Employees recognized for following 'Western Way'

Stacy Halbakken, Cole Whited, June Fraser Thistle, Kevin Dixey, Nancy Bluestein-Johnson, Tim McLaughlin and Kaylee Nightingale are among the Western Washington University employees honored this month in the Western Way recognition program.

The program, begun this month, aims to recognize Western employees for their hard work on campus and to give their co-workers an opportunity to praise their efforts.

"I am regularly amazed and inspired by the talent, commitment and dedication of the employees at Western," said Western President Bruce Shepard in an email earlier this month announcing the program. "While we celebrate outstanding achievement at our annual Employee Recognition Ceremony, we've all had experiences with colleagues who go above and beyond in ways that aren't recognized."

Any time throughout the year, folks in the WWU community can visit the Western Way website to recognize a Western employee who demonstrates excellence in serving students, visitors or colleagues, based on the characteristics that make them uniquely Western: inviting, engaging, distinctive, collaborative and adventurous.

Western Way Honorees are recognized online on the Western Way Wall of Acknowledgment, in the Western Today newsletter and in a slideshow at the Employee Recognition Ceremony in April.

A few comments about the first group of nominees:

Hands down Cole exemplifies what good customer service means. I enjoy that he shares his wisdom and is a pleasure to work with. I am no longer afraid to use TEM knowing that I have Cole as a resource. I have never gotten off a call with him without having my issues resolved with a side of great education!

-Karen Smith, administrative services manager

Stacy is always positive, regardless of the challenges she faces. She turns each challenge into a learning experience. She also has a wonderful way of making people feel comfortable. Her enthusiasm is contagious. Her energy is unending. She inspires others.

-LeaAnn Martin, CHSS dean and professor of Physical Education, Health and Recreation

Tim is the behind the scenes guy that not many people know. He handles a lot of the system account creation and management. Tim always looks for efficiency for new implementations and improvement of old processes. He collaborates with others using a 'common sense' approach. Without his dedication to these processes and utilities, the job of account automation and management would be a much larger burden on the Technical Services department.

-Steve Treloar, operating systems manager