Administration Service Excellence Award

First-rate customer service for all our campus clients is a top priority. In each issue of News & Views, we honor UCLA Administration employees who go above and beyond our expectations in demonstrating exemplary customer service. Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael Becks selects award recipients from staff who are nominated for the Administration True Bruin Values Award. 

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Spring 2020

We received some outstanding nominees for the True Bruin Values and Service Excellence awards this quarter. However, I found it hard to recognize just a few members of the Administration team when I know that everyone is working so hard to fulfill our True Bruin Values and commitment to service excellence during this unprecedented time. I therefore want to recognize all the members of the Administration team as the Spring True Bruin Values and Service Excellence Awards recipients. The Administration team has demonstrated an incredible commitment and dedication during this time. I see so many of our team members fulfilling essential functions on campus and I hear of many more fulfilling essential functions remotely.

It is remarkable what the Administration team has accomplished during this extraordinarily challenging time. Some examples of the extraordinary achievement include transitioning over 45,000 students and instructors to remote learning, including providing remote instruction to the more than 1,000 PreK-12 students; supporting the thousands of students who needed to transition out from campus housing or those that still remain; processing over 19,500 parking rebates; finding new commute solutions for those working on campus; providing health and safety services to those still working or living on campus; supporting the health system—their employees, patients, visitors and their facility needs; coordinating the campus response through the Emergency Operations Center; acquiring, configuring, and distributing over 1,000 laptops, iPads, WiFi hotspots and other technology to students and faculty in need or providing other technical support; contributing to the many COVID-19 campus task forces and working groups; responding to the many needs of the campus employees; working with our campus colleagues and third party partners to reschedule or cancel their events or other activities planned on campus; moving critical projects along, constantly clean and sanitizing surfaces to prevent the spread of the virus; and running numerous reports and financial analysis to develop fiscal recovery plans. And all of this while managing through their own person challenges working from home or working on campus under trying circumstances. There are so many other examples of the extraordinary efforts the Administration team are undertaking that make it appropriate to recognize the entire Administration team for demonstrating their True Bruin Values and incredible dedication to service excellence.

Thank you for your incredible contributions to the campus during this time. You make me so proud of our Administration team.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Beck
Administrative Vice Chancellor

 

Fall 2019

Marco Molina

Principal Supervisor Custodial Services
Facilities Management Custodial & Grounds

Marco took the necessary steps to ensure the safety of one of his staff members. On Tuesday September 3rd Mr. Molina was performing his rounds in the Center for Health Sciences when a Senior Custodian that reports to him contacted him requesting to meet. Mr. Molina sensed something was wrong and rushed to meet the employee. He found the Senior Custodian unconscious and immediately contacted Emergency Medical Services and began performing CPR. The employee regained consciousness and was then treated by Emergency Medical Services when they arrived before being taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. it is unlikely the employee would have survived without Marco's quick thinking and actions.

Marco has served Campus Custodial Services for more than fourteen years.  Marco is integral to our estimating and recharging services in Custodial Services which resulted in over 54,000 hours of labor and over $7,250,000 in revenue to Custodial & Grounds fiscal year 2018-19 budget. His knowledge of Custodial Operations on UCLA's Campus helps him to make the right decision for the client and the department. He has an excellent memory and helps prevent previous service shortfalls from being repeated. Marco has his hands on almost every aspect of Custodial Services. His dependability is recognized by everyone in Facilities Management. Marco communicates necessary information to all parties in advance. He has excellent working relationships with internal and external Clients throughout campus. Marco is extremely organized in his administrative responsibilities and is a passionate and dedicated trainer for the team he leads. He is a True Bruin and someone you'd feel lucky to work with.

 

Junji Toshima
Assistant Director
Housing & Hospitality

On October 17th, Junji Toshima, Assistant Director Housing Safety & Emergency Preparedness & Campus Video was notified that a medical emergency was taking place in Covel Dining Commons. Initially the emergency was reported as a choking/non-responsive/non-breathing victim.  Junji instinctively grabbed an emergency medical kit and an AED device from his office area and hurried to the dining commons where he found the victim, one of our Housing team members, lying on the ground with a student administering CPR.  Junji recognized that the team member was in full cardiac arrest with no pulse.

Junji immediately prepared the AED device and without hesitation provided instructions to the assisting student, and initiated the mechanical AED shocks between continued CPR efforts.  Junji’s efforts kept the team member alive until LAFD paramedics arrived on the scene ten minutes later. 

