NBCS Student Staff Recognition Program

Syrion joined the Help Desk staff this fall. He is a sophomore majoring in Political Science. He is very courteous and patient with every caller. With a true zeal for learning, Syrion uses slow times at the Help Desk to brush up on his technical skills by studying the on-line documentation and researching to learn new ways to help callers. He often checks the voice mail without being asked first and he frequently volunteers for special projects. He is willing to go the extra mile, and should he not know the answer, he researches it until he finds a suitable solution. He is always pleasant and we are glad to have Syrion as part of the Help Desk team. {kb}

In her second year as a consultant at the Cook/Douglass labs, Deborah Jackson has truly proven to be an asset to our staff. Never too busy to provide an extra hand for projects around Loree, she is a go-to person that can be relied upon. Helping users to the best of her ability, Deborah consistently goes above and beyond what is required of her to make sure our patrons are taken care of. Her dedication to the job at hand keeps things running smoothly around the lab. So, please join us in congratulating Deborah for being honored as a Consultant of the Month. {ljr}

Jennifer has been working at the Help Desk for a year. A member of the class of 2005, Jennifer leaves the Help Desk and Rutgers with B.A. in philosophy and a criminology certificate. In addition to working at the Help Desk, Jennifer is a Community Service Officer, serving with the University office of Public Safety. Once she leaves the Banks, Jennifer will be pursuing a career in law enforcement because, as she says, "helping people is what I want to do." Jennifer says of her time at the Support Center,"I really wish I would have had applied to work here in my sophomore year because then I would have had more time to get to know my co-workers. I really enjoyed working at the Help Desk this year and I'm privileged to have worked with such nice, smart, and down-to-earth people - that includes Resnet Office [staff]." Congratulations, Jennifer and good luck! {jj,ja}

Mandar began working for the Cook/Douglass labs in September 2007 and immediately stood out for his responsibility, attention to detail, and polite but serious demeanor during shifts. Beneath that quiet exterior, though, Mandar was very talkative, assisting his fellow consultants on the sc-staff chat room with his technical expertise and troubleshooting ability. He also achieved a perfect score on the tech eval, further demonstrating his outstanding consultant skills. He frequently offers to take coverage and assist the supervisors in any way possible, and maintains a good attitude even under pressure. Congratulations, Mandar, and keep up the good work! {lo}

Even though Amjad Jalil is new to CCF, he has exhibited exemplary work. He is always willing to pick up coverage and open shifts. By always greeting users with a smile, he helps ensure the lab is a user-friendly place. It is always great to find these qualities in new employees. Welcome aboard Amjad. {mw}

Hired for the Fall 2001, Amjad Jalil has demonstrated himself to be a great consultant. He is a leader and works as a role model for his co-workers. When dealing with users, he demonstrates a lot of patience and attentiveness to their problems. He educates users about their problems and ensures that they understand how to solve the problems in the future. Amjad has presented innovative ideas to help the lab run more efficiently and make consultants' lives easier. One such idea was a Lost and Found webpage for emailing users when they leave items behind in the lab. The result is a more consistent email to users and less typing for consultants. It has been a huge success! Because of his hard work and dedication to the lab, Amjad was promoted to Supervisor in Training earlier this semester. We appreciate Amjad's commitment and meritorious contributions to the lab. Congratulations Amjad and we look forward to working with you on the management team. {np, lw}

Some of you may remember that a year ago Amjad was good-natured enough to help us play a practical joke on Quraish, who was the obvious Overall Achievement Award winner of that semester. To confuse Quraish, a phony writeup honoring Amjad as little known but most-deserving surprise winner of the award was circulated. It contained such corny accolades as: "Like a young promising minor league baseball prospect, all of Livingston looks forward to Amjad eventually, hopefully soon, moving up to the majors - and getting his chance to become a lab supervisor." Amjad was a supervisor-in-training then, rather new, untested, showing potential, but still lacking much experience. These words written in jest have proven to be quite prescient. In one year's time Amjad has turned from a rookie to a full-fledged veteran star.

