Today's Update: Friday, August 25, 2023

August 25, 2023

Dear Student Life team,

Happy High Five Friday, and happy start of the new academic year. 

It’s taken a great deal of effort to get things started, including those who helped prepare our spaces. High Fives to those who helped with furniture removal and restoration over the summer, including Josh Karnap, Matt Wells, Josef Kraft, Tyler Silfverduk, Jude Darby, Mark Hoy, Adam Cutright, Arnel Capulong, Nicholas Jennings, Jason Young, James Skidmore, Samantha Garza, Ray Dennison, Todor Nikov, Melanie Anderson, Kai Hug, Chris Shine, Cloey Demura, Aaron Springs, Dorothy James, Avery Dixon and Sean Anderson. A number of these people were temporarily redeployed from Dining Services, so an extra High Five for those who helped with “other duties as assigned!” 

I loved seeing my first Buck-i-Frenzy. High Fives to those who made it a huge success, including Kristin Smith, Jen Vandemark (Cottrell), Scott Holmes, Kurt Schooley, Alex Jimenez, Madi Wires, Will McIntyre, Danny Elswick, AT Heyer, Tyler Eskew, Godfrey Ludaway, Darrell Thompson, Shea Ryan, Eric Schutter, Kyndal Fenn, Nabil Shehata, Brittany Crall, Victