depth report and explanation for determining the cause of a security related event. The information he provided greatly helped narrow the cause of the problem and he even volunteered to follow-up with the user.
The IT Security Office greatly appreciates his dedication and motivation to ensure that tasks are completed thoroughly.

Jose Siles-Gonzales

Alex Saleh, Ali Golkar, Dylan Gerhard, and Joshua Grant

In early April 2020, due to the Covid-19 shutdowns, we had to change our webcasting process quickly for an external client. Instead of running the webcast from their offices, we had to switch to remote audio-only webcasts from our offices. To make this work, we needed assistance from several ITS divisions to change router firewall settings for live H.264 streaming and install a new phone line in our offices.
All of these employees were courteous, timely, and responsive and held themselves to the highest standard. We had a client who needed testing confirmation and assurances immediately, and they stepped up and assisted us quickly during a time of transition for everyone. We could not have had a successful webcast without their support.
I wanted to express the gratitude of the Capitol Connection managers and staff to each of them for their contributions to our successful event.

Shirley Al-Jarani

Richard Wood, Matt Berlejung, Christina Frasson, and Rich Eggleton

The highly successful Leadership Town Hall would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of a core team. Our new reality proves more than ever, that it takes a village of dedicated, professional, responsible, empathic individuals working together help us all succeed!!
THANK YOU for being you and believing in the best of others.

Susan Kehoe

Patrick Tam

Due to the coronavirus crisis, we're all urged to work from home. I needed a large monitor for my work in addition to my laptop. Because my laptop was so old, it wouldn't connect to the new monitor. Patrick helped me get it set up so I could more easily work from home. A few days later, my very old laptop showed signs of breaking down, and I had to come into the office for a new one. Patrick came over and got my new machine set up (this took several hours). After I got it home, I ran into a couple of technical glitches (due to user ignorance). Patrick arranged for us to have a shared screen session, and got everything to work as it should. I am able to more smoothly work from home due to his dedication and professionalism. I know ITS has been slammed lately with the move to remote classes and remote working, but despite all this, I got what I needed to do my job. ITS rocks! Thanks!

Lisa Hitt

Christina Frasson

Terrific job monitoring and guiding the Faculty Senate Webex call regarding this semester’s grading. There were 261 attendees. This is the first time the Faculty Senate has held a meeting like this. Great work, Christina!

Marilyn Smith

DRob (David Robertson)

Despite exceptionally high call volume, Drob prioritized our TDX change. He was clear in his communications with me, verifying the validity of the information posted, and ultimately Drob remains an amazing person.

Matthew Berlejung

Marcus Wilson

Marcus and I are working on several projects together, and recently attend ACCS where we were part of a team presentation. Marcus is always responsive and so helpful.
- He would stay on meetings longer than scheduled to help out as we prepared for our presentation.
- He always responds to my questions in a timely an thorough manner
- He is a team player through and through
- He has stayed composed and focused through Coronavirus preparations
What really touched me was how kind and thoughtful he was during our time at ACCS. Being 7 months pregnant (and during a pandemic) he was always lending a hand so to make things easier on me, and making sure I had plenty of hand sanitizer. It is people like Marcus who make you feel like you are truly part of a family. #ONEITS

Christina Frasson

Michael Vittori

Michael was so helpful when I called the CLUB today. During an outage, I reached out to Michael to see if he could help me get JC 311D's conference room system back online. Through multiple tests, he had a smile in his voice. I must have said "let's try one more thing" five times to him, literally. Ultimately, the problem was resolved by the vendor, and Michael tested the solution. Thanks Michael! Keep up the good work.

Matthew Berlejung

Sophie Luu

We needed 3 computers moved and set up as a result of renovations that we had done to our office. Sophia and 2 of her co-workers showed up at exactly the arranged time. I showed them what needed to be done. Each of them took one computer. Sophia and her co-workers worked efficiently and had the computers set up quickly. By doing so, Sophia and her co-workers minimized the impact on our staff. Once the work was completed, one of our staff had a question and they were all extremely courteous and professional in answering her question.

Julie Roberts

Arturo Lopez

We needed 3 computers moved and set up as a result of renovations that we had done to our office. Arturo and 2 of his co-workers showed up at exactly the arranged time. I showed them what needed to be done. Each of them took one computer. Arturo and his co-workers worked efficiently and had the computers set up quickly. By doing so, Arturo and his co-workers minimized the impact on our staff. Once the work was completed, one of our staff had a question and they were all extremely courteous and professional in answering her question.

Julie Roberts

Kevin Nguyen

Kevin helped configure and set up a new computer for us and also helped relocate one of our existing computers. Both of these tasks were associated with renovations made to our office space and the moving of office staff. Kevin was very patient and flexible working within our time constraints. He worked around tasks being done by other offices to complete the renovation and moves and he worked around the work schedules of our office staff trying to minimize the disruption to their work days. He was very responsive to all of my requests and was extremely prompt, courteous and respectful.

