Rashid Hashem

Rashid joined Mason in April 2005 as a wage, working as a Wireless LAN Specialist. Within a couple of years, he was promoted to a full-time position as a Network Engineer. In this role, Rashid is responsible for functional network architecture, with a focus on maintaining network stability, security, and performance. He designs, deploys, and maintains telecommunications systems, configurations, and networks to support university business operations with a heavy focus on Wi-Fi networking, network security configuration, and virtual networks.

Colleagues have said, “Rashid is an incredible team player and has no problems slowing down to help others understand. He's incredibly honest and humble.” “Rashid clearly enjoys the 'people' aspect of his position. He works very well with clients as well as all staff members, and treats everyone with respect regardless of the person's background.” “Rashid never backs down from a complex network situation with Wi-Fi or anything else dealing with the Mason Network. He is a pleasure to work with and has been a great asset to the ITS team and Mason community.

Congratulations to Rashid for being the December 2021 ITS Employee of the Month!

Mohamad “Mo” Falah

Mo joined Mason in December of 2014 as a part-time IT Specialist/Web Designer. Within a couple of years, Mo was hired into a full-time position serving in a variety of roles over the last five years, most currently as the Senior Salesforce Net Developer/Analyst.

Mo is responsible for a multitude of things, some of which include: performing analysis, design, development, testing, documentation and implementation of CRM software (Native Salesforce and Connected apps) and other related application systems within Salesforce and related platforms. Additionally, he assists with governance and project management activities by collaborating with stakeholders and team members, across functional and technical areas, to meet project requirements and related tasks and ensure compliance with accessibility related standards.

Colleagues have said, “Mo was a go-to resource for creating, enhancing, and evolving the Mason COVID Health Check. Without his knowledge and expertise we would not have this very valuable tool as a resource for the Mason community.” “Mohamad demonstrates a genuine interest in understanding the problem/issue; he asks questions around the goals and objectives in tackling the problem/issue.” “Mo conducts himself with the utmost integrity and has been an innovative team player, sharing his technical strength with other team members. He treats other team members with respect and communicates in a professional and courteous manner.”

Congratulations to Mohamad “Mo” for being the November 2021 ITS Employee of the Month!

Ryan LeBreton

Ryan LeBreton is October’s ITS Employee of the Month!

Ryan joined Mason in August of 2019 in his current position where he develops and maintains features and functionality within the Drupal and WordPress web Content Management Systems. Ryan serves as a subject matter expert for university websites and technologies and regularly consults with campus website owners to provide solutions for their business requirements. He also works with system engineers and other technical teams to ensure servers, projects and processes best serve web clients and support the needs of the university’s web presence.

Colleagues have said, “Ryan is a wonderful team player and dedicated to delivering on his work commitments and customer needs.” “Ryan excels at sussing out what people are really asking for and helping them realize their vision through his work.” “Ryan helped make what could have been a disaster into a professional showcase year.” “He is skilled at problem-solving and thoroughly considers any future implications or issues of potential solutions. Ryan is truly an asset to ITS and to Mason as a whole.”

Congratulations to Ryan for being the October 2021 ITS Employee of the Month!

Ying Dang

Ying joined Mason in August of 2014 in her current role, where she is responsible for the end-to-end implementation and maintenance of small and large applications using Web and J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) technologies. She defines and maintains the architectural frameworks/patterns, processes, standards, and guidelines for system development specifically around application architecture, integration architecture and IT Controls. She also serves as a mentor and plans team skill enablement. Furthermore, Ying has taken on additional leadership responsibilities in the absence of a manager for Web Applications and Services.

Colleagues have said, “Ying is an awesome collaborator and leader.” “When Ying is assigned to a project, she's quick to bring herself up to speed, understand the important issues, and able to communicate with other groups when needed and come up with solutions.” “Ying is a great subject matter expert but also a great project manager, communicator, and team player.” “With every project, Ying always exceeds expectations!”

Congratulations to Ying for being the September 2021 ITS Employee of the Month!

Arturo Lopez

Arturo joined Mason in May of 2020 as Technical Specialist within Fairfax Desktop Support, providing support for over 20,000 desktop and laptop computers, various peripherals, and all Mason supported (operating and application-based) software across Mason’s local campuses.

Colleagues have said, “I view ITS as a very important partner in the work I perform; and having staff like Arturo facing the ‘public’ is a sure way to create goodwill toward ITS.” “He pitches in and helps in moves and mass system configurations, always doing his share and more in order to get the tasks completed correctly and efficiently.” “Arturo exemplifies the excellent customer service his unit demands, and he is a great role model to other field techs.” “The fact that he took the time to explain and show me how to do things made him a star in my book. That is the description of a top rate technician.”