These ten minutes of assistance, quick thinking, and thoughtfulness from Junji provided our team member the opportunity to not only make it through the cardiac event but to have a chance at recovery.  Junji is recognized as one who always prepares diligently for emergencies and can always be counted on to respond efficiently to any situation. His positive “can do” attitude and thoughtful preparations and communications are highly valued by the entire Housing & Hospitality operation, who applaud his nomination for this honor.”

 

Summer 2019

 

Carol Nguyen
Events Manager
Events Office
Events and Transportation

Recently Carol accomplished an important work process improvement for UCLA Commencement all at her own initiative. One of the most complicated tasks that the Events Office must do is creating over 50 different detailed commencement ceremony invoices, which includes the sharing of different vendors' services and the calculations for different proportions of shared costs and rebates depending on ceremony size and venue location. This year Carol took it upon herself to research and experiment with new formats and designs, eventually arriving at an effective and efficient solution which will save the Events Office dozens of hours of manual processing time each commencement season moving forward. This is not new to her performance. On several other occasions without anyone asking her to, Carol has created new forms or templates to help her and the other managers work more effectively and efficiently.

From her first few days on the job Carol has exhibited nothing but top notch performance and outstanding results in all she has been assigned to do. She completes huge projects either by deadline or before, never fails to cover every detail of hundred thousand dollar and above events, and communicates effectively with her vendors, peers, and supervisors. Clients who work with Carol regularly ask specifically to work with her again and again because of her friendly nature and willingness to help in any way she can. Carol does not hesitate to step in and try to help her fellow managers however she can if they need shifts covered or extra help getting ready for events. 

 

May 2019

Rooms Division Team
Housing and Hospitality Services

During the recent Measles outbreak, the Rooms Division Team, including Richard Bardales, Hector Delgado, Erika Fujitani, Devin Ko, Jared Meyer, Junji Toshima, and Barbara Wilson, truly went above and beyond to ensure that our students were comfortable and well taken care of, while observing the privacy and rights of the students. H&HS received a request to provide quarantine accommodations for up to 120 students,  and within 3 hours of the initial request, the team was able to identify the ideal quarantine location, set up several comfortable rooms with mattresses, clean linens, furniture that helped create study and living room spaces, arrange for clean portable showers within proximity to the quarantine location, and set up an organized check-in process to help alleviate student concern and anxiety during an emergency situation. As the students arrived, the team worked with campus partners to check students in, track attendance and status, and facilitated testing. Further, throughout the 2-day quarantine period, these individuals put themselves at risk to ensure that the environment our students were  staying in remained clean and well-maintained, that the students were comfortable and well-fed (provided updated numbers to our Dining team for food drops), worked double shifts to stay in contact  contact with campus partners and any concerned parties calling in. After the quarantined period was over, the team broke down and thoroughly cleaned the space, returning it to its original state.  

 

March 2019

 

Alyssa Leiva
Controlled Substance Program 
Environment, Health and Safety

Unexpectedly in 2018, it became necessary to implement a new system for campus entities to procure and manage controlled substances across select operations. UC stakeholders (Jeff Goodwin of DLAM, Bryan Ruiz of EH&S, Jennifer Perkins of ORA, Hoyt Sze of UCOP Office of General Counsel, and counterparts at UCI and UCSD to name a few) collaborated to identify both an interim plan to address immediate research needs specifically, and a permanent solution for campus licensing more broadly. The crisis called for a designated staff member who could rebuild a controlled substances program that would become the standard across the UC campuses. Alyssa took on this challenging and critical role, and has worked diligently with the necessary stakeholders over the past year to convey operational changes and projected impacts to the campus community. She liaised between the UC and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to identify pragmatic solutions that both align with DEA requirements and are feasible for affected personnel, and was able to solidify terms for departmental registrations and authorizations during this period. Her efforts allowed for a successful transition with minimal disruption to research. For these reasons and beyond, Alyssa is highly regarded by the UCLA community and external system-wide partners one and the same.   