Amjad is a key member of the supervisor team at Livingston who has made important contributions. Besides participating in innumerable shared responsibilities - making sure labs are staffed, ensuring users are properly assisted and properly maintaining equipment - Amjad focused on two key activities this semester, both major undertakings. He meticulously tracked evaluations of current consultants and he carefully coordinated Livingston's involvement in our massive hiring period. Both these tasks required him to have superb attention to detail, and tireless energy.

It is in the area of hiring that Amjad made his major cross-campus contributions. In particular, hiring has become such a huge task now, that proper tools are needed so that supervisors do not become overwhelmed handling this task. With this in mind, a major software system was developed to automate much of the hiring process. Amjad is a key developer of several of the components of this system. One part - HATS - was developed by and is still maintained by Quraish, who has graduated and moved on to the real world. Amjad, was charged with learning as much as this system as he could, and asked to contribute to the maintenance and upkeep of various aspects of it whenever possible. This was no small feat, as it is often difficult to master code that has been written by someone else. The pressure to do so quickly, and properly is immense - especially when dozens of people are counting on you to make sure the software they are relying on, is working properly with the expected functionality. Balancing the immediate demands of the users against your limited knowledge of the system and the warnings of the primary programmer who is telling you not to mess with things you don't understand, can become a circus and it did. It is a delicate and stressful position to be in. Amjad handled the situation as well as could be expected, contributed to the development and maintenance of HATS and in the end gained a better understanding of how the system worked.

Meanwhile, he was assigned to quickly develop a new piece of software to be used during this hiring period. Some time in late January, Jt requested that he look into whether a piece of software to handle interview scheduling could be quickly put together in such a way that it would be able to communicate with HATS. With very little programming experience in this area, Amjad set to work on this task. Within a few weeks he developed a prototype that made it clear the project could be expanded. Amjad worked hard on making the subsystem a reality. After a number of last minute "tweaks" were demanding by Jt, the system - IntSched - went live in early March and was used by all the campuses throughout the hiring period. It quickly became essential software that Amjad continue to improve as new features became necessary. IntSched proved to be very reliable and had most of the desired functionality. It saved a significant amount of work for supervisors on all the campuses. The fact that Amjad was able to develop this so quickly although he was given so little guidance and had to cope with immense time pressure and constant demands from management, was a tremendous accomplishment. For many weeks Amjad diligently worked excessive hours on this project, while simultaneously handling all his other responsibilities. This makes him most worthy of this semester's overall achievement award.

Amjad has been working for CCF for two years now. Last year, Amjad was named a Livingston Consultant of the Semester and he has continued on that path of excellence to become our Supervisor of the Semester this semester. Amjad has become familiar to many of the CCF staff for his work on HATS and the interview scheduler. The time and effort that he put into hiring has been invaluable to both Livingston and the other sites that participated in our join hiring. While Amjad did spend numerous hours on HATS and continually improving the interview scheduler, he has also made many significant contributions to the Livingston Computing Center. Amjad has by far been the most thorough supervisor Livingston has had to track consultant evaluations. Amjad made near daily updates to ensure that all staff are receiving more then the required number of observations. Amjad also spent many nights in the lab far past midnight to ensure that hiring, evaluations and other coding projects were completed on time. It is because of this level of dedication to the job that we present him with the Livingston Supervisor of the Semester Award. Please join us in congratulating him. {cb,lw}

There are a lot of things that you can say to describe Philip: bright, inquisitive and tall are just a few. He's also one of the most friendly people you will ever meet. He always has a smile on his face and an infectious, positive, cheery attitude. Philip isn't afraid to question a policy or make a suggestion that might improve the lab environment for either fellow consultants or patrons. He also does a great job of enforcing the existing lab policies in a polite and courteous manner. Philip can handle any of the challenges that a consultant might go through while on duty. As a result, the management team knows that the lab is in good hands when he is on duty. All of these qualities and more are why we have chosen Philip as a Busch Consultant of the Month. {kp, mb}