Congratulations to Arturo for being the August 2021 ITS Employee of the Month!

David Robertson

DRob joined Mason in January of 2005 as the Manager of Network Engineering. In September of 2012 he moved into the role of Service Delivery Manager, where he worked for three years before transitioning to his current role, Business Process Analyst. Additionally, as of June 10, following the Director of IT Process & Planning’s retirement, DRob assumed the role of Interim Manager of IT Service Management.

In addition to his interim management functions, DRob is responsible for documenting IT service processes across the ITS organization, analyzing their effectiveness, and working with the process managers to institute improvements. He also leads the daily Change Review Board/Change Management meetings, and develops and reports on organizational process performance metrics and measurements. He also assists in managing the organization’s IT Service Management Tool (ITSM), TeamDynamix, and acts as one of the Change Managers.

Colleagues have said, “DRob is what many consider a ‘quiet genius.’ His contributions are so valuable to so many, his experience and cross-departmental knowledge so great, his willingness to mentor and teach others so strong, but, to his preference, tries to stay out of the limelight.” “DRob's work makes all of ITS better. His work on the daily ops meeting is second to none. He knows how to run a tight meeting and keep everyone on point.” “He is a vital resource for ITS, with a wealth of experience and understanding of the university and provides a lot of value to the university.”

Congratulations to DRob for being the July 2021 ITS Employee of the Month!

Christina Crockett

Christina joined Mason in May of 2007 as a Store Assistant in the then, ITU Computer Store. While working for the store, whose name changed numerous times, Christina wore many hats and eventually moved into the role of IT Purchasing/Retail Support Specialist. Later, in 2018, Christina was promoted to Technical Writer and her responsibilities were transitioned from the computer store to the newly formed ITS Communications & Marketing team, under Enterprise Service Delivery.

As Technical Writer, Christina is responsible for creating technical documentation that provides instruction and/or explanation to the Mason community, as well as internally to ITS, regarding IT services. Christina works with ITS staff to understand the various IT services and transfer this knowledge into a digestible format for widespread consumption. She also manages knowledge content by regularly reviewing the inventory for new information and making updates, and retiring obsolete services and/or attributes as needed.

Colleagues have said, “Christina works hard to understand and document the impact of maintenance activities on ITS services, as part of her duties include summarizing the impact for the Mason community.” “She courageously speaks up when it might be easier to stay silent.” “She is always willing to help out with a task when asked and contributes in a positive spirit.”

Congratulations to Christina for being the June 2021 ITS Employee of the Month!

Carrie Stewart

Carrie joined Mason in June of 2017 as a wage worker within Mason’s central Human Resources and Payroll department, and within just a few months was promoted to full-time Customer Service Assistant. That next year, in 2018, Carrie applied for and landed the role of Administrative Lead within Information Technology Services, where she hit the ground running and immediately began to contribute to the success of the organization. As most of you know, Carrie recently transitioned again – this time to fill the role of ITS HR Liaison. Her work as administrative lead enabled Carrie to work with each of the cross-functional ITS teams, which made her transition to ITS HR Liaison merely seamless. In her capacity as ITS HR Liaison, Carrie provides human resource support to ITS through a variety of complex, ongoing activities, special projects, services, and outreach initiatives. She also provides coordination and support to the Deputy CIO/AVP for Enterprise Service Delivery, as well as to the Vice President and CIO, for all human resource activities within ITS.

Colleagues have said, “Carrie has always been extremely helpful as a general resource of ITS knowledge, but this has been heightened even further since she stepped into the ITS HR Liaison role. Her transition into this role was so seamless that there was absolutely no disruption to the organization's HR needs.” “Her refreshing nature coupled with her knowledge of ITS policies and procedures has earned her the respect of everyone.” “Carrie is a true collaborator and works between ITS and HR to ensure all HR actions and requests are handled smoothly and with the greatest attention to detail.” “ITS is lucky to have her.”

Congratulations to Carrie for being the May 2021 ITS Employee of the Month!Carrie Stewart

Nian Ma

Nian joined Mason in April of 2017 in his current position as Senior Applications Analyst. In this role, Nian provides primary technical support to ensure the reliability, integrity, accessibility, and usability of Mason’s Ellucian Banner Administrative Applications that support the mission-critical business functions of the university. He supports users in diagnosing and resolving production problems with software and provides custom application and integration support using advanced programming techniques and tools. Nian also acts as a lead technical solutions architect for his team (Banner Support, Data Governance, and Program Management), and mentors other staff on advanced techniques.