 

January 2019

 

Dylan Matteson
Associate Director
Lake Arrowhead Conference Center

On New Year’s Eve, a much-beloved, elderly woman staying with her family at Bruin Woods went into cardiac arrest. While staff jumped in to help care for the younger children, Dylan rushed to the cabin to help render aid as the family waited for the paramedics to arrive. He immediately utilized the AED and performed CPR until paramedics transported her to the hospital. He then went to the Emergency Room, offering companionship, comfort and transportation back to the cabin following the announcement by the doctor that the woman did not survive. Dylan’s loving kindness helped the family cope with a very emotional emergency. A grieving son reflects, “The loss of a parent is an immeasurable pain. The beacon of hope that Dylan and the entire staff at Bruin Woods exuded is one I will be eternally grateful for. I always knew Dylan to be a great respectful leader from the few encounters I had had previously at group activities. But now I know this man to be something much, much greater than that.” 

Although this incident did not end the way everyone had hoped, Dylan's heroic response sets an example for all of us within Administration in what it means when we talk about establishing a culture of caring.

 

November 2018

 

Kevin Yipp
Community Service Officer
UCLA Police Department

Right place. Right time.

On October 9, 2018, off-duty CSO Supervisor Kevin Yip was driving by Gayley and Strathmore when he noticed fire in a trash can near a bus stop. Kevin knew just what to do and didn't hesitate to respond. He stopped and used the fire extinguisher he keeps in his car to begin extinguishing the flames. Meanwhile, a witness had alerted the UCLA Police Department and officers were dispatched to apprehend the suspect who was later arrested for arson. Thanks to Kevin's quick and decisive action, the fire was extinguished quickly, preventing more severe damage to UCLA property and potential harm to passersby. 

 

 

 

September 2018

Nurit Katz
Chief Sustainability Officer
Facilities Management

It isn't too often that we get to recognize staff for true heroics. After a long day at the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) annual meeting, Nurit Katz and Allison Baird-James stepped in to help a stranger in distress. Their compassion, empathy and willingness to help demonstrate the very best of the values we hope are reflected in all that we do each day.  Rather than tell the tale of the selfless intervention that saved a precious life, the heartfelt thanks from the woman Nurit and Allison helped that night says it best.

 

Allison Baird-James
Associate Vice Chancellor
Corporate Financial Services

Thank you to Nurit and Allison, two angels who remind us almost daily of the importance and impact of compassionate service.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 2018

Maria Iraheta
BruinBus Transit Operator
Events & Transportation

Maria has provided exceptional service at UCLA since 2011. Maria consistently goes beyond her assigned duties and can be counted on to volunteer for additional responsibilities without hesitation. When Transit Operations faces immediate service issues or requires an extra bus driver, Maria jumps into action. Whether at the newly-opened Geffen Academy, Residence Hall move-in, or other special events that impact operations, Maria is there. Her reliable support allows for smooth, uninterrupted transit service when we need it most.

Maria consistently offers useful suggestions and alternative approaches that allow Transit to craft improved service plans, training programs and customer service policies that benefit her co-workers and the campus at large. Maria is a positive contributor to Transit Operations’ culture of respect, integrity and service excellence.

When it comes to BruinBus customers–especially our new students–Maria extends unparalleled respect, warmth and service. She enjoys getting to know her riders while safely and efficiently getting them where they need to go.

 

 

Jonnah Llamas
Administrative Assistant Parking Services
Events & Transportation

Jonnah is an outstanding team member who routinely goes above and beyond her normal job requirements. This year, Jonnah played an integral role when Parking Services in-sourced the UCLA Ronald Regan Medical Center Valet Services. She helped create and implement the recruitment process that yielded over 175 new employees and helped to develop a successful and efficient orientation program that trained new student employees.

Always reliable, Jonnah follows through on commitments from beginning to end, keeping a positive attitude when faced with tough assignments and unexpected challenges. She supports her colleagues by offering constructive and respectful input and feedback, and accepts any role or responsibility presented to her. Whether to enhance the customer experience or improve our employee’s work environment, Jonnah is committed to  the collective success of her department.

In addition, Jonnah volunteers to support E&T events, including the E&T annual Holiday Celebration, summer Employee Event, retirement celebrations and the recent United Way Campaign.