Phil is one of the most energetic and enthusiastic consultants at Busch. He not only makes consulting a job, but also an experience, and it's one that he's making the most of. He enjoys his job so much that he can't help but infect others with his light and friendly personality. Whether he's monitoring the patrons coming into the lab or sitting at the consultant station, Phil's available to the patrons with questions. He is always alert and ready to help. He will laugh and joke with consultants, but he makes sure that patrons are his priority. The people that he helps are left with the feeling that the task they were trying to do was accomplished and that they had the best service CCF could offer. He's thorough when troubleshooting down machines, and isn't afraid to approach management asking for an update if he notices a machine down for a long time. Phil loves his job and it shows. When asked to speak at this year's New Employee Orientation, he readily agreed. Phil conveyed a wonderful story about the importance of his job and he portrayed the true spirit of CCF-- the value of helping a patron. These and many more are the reasons why we chose Phil as the Busch Consultant of the Semester for Spring 2006. {mnb,wll}

Christian has been working for ResNet since Fall semester, 2005, and has been doing an outstanding job ever since. He has been able to solve every problem he has come across, and the feedback users give about the service he provides could not be better. Christian began working in the ResNet office this semester, and has quickly become one of the people we all count on. His pleasant personality, witty humor, and vast technical experience make him a great asset to our organization. {jd}

Patricia has done an excellent job performing her duties this month. In addition to carrying out her duties well, she makes the computing lab a pleasant environment with her upbeat demeanor and willingness to help staff and patrons alike. She regularly leaves the consultant station to help patrons. She patiently explains the steps she takes in resolving their issues, thus helping to provide excellent customer service. We are very happy to name Patricia as a Consultant of the Month for the College Avenue Computing Center.{mk, lw}

Siddharth has been an excellent consultant since he first began working for CAC. His friendly attitude and dedication to the job are a model for all consultants to follow. His calm and helpful demeanor when dealing with the users is very reassuring to all. He is constantly on the move doing his rounds, helping out users, and volunteering his time for the supervisors to make the lab run smoothly. Siddarth is always helping and is always the first to volunteer his time when he can if the lab is in need of help, be it assisting consultants with problems or filling in when the lab is understaffed. Great job, Sidd!!! {mk,dk,lw}

Tim is a hard worker who always writes thorough tickets and always comes to work on time. He is courteous with users, and has a lot of technical knowledge to bolster this natural customer service ability. He doesn't hesitate to approach supervisors for help with a problem, but when he does, he follows up on the problem rather than "dumping" it on the supervisor. Tim's also very fun to work a shift with. He's got a great, dry sense of humor and makes working at the Help Desk that much more pleasant an experience. Finally, Tim was out at the beginning of the semester with a medical issue, but when he returned to the Help Desk, he picked up everything he'd missed out on, including changes in the support of various issues, without missing a beat. {kb}

Becky is a consistently good consultant. She is always helpful and pleasant to users and co-workers and is willing to take the initiative to make the labs better. When she doesn't know the answer to a question, she is sure to find out the answer for herself, setting a good example for her co-workers. {ss}

In addition to Becky's enthusiasm and helpfulness with users, she finds other ways to help the lab run well. She is always looking for ways to improve the lab, from ensuring that the lab is in order to recreating the white board for the season. Becky was instrumental in gathering surveys during the recent survey period and she is a member of the recently-formed animation team. {ss}

Please join us in congratulating Steven Jordan as our Consultant of the Month for the month of October. Steve has been a vital member to our team this year, bringing with him knowledge of past year's consulting and acting as a mentor to those new consultants who have just joined the staff. Steven is always very proactive, searching out problems around the lab and helping the patron who may be hesitant to come up for help. Steven also has a knack for fixing jammed printers and volunteering for the most daunting of projects (the most recent of which was cleaning our lab chairs which were long overdue for a steaming). Steven's pleasant and gung-ho demeanor has helped earn him this well deserved recognition. Congratulations Steven! {md}

