May 2023 A & F Times

Table of Contents

1. May column
2. Look At What We Are Doing!
3. Sustainability at SSU
4. Events and Happenings
5. Anniversaries and Newly Hired
6. Thank you for your contributions

May Column

Neil Markley
AVP Administration & Finance

A Strip Steak and the Seemingly Little Things

One of the benefits of my job is getting to work with food and the people in Culinary Services who make the food so good. Over the years I’ve developed some favorite dishes from our talented team. Ray Blabon’s orange maple ham, Saul Aguilar’s adobo, Kat Zaitseva’s potatoes au gratin to name a few, and anything with bacon. In fact, the orange maple ham created a connection between me and Ray. He would always let me know whenever it was on the menu.

Recently, Ray began making a strip steak served in the Kitchens that would rival any steakhouse. It is so delicious. I was happy to hear that the strip steak was added on the menu for Seawolf Decision Day, I knew it would go over well with our guests. As I roamed the Kitchens on Decision Day, speaking to our prospective students and parents, I asked each and every table if they’d tried the strip steak. If they had not, they’d ask with anticipation, “Where is THAT?” If they had, I’d hear how great it was followed by stories of how our campus is different and better than the other campuses they’d visited. I’m certain we closed the deal with at least two students just based on the lunch we served.

Campus support operations and the work we do, don’t often get the credit for how we contribute to the campus experience. But what we do makes a huge difference and impact on our campus and our students. My experience on Decision Day was so validating of all the work each of us does everyday. Whether it’s making strip steak, planting flowers, patrolling the campus, processing an accounts payable, cleaning a bathroom, whatever you do, you make a difference in making Sonoma State University the special place that it is. Seemingly little things, done well, make a big, big difference

Thank you for all that you do!

Neil

Look At What We Are Doing!

From this... 

Keith Tucker and Kenny Russum have been working hard on restoring a fence that was damaged during the 2023 winter storms, located at Sauvignon Village near the Cooperage building.

The gate's metal hardware was welded by a contracted vendor and our Maintenance team put it back together and have received several positive comments on their work and the aesthetics of this restoration. The Paint shop will be staining this enclosure this summer.  We are proud of our all our FM teams.

To THIS!  Thank you Keith and Kenny!

The FM Movers team consists of David Alves (Lead), Dylan Ratto, Andres Zumudio, Cristian Ascencio and Donald Hubacker.  They have been assisting in Campus/Housing with many items.  They perform tasks such as deliveries to departments for large and small items, event setups throughout Campus and REACH, cleaning common areas/hallways, moving residents' furniture, moving departments' furniture, keeping trash picked up, minor power-washing of patio and buildings and countless other items they are called upon to do. 

Mark Utarid says, "As a former FM mover myself, I remember how hard this daily work can be and understand what they do on a day to day basis.  It takes dedicated and responsible personnel like them to deliver great service. I would like to thank all of them for their hard work and dedication to the University as a whole.  They should be recognized for going above and beyond each week to keep our campus community in motion, clean and safe."

David Hudkins from Landscape, showed great initiative and took on a tree planting job, planting four new guava trees in the bare area west of Stevenson Hall, where a bay tree had been lost during the heavy rains.  This planting aligns with our "1-for-1" tree replacement plan and our initiative to plant fruit-bearing trees.  Tony Machado also assisted him with irrigation in the area.

A big thank you to Greg, LJ, and George from Landscape, who assisted in the takedown of the bay tree, earlier this year.

Did you know Mark Utarid serves as the Men's Lacrosse team club advisor at SSU?  He's pretty darn proud of the work they do on and off the field.  One of their recent wins was against Texas A & M, a school with an enrollment of over 70,000!  We may be small in comparison, but we are mighty! Find out more about the team, their good work and how their season went on their website. #Letsgoseawolveslax!

Welcome Donald!

Donald Hubacker is the newest addition to our Movers team and has done brilliant work through the residential community and reports all issues to his supervisors. He has been recognized by his peers, REACH residents and more for his meticulous duties performed in areas of concern.  We gladly welcome Donald to our FM team and want to recognize his valiant effort helping us create a happy, clean and safe environment here at SSU.

Umbra and Melissa

Mark Utarid would like to thank Melissa Jacobi (lead): 12 years of service, Samantha Phillips: 16 years of service, Adelino Alves: 11 years of service and Umbra Cox: almost a 1 year, and one of our newest, SSU Facilities Management Housekeeping team members. They all primarily work the day/swing shifts in our REACH buildings and some campus areas as well. FM counts on them daily for important cleaning as well as other services, in the following areas and more: Facilities Management Corp Yard offices and shops, FM Boiler Plant, Buildings 29 and 49, FM Corp Yard - Shipping & Receiving, REACH Laundry rooms, REACH offices, REACH Lounges, REACH Community buildings, and our University Police Department. Their first rate service has been noticed by Mark, their managers/directors, peers and many other campus community members. They deserve a huge shout out for all that they offer and do for SSU. We celebrate these wonderful SSU FM employees.

Faces of SSU The Faces of SSU recognizes members of the Sonoma State University community and shares their stories and involvements. For the 12th anniversary of the campaign, twenty-two Faces of SSU were chosen to showcase their experiences at Sonoma State through various written and digital forms of media to be displayed on campus. Originally a student-focused program, Faces of SSU welcomed alumni last year and are proud to announce the inclusion of faculty and staff in this cohort. 