Julie Roberts

Lisa Carr

I've had the pleasure of working with Lisa on several projects. Is there a project she is not involved in? Is there anything about Mason she doesn't know? This speaks the importance of Lisa and the work she does. I've had to reach out to Lisa more and more frequently for her expertise. Every time she is so quick to respond and always has information or an important perspective to share. If she doesn't have the answer she will do the research and get back to me. Despite working on stressful projects our conversations are always so pleasant and we can even share a few virtual LOL's. It makes the day much easier to get through. Lisa doesn't just have a full plate, in fact I am convinced she may moonlight as a plate juggler because obviously she's perfected that skill at work. She is so dedicated to her work and to Mason. When you care that much it can make the good days great and the hard days miserable. She is a wonderful role model, and a true example of One ITS.

Christina Frasson

Arturo Lopez

Mr. Lopez communicated with me during a computer set up process at the start of the Spring 2020 semester. He was patient and accommodating with my schedule and great to work with!

Kim Paul

Matthew Tran

I am a current student at GMU. I am studying accounting and I am currently taking ACCT 361, which is an accounting analytics class. One of the requirements for this class is to have Microsoft Access. I own a Macbook Pro. Access is not compatible with Apple. Long story short, I had to download all these different operating systems and programs in order for me to have access to access through my mac. Matthew was truly an angel helping me through all of these. I came to see him 3 different times and the 3 times he was absolutely a genius. He knew exactly what to download, he knew which sites to go to and he helped me throughout the whole process. I had no clue what to do and where to go. I was so lucky to find Matthew. He was patience with me and he explained everything I needed to know. I am so thankful for his help. He is such a great IT expert. He definitely deserves recognition. Thanks.

Vanessa Casey

Steven Lindner

Steve joined ITS in April of 2019. He came of the starting blocks running and has only excelled. He has used his knowledge from past jobs, but had to come in and learn SCCM and business practices here. Not only does he do his job, but is asking questions, jumping in to learn any new materials, and volunteering beyond his scope. He runs around campus and not only fixes the immediate issue, but verifies that there are not others that need attention. Having learned all of the systems, he uses all of his resources to work for effectively to fulfill his duties, assist the faculty, and support his team members in their roles. He saves the rest of us from running around, comes up with creative solutions, and overall is just an outstanding team member. Thank you for helping and sometime saving us Steven! So glad your on our team. You are an asset!

Johanna Lizardi

Matt Berlejung and Christina Frasson

I received an urgent request to evaluate Webex Support Center so I went to Christina & Matt and asked if they could give me access so that I could evaluate. They not only gave me access but they also let me know their options, gave me links to support articles, and even reached out to the Cisco reps to get more information and options.
This is why I LOVE working with them, they're always super helpful, informative, and friendly.
Thanks again for your help today and everyday.

Jed Frye

Matt Cloutier, Hamza Tanveer, Stephan Saliba, Camille Brayshaw and Taj Kokayi

The Presidential Search Committee Meeting (02/07/2020) was a success because of the work of the people below:
Matt Cloutier had to find a very well-hidden network cage on a floor of a building I did not know existed (a 4th floor of the HUB).
Hamza Tanveer assisted Matt in moving the jacks to the right network, and he returns emails on his day off!
Then the part that we thought could not break, broke. I called the Star Lab and had wonderful assistance from these employees at the front desk: Stephan, who scrambled a camera and tripod. Camille and Taj both assisted Stephan in creating a great guest experience for me.
Thank you everyone!

Matthew Berlejung

Matthew Richards

Matt has been extraordinary! He has been our only Team Lead for a few months and made it look easy. We couldn't have done it without him and I'm grateful to have him on the ITS Team.

Stephanie Klare

Thomas Wakefield and Hoot Thompson

The VCL had been slow on the go for few days this week until it crawled to a near complete stop. Tom was amazing! He was very responsive, worked outside standard business hours, tested his fix and communicated the whole time. I'll work with Tom anytime!

Also a shout-out to Hoot for being such great support. He started it off with alerting Tom of the issue and hung on until the end. This isn't the first time I've heard Hoot's name shouted with glee from the rooftops and I'm sure it wont be the last.

Stephanie Klare

Luke Basich

I am an employee at the Hylton Performing Arts Center. I was having extreme difficulty syncing up my Duo Mobile App with my GMU account in order to access my Time Sheet. Luke was extremely patient and walked me through the process. We had many "retrys." I am so thankful for his help. He is knowledgeable, professional and very polite. He is an asset to the ITS Dept. at GMU. I am glad that I came in personally for help. Also may I add that Owura was also very kind and helpful over the phone the other day prior to me realizing I had to come in personally for help. I had many techno glitch problems. Thank you very much.

Anne Patsalosavvis

Robbie Hume

Robbie must be considered for a substantial raise based on his patience with me as he had helped to set up my student email account. He was professional, courteous, and very helpful as he navigated me through the muddled process of setting up my account. One just does not experience this kind of customer service nowadays, and I for one, was very appreciative of his overall demeanor.

This young man is a great representative of George Mason University!

Denalda Alexandre