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Information Technology
Student Employee of the Year

Ryan Fink

2006 - 2007 Winner

RyanNominated by Aurelie Seward

Information Technology (IT) is proud to nominate Ryan Fink as Student Employee of the Year. Ryan has worked with IT since August 2005 and in that time has not been absent. He has also never missed a project deadline since the first semester even when working on three and more separate projects simultaneously. If Ryan says he will deliver, then he does and that kind of reliability is highly valued. Working with Ryan, we have also come to count on a quality level that exceeds the norm. But let us explain the work he does for JCC first which will make it clearer why he is so highly appreciated. Here are a few of Ryan’s projects (this list represents only about 1/4 of his entire project list):

  • Notebook of FAQs for Pilot Laptop Room BW 205: This Notebook of information was used for training staff and the 205 survey indicated this Notebook was of great help to instructors. Updated each semester.

  • Notebook of FAQs for Pilot Laptop Cart at JCC@ VoTech: Also used for training staff and as a daily tool for reference. Updated each semester.
  • Notebook of FAQs for IT Laptop Checkout Guidebook: Besides FAQs, this included creation of 3 new Desktop Wallpapers that distinguish the different computer loads used.
  • Communicator and SPAM Filtering FAQs: Both of these are new IT services and required Ryan to learn them prior to explaining them in word and picture format.
  • Managing FAQ Team: Ryan creates/updates numerous FAQs on his own as well as assigning and reviewing FAQs to other IT students. His team enjoys working with him and respects his knowledge.

All of the above FAQ creation directly benefits users of JCC technology offering them an accurate reference to learn with or to troubleshoot with in the absence of technical assistance. As no IT person can keep everything in their head at one time, these FAQs also offer the perfect technical reference for IT staff and training for new IT employees.

  • Note Taking: Ryan has taken notes at JCC staff meetings for the IT Liaisons group, the Colleague Power Users Group, and the IT HEAT Power Users group. It is unusual to find a student with this ability and it was greatly needed with on-going staffing issues. Ryan “saved” the day more than once with his willingness.
  • Camtasia and Captivate Software Testing and Evaluation: This project assigned by Jim Jones has resulted in a new set of interactive FAQs to be released in Fall 2007.
  • Consultant Training: Ryan enjoys sharing his knowledge. He has developed training sessions for Captivate, Fireworks, Flash, MS Project, Premiere, and the Consultant Guidebook. Each training session is accompanied by detailed written instructions to be handed off to his successor.

As you can see, Ryan has worked on projects of major importance to JCC and to IT and therefore his reliability and the quality of his work must be excellent. His projects require attention to detail and professional written presentation as well as knowledge and concern for the user’s needs. He is always passionate about his work, always willing to go an extra mile or three to finish the job on time and with the high standards he demands of himself. He also happily corrects any errors, learns quickly and without his ego involved. He will take the initiative every time to find out more about a process and present that information to us for review and consideration to make the project better. He also takes no offense when the decision is negative but rather, like a real professional, knows that his extra investigations were valuable as they covered more possibilities and ensured a better end product.

It is extremely unusual to have a student with the software knowledge and dedication to software knowledge that Ryan has. To have him also able to write coherent documentation and present it in a professional, consistent format at his experience level is nearly unheard of. To have this same employee also be not just willing but happy to complete this type of work for hours on end is definitely unheard of in all my years at JCC. IT is very happy that Ryan will be with us through Fall 07 as JCC will need his skills with the new technology building!

We fear that we cannot adequately explain the positive impact for JCC that this technical work has. Technical accomplishments can take a mountain of words to explain well. We will hope we have done as well by Ryan as he has done by JCC.

Aurelie C Seward
Jennifer Putnam