Colleagues have said, “Nian is definitely a shining star in ITS!” “He goes above and beyond to figure out the best approaches and makes sure to communicate them with our clients.” “He is diplomatic in his response and has a way of making everyone involved feel like a team player. Nian is a professional and a great team member, which lends to the success of everyone with whom he works.”

Congratulations to Nian for being the April 2021 ITS Employee of the Month!

Ben Patton

Ben started at Mason in 2005 as a wage with Arlington Classroom Support, and in 2007 was promoted to a full-time position as A/V Technician with Fairfax Classroom Support. Within a couple of years, Ben transitioned roles to Classroom Support Technician which is also his current position. Ben provides technical support to faculty and students within learning and teaching facilities supported by Classroom and Lab Support. This includes responding to requests for technical assistance, providing ad-hoc training, and performing maintenance, installation, replacement, and general support for integrated and user-provided instructional technology in learning spaces and other supported campus facilities. Ben is also responsible for numerous operational tasks such as managing equipment inventory consisting of 1,700 disparate pieces, as well as at times, supervising wage employees.

Colleagues have said, “Ben is a conscientious supervisor/trainer to our student wage staff – he is extraordinarily patient, detail-oriented, and well-spoken, which makes for a great mentor to our part-timers.” “Ben is a great steward of the monies that we spend on equipment and he does everything and more to ensure that all items are discovered and scanned during inventory.” “If you have ever had a single conversation with Ben Patton, you will have at least three memorable stories. He is an incredibly personable individual who enjoys sharing his experiences in a humorous but educational way.” “Ben Patton is our curator of antique maps, our trainer of bears, and our laureate trivia keeper in matters of the Silver Screen.”

Congratulations to Ben for being the March 2021 ITS Employee of the Month!

Anna Stackhouse

Upon graduating from JMU (not to be confused with GMU) in 2018, Anna did marketing and social media for a winery for about a year before applying for and landing the role of ITS Communications and Marketing Coordinator at Mason, which she quickly excelled at. Anna is responsible for providing advanced-level responsibilities including conceptualizing, developing, and implementing strategic and integrated communications about ITS and its services to internal and external stakeholders. She supports project teams in the strategic planning process and manages the coordination of marketing activities, as well as designs and distributes messaging and information using creative approaches involving multiple platforms.

Colleagues have said, “Anna brings a great energy and fresh perspective all while meeting the One ITS gold standard.” “She has worked to keep ITS connected during COVID by creating the Stay Connected Teams site and launching the Stay Connected publication.” “Anna's worked with the team to provide an increased social media presence for ITS and along with her ITS Communications counterparts continues to build out more and better content for our ITS Website as it matures.” “Anna never shies away from a challenge and is a solutions-driven go-getter.”

Congratulations to Anna for being the February 2021 ITS Employee of the Month!

Kathy Adcock

Kathy started at Mason as a student in 1972, and upon graduating was hired into her first full-time role as a Keypunch Operator in the Automated Data Processing Department and within five years, moved into a programming role in IT. In her almost 44 years at Mason, Kathy has held numerous positions and has been witness to the multitude of changes that have occurred across the university. In her current role as Manager, Kathy oversees staff who provide primary technical support to ensure the reliability, integrity, accessibility, and usability of Mason’s Ellucian Banner Administrative Applications that support the mission-critical business functions of the university. Kathy facilitates project planning, scheduling, dependency identification, and resource allocation across multiple projects in conjunction with multiple stakeholders and sponsors. She also works with other Mason leaders to coordinate the activities of committees and workgroups charged with the responsibility for providing effective data governance, and provides the critical insight, institutional knowledge, and understanding of Banner and related systems necessary to steering the tasking of workgroups developing data classification, categorization, and policies for adherence to standards.

Colleagues have said, “Kathy has provided many years of support to Mason and has great knowledge of the university systems and how things work at Mason, which enables her to be successful in getting the work done in support of university goals.” “Kathy treats all team members with respect, no matter our age, technical skill or background. She cares for everyone on the team and is always there when we need help.” “With strong interpersonal skills, Kathy is able to coordinate activities with various offices and provides strong user support to all parties involved. She consistently performs her job at the highest level and can be counted on to always meet customer expectations.”

Congratulations to Kathy for being the January 2021 ITS Employee of the Month!