Nathanael (Nate) Joseph joined NBCS as a Help Desk Consultant last fall. He has distinguished himself by his calm demeanor over the telephone, which gives callers confidence and helps him gather information. Nate writes detailed tickets, thoroughly documenting what steps he took to solve the caller's problem. He uses good judgement and refers to the supervisors as necessary, in order to make sure our callers get the best help possible while they are on the phone. Nate is a Biomedical Engineering major. When he was little, he was interested in becoming a doctor or doing something related to the medical field. As he grew up, he also developed an interest in mathematics and the sciences. Here at Rutgers, he felt that Biomedical Engineering best brings these two interests together. He hopes to develop new ways to improve medical methods for the benefit of society as a whole. {cj}

Nate began his NBCS path in the Help Desk where his responsible and placid personality was quickly recognized as the qualities of an Operations Consultant. By the Fall of 2008, he was recruited for Operations and soon began his experience with overnights, power outages and the fun devices that sometimes appear on Nagios. Nate also worked extra hours at the Help Desk, proving that his compassion for users and their sometimes malfunctioning computers was unending! In the working environment, Nate is kind and accommodating to his co-workers, he even helps them with their French (did we mention he speaks it fluently?). When on shift, he performs all duties as required and if there is ever a problem, Nate makes sure that he addresses it. Within the academic world, he is steadily pursuing medical advances under the title of Biomedical Engineer. It is these qualities and more that make Nate our pick for Operations Consultant of the Month! {fd}

Aditya has only started working in the Livingston Computing Center this month, but he has already proven himself as an exceptional staff member. His attitude and ambitious approach to the job have been noted by his coworkers and managers alike. He is constantly looking for ways to help out in the lab and tackling patron questions before they even come up to the desk. Aditya has been a great help to management assisting in special projects around the lab. In addition, Aditya has taken an incredible number of shift coverages, helping out his fellow consultants in need. Please join us in congratulating Aditya on his exceptional performance. {cb}

Aditya has become an essential member of our staff. In his first semester here with CCF, he has shown the attributes most desired in consultants. Those being: a dedication to the job, a willingness to learn and teach and the ability to answers users questions in an intelligent and satisfying manner. He was nominated for Consultant of the Month on the very first month of this semester, for his outstanding dedication to lab. He has exhibited a sincere desire to help out the lab whenever possible. He is quick to volunteer for any tasks that may arise. Aditya works closely with management to provide feedback for improvement of lab operations. His boundless enthusiasm and ever felt presence at the Livingston Computing Center are most welcome. For these and many more reasons, we have chosen, Aditya, as our Consultant of the Semester. Congratulations Aditya!!! Keep up the great work! {jg,lw}

Aditya has been working for the Livingston Computing Center for 2 years now, the last semester as an Asst. Lab Supervisor. Throughout his tenure on Livingston, Aditya has shown a true dedication to the lab, it's patrons and his coworkers. Aditya routinely volunteers for any task that may present itself. He's also been one of the best scheduling supervisors the lab has had, ensuring our facilities were almost never short staffed. His willingness to go above and beyond what his job requires has earned him this recognition. Unfortunately for us all, Aditya has been offered a full time position outside of the University starting in the fall. His devotion to the lab and his gung ho style will truly be missed. Please join us on congratulating him on this award and wishing him the best of luck in his future endeavors. {cmb}

Mike has become an outstanding consultant over the semester. His technical knowledge has progressed greatly and his dedicated work ethic has remained consistent. He's willing to help out fellow consultants as well as supervisors whenever needed and continues to have a perfect Performance Rating. For only working here a few months, Mike seems to know the job inside and out as if he had worked here for years. His assistance in the lab is greatly appreciated. We look forward to working with him in the future. Congratulations on being named a Livingston Consultant of the Month for November. {ws,lw}

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Last Updated: September 27, 2007