August BaylorPLUS Salutes
Below are Baylor employees and teams who have been nominated, for their "above and beyond" service in the month of August, for the BaylorPLUS Salute! Please use the following forms to nominate an individual faculty or staff member or Baylor team today!
Team BaylorPLUS Recognition
Department: Cataloging and Metadata Services
"The Cataloging and Metadata Services team are among the unsung heroes of the library system. While they are seldom seen by the public and do not have flashy titles, without them, the important work that the libraries do, impacting students, faculty, staff, and researchers, would come to a halt. Over the past year, they have helped tremendously with several projects throughout the library, getting many of them done ahead of schedule. Every member of the this team should be recognized for their accurate, efficient, and tireless work done for Baylor."
Department: Digital Marketing
"Baylor Law School deeply appreciates Daniel and Caroline for their time, resources, and expertise. With the new Emma platform, they have generously shared best practices and assisted in developing communication tools designed to enhance our outreach to both external stakeholders and our current students. Effective communication is key to boosting satisfaction, engagement, and support, and their collaboration will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact."
Department: Athletics Facilities Team & BaylorVision
"I want to recognize the Athletics team that helps put on Commencement at the Ferrell Center. With just two weeks notice, we had to move the Doctoral Commencement ceremony venue to the Ferrell Center, thus moving up their set-up schedule timing for Commencement to a day earlier. This team handled it all with the best attitude and professionalism, willing to do whatever it took to ensure the ceremonies went off without a hitch. This team often puts in many long hours having to juggle their athletics responsibilities and non-athletic events in their venues, and I want them to know that I don't take that for granted."
Department: Foster Facilities and Technology Support Services
"April Matos, Diane Lozano, Mark Gerik, and Josh Ward are willing to "do whatever it takes to get it done" and I am more than thankful. Last week on short notice, they rolled up their sleeves and did the hard work. Their quickness to serve with a kind attitude did not go unnoticed. What a GREAT team!"
Department: BRIC Facilities Management
"Bobby Cryns and Mika Coffey are an exceptional team! Our office recently hosted three major full-day events at the BRIC and the logistics were executed perfectly. They not only planned every detail in advance with our office but also consistently checked in throughout the day to see if there was anything more they could assist with. Their commitment to excellence makes the BRIC a perfect place for an event."
Individual BaylorPLUS Recognition
DJ Dwyer
Department: ITS Client Services
"On more than one occasion, DJ has provided excellent care and advice on various technological questions. Yesterday, though, he spent considerable time helping me to figure out how to access zip files from a flash drive, and load them on to BOX. With his knowledge, he made this endeavor much quicker and more secure. Additionally, DJ showed professionalism and acumen in listening to my confused questions on the interchange of iPad, iPhone, and different types of email, accurately deciphering what was the problem and then patiently explaining the answer or next steps. Baylor is lucky to have him; we are lucky to have him."
Douglas Nesmith
Department: Environmental Science
"Doug Nesmith is the person who never says "No." If there's a challenge, Doug doesn't back down, he finds a way to make it work. Where Doug truly shines is in his commitment to the Baylor Community Garden. When the garden fell into disarray during the pandemic, Doug faced an overwhelming task. Despite his best efforts to maintain the space single-handedly, the scope was too great for just one person. As Covid-19 restrictions eased and campus life returned to normal, Doug spearheaded efforts to revitalize the garden. He rallied student organizations, fellow Baylor employees, and community volunteers, including the Sustainable Community and Regenerative Agriculture Project (SCRAP), to bring the garden back to life. Thanks to Doug's leadership and the collective efforts of his team, the garden was restored to its former glory. For his unwavering dedication, Doug deserves this BaylorPlus Salute!"
Aleithia Stephens
Department: Libraries - Learning Design Team
"Aleithia Stephens did a tremendous job redesigning a Canvas course template for all the first-year writing courses. We have over 100 sections of this course a year, so it reaches a lot of students. The Canvas template for this course had not been updated in years, so this revamp was nearly an entire rebuilding of the course. I was so impressed with Aleithia's design ideas and expertise, her technical knowledge, and her efficiency. She was easy to communicate with and very responsive. She helped us make documents and the whole site accessible. Many of her updates and improvements went above and beyond what I asked for. Her course design will really benefit Baylor students."
John Sowell
Department: ITS - Installations
"John Sowell is an incredible team member of the Installs group within ITS. He exudes wonderful energy and approaches every task with a servant's heart, always putting the needs of others above his own. He truly embodies the spirit of Baylor, and has made a lasting impact on myself as well as those around him. John is a pleasure to be around and a pleasure to work with!"
David Taylor
Department: Libraries & Academic Technology Services
"We were spending many hours every semester working to move courses and grant access to our OPM so they could work inside Canvas. David suggested how we could streamline the process and who to reach out to in order to make the programming work. Once the programming was settled, David made sure the Canvas side of the process was working correctly and was very proactive in anticipating problems and coming up with solutions. He went the extra mile in checking the process and making the necessary tweaks. The change, once implemented, was smooth and fast and all parties were very pleased. David saved many people many hours of work by guiding this project to the very end. He made faculty, staff, and students academic lives better with his efforts."
Paytin Weaver
Department: Business Services
"I have worked with Paytin on several projects now and I must say - she is refreshing to work with and quite simply GREAT at her job. In a world of systems and processes that can appear to be not very transparent at all, Paytin has gone above and beyond to provide the transparency we need. I am thankful for the skill and knowledge she brings to the table and especially thankful for her willingness to help out across campus services. She deserves a salute for her excellence!"
