President's Appreciation Award Nomination Letter
Ryan has worked in the IT department at the library for 13 years in several different capacities. As a systems administrator, Ryan was key in keeping library systems functional and would work with others in IT to upgrade systems off hours to avoid disruption to library patrons and employees. As the department manager of the operations group, Ryan worked to develop and put in place metrics and expectations related to response times to helpdesk issues. With these goals in place, the time to completion of helpdesk issues dropped significantly and the number of active tickets was reduced to dozens. The operations group has maintained a rapid response time and good resolution time on helpdesk tickets for many years now. In addition, being one of the first people to arrive at the library when opening, Ryan would take time to walk around the building to ensure that computers were up and running and that services and equipment were ready for library patrons. As issues would come up on employees’ computers, Ryan was often the one who would walk to an office and diagnose the problem and help resolve the issue. This personal interaction has helped reassure employees that their needs were being taken care of. As the director of IT, Ryan is establishing priorities and setting the direction for how the IT department should use its resources to further the objectives and goals of the library, which seek to foster the spiritual and intellectual growth of BYU students and faculty.
The IT department provides services to all areas of the library. Ryan does a great job of demonstrating the value of teamwork while working with all employees in the library. He is an excellent listener. He does a great job of getting to the essence of an issue or situation and works well with others in arriving at an agreed upon solution. Ryan also works well with colleagues at OIT and in other colleges on campus. One employee reports that they have personally gone to Ryan many times with requests, and they always come away feeling that Ryan truly cares about their needs. Even in Ryan’s new role as director of IT, he still finds time to make sure you're taken care of. Ryan is the embodiment of customer service. He has also worked hard to instill this in his team.
Ryan shows respect for individuals in the library and across campus often. There have been many times when Ryan will talk with those that he works with and do a "sensitivity check." He does this to make sure he is being sensitive to other people and departments’ needs while retaining the standards we set for security and service. Ryan assumes people are trying to do their job the best they can and approaches problems by not assuming he knows the answer better than anyone else. We can solve people's problems faster and better by getting all the info and coming to conclusions together; nobody facilitates this better than Ryan.