 

 

June 2018

David Andrus
Cable Specialist
IT Services

David is a very talented and resourceful cabling technician. He is reliable and can be counted on to think out of the box to find solutions on complicated cabling jobs. David has been instrumental in the Bruincard Reader conversions, assuming responsibility for new installations and repairs. Recently he trained a crew of technicians to assist him. David provides excellent customer service and is great to work with due to his easy going personality and willingness to tackle any job asked of him. We are fortunate to have him and appreciate his assistance across campus every day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Timothy Banuelos
Bruin Commuter Services
Events & Transportation

Timothy is a key member of the Bruin Commuter Services team with Events & Transportation. He has made several major contributions to the department, including developing critical data tracking systems that inform management's operational decisions, strategic planning, and positioning for our commuter programs. In addition, Timothy has played a pivotal role in the feasibility study of the proposed enhanced Transit Pass Program scheduled for implementation in June 2018. He was able to conduct a thorough analysis of the potential savings from a Pay-by-Tap transition for Metro transit, which could amount up to over $200,000 quarterly. Timothy diligently looks for efficiencies and cost reductions in our commuter services offerings while maximizing our resources for participants in alternative commuting programs.

 

 

 

April 2018

Alonso Casillas
Fleet & Transit
Events & Transportation

Alonso exhibits True Bruin Values every day at UCLA. However, he was particularly outstanding in customer service and teamwork in January, which is the second busiest time of the year for BruinCar rentals. He assisted in dispatching vehicles and coordinating internal and external rentals, all while completing his individual job responsibilities. Alonso also provided valet service for renters who were placed into third-party vehicles during overflow times by moving vehicles from the roof of Structure 8 to the fueling facility. When the central key dispatch system had software issues, Alonso was able to support the team and meet customers at the central key valet to assist with their vehicle needs.

 

 

 

 

Linn Rider
Parking Services
Events & Transportation

Linn is being recognized for his exceptional teamwork and work performance. He has been instrumental in helping with the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center valet operation transition by hiring and training over 100 students. Linn has assumed the large responsibility of scheduling over 120 students, along with managing day-to-day operations. Understanding how working together affects the level of service provided, Linn promotes a team environment among student and career employees. He consistently remains positive during his shift, and is constantly reminding and encouraging staff to work safely.

 

 

 

February 2018

Thomas McCaughey
Administrative Analyst
Bruin Commuter Services
Events & Transportation

Thomas coordinated and managed the process to overhaul E&T’s partnership with Zipcar, analyzing customer data to identify overspending and maximizing program efficiency. Thomas developed the business proposal and communication plan for senior management while striving to ensure that Zipcar service for Bruin Commuter Club customers continued unaffected. As a result of his efforts, Bruin Commuter Services was able to save more than $35,000 for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. On top of this major project, Thomas has managed many other special projects and provided assistance whenever needed. He is a true example of an employee who goes above and beyond. Congratulations!

 

 

Maylene Raful
Analyst
Campus Human Resources

On the eve of her vacation, Maylene scrapped her plans for a peaceful evening of packing so that she could compile data and complete a report for UCOP. Maylene provides analysis of contract compensation for the UCLA coaches, including draft memo preparation for the Chancellor’s approval of actions recommended by Athletics under delegated authority from the Regents.The context for this work is always dynamic due to negotiating pressures during urgent recruitment periods. This fall, almost the entire football coaching staff was subject to change due to the hiring of a new Head Coach, and many proposals were drafted. We are happy to report that Maylene made her flight and enjoyed a well-deserved vacation. Bravo, Maylene!

 

 

December 2017

John Berkeland
Officer
UCLA Police Department

In late October 2017, John handled a criminal terrorist threats case from beginning to end–taking the initial report, beginning the investigation, coordinating surveillance, and ultimately apprehending the suspect. This arrest was vital in protecting our community and the sanctity of the hospital environment at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. John is a hard worker who never hesitates to help and can be consistently relied upon to provide outstanding service and do great work. John's contributions to the department include working with the medical center; providing training to newly hired hospital employees; and conducting numerous investigations resulting in arrests that help to protect patients, physicians, staff, and the wider campus community.  In addition to his regular duties, John serves on the strategic planning committee and contributes to the Crisis Intervention Program. ​​

 

 

October 2017

 

Steve Salazar
Electrician
Facilities Management

A great big thank you to Steve who has worked for UCLA FM for 25 years and is well respected among his colleagues. His service at the Fowler Museum on September 23 enabled plumbers and engineers to address a pump failure in a flooded machine room without fear of electrocution.  His response to the situation was so quick and efficient that the 800 people attending an event at the museum were completely unaware of the problem.  Well done, Steve!