Meet all the Faces of SSU at https://faces.sonoma.edu/

All the individuals selected for this year's Faces of SSU were nominated by members of the campus community and selected by a group including staff, faculty, students, the Alumni Association, Chair of the Faculty, and Human Resources. Faces of SSU is sponsored by Student Involvement and Entrepreneurial Activities Marketing.

Our own Cheryl Santa Cruz from IT was recently recognized as one of the Staff 2023-2024 Faces of SSU at the kick off and reception. Cheryl was anonymously nominated and selected based on her contributions both professionally in IT and with our basketball athletes.  She will be one of the the individuals highlighted during this campaign that began last month and extends through the Fall. 

Meet all the Faces of SSU 2023 and learn more about the program at faces.sonoma.edu.

Laura Lupei and colleagues from
NACUBO

Laura Lupei had an opportunity to present to colleagues at the CSU Business Conference in Anaheim last month.  She was joined by Kelli Rainey, Senior Director, Grants Management and Jim Hundrieser, VP for Consulting Services from NACUBO and they discussed how Sonoma State is collaborating with NACUBO and other institutions to build tools and frameworks to strategically and sustainably fund equitable student outcomes.

Congratulations to the Class of 2023!

Following are the student assistants from the division we have heard are graduating this Spring.  We are so proud of you.  You may have been with us for zoom classes and work, a pandemic,  smoke and wildfires, and yet you have persevered. Well done Class of 2023!  

Entrepreneurial Activities

Marketing

Jaden Reiter, Communication & Media Studies
Alma L. Gonzalez, Art Studio with emphasis on 2D art
Drew McQuaid, Communication & Media Studies
Beaty Pitts, Communication & Media Studies
Alexis Perez, Business Administration with a concentration in Finance
Matille Goldstein, Psychology & Business Administration

Parking

Piper Collins, Business Marketing
Yareli Moran-Artega, Communications
Alannah Ortega, Biology
Maya Silber, Liberal Studies

Student Center

Marissah Perez, Biology, Minor Statistics
Calvin Zeljak, Communications
Addison Luong, Political Science
Isabel Magat, Human Development
Maddison Mercado, English, Minor Liberal Studies
Hana Aghajan, Biology
Lindsay Kawelo, Psychology
Sierra Rodante, Psychology
Anthony Tay May, Applied Math

General Services

Kylie Browning, Psychology
Shailia Banger, Sociology
Mariah Brown, Psychology
Camryn Glasgow, Liberal Studies
Alessandra Jennings, Theatre Arts
Mariesa Rumsey, Communication Studies
Ricardo Sevilla, Biology

Information Technology

Cody Grimes, Computer Science
Katie Longanecker, Anthropology

Sustainable SSU

Devon Bly, Communication & Media Studies

Office of the Vice President

Caen Roberts, Communication & Media Studies
Angela Fortier, English

Sustainability at SSU

One of the projects Facilities Management has been focused on completing is the replacement of fixtures and bulbs throughout campus with LED fixtures and bulbs. LED lighting is so much more energy efficient, cost effective and provide greater lumens, or brightness of light.  Recently campus electricians, Ira McKern, Noah Fell, Dan Kizirian, Josh Gillespie, Jack Ell and Kurt Parks, completed a project at the Beaujolais Village.  Check out their completed work below:

Groundbreaking for Solar Array Project May 10 9-10 a.m.

On the morning of May 10, we will symbolically break ground on the Solar Array installation project.  This project is exciting on many levels - SSU will be using a clean, renewable energy source for at least 1/3 of our daily energy use, there will be monetary savings over the 30 year life of the power purchase agreement, estimated at $6 million, and this will allow us to bring our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) a back up power source in the event of a loss of power.  The Groundbreaking will be in the South East corner of Lot J.

Events & Happenings

Commencement! May 20-21, 2023

The days we've been working towards all year.  When families come to celebrate their students and our students get celebrate all they have accomplished! If you haven't yet volunteered and want to, please see what is still open at the Commencement Volunteer sign-up. 

Scoops of Gratitude May 25, 2023 3-5 p.m. 

Join us for this celebration of all by coming out to Seawolf Plaza to enjoy some frozen treats, lawn games such as corn hole and Jenga, plus an appearance by Lobo! HR would also like to invite you to share any fun photos from this past academic year along with some shout outs. Examples of shout outs include how you may have witnessed your colleagues:

• collaborating in new and unique ways
• going above and beyond expectations
• demonstrating the SSU core values

…or simply to acknowledge the people around you! Please email photos to hr@sonoma.edu or, give a shout out using the Submission Form - deadline to submit is Friday, May 12. Photos and shout outs will be displayed on Lobovision during the event. Thank you and we look forward to seeing you!

The End of the Fiscal Year is approaching

The last day of the Fiscal year is June 30, 2023.  The financial services folks have lots to do between now and then and have established a few cut offs for activities to be included in the 2022-2023 Fiscal year.  Do you know when the last day to submit a Purchase Order request over $100,000 for 2022-23 is?  Well, it already passed on April 28.  Don't miss an important deadline and find out all the Closing Dates for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 and add the Campus Year-End Calendar to your Gmail Calendar.

Anniversaries and Newly Hired

Help us congratulate and celebrate these individuals that were hired or had an anniversary in March 2023.

Thank you for your contributions!

Your contributions are what make this newsletter come alive!  If you have ideas, thoughts, suggestions, contributions, shout outs, photos, etc. to share, please email hodenfie@sonoma.edu.  If you would like to contribute regularly, please contact Alicia at hodenfie@sonoma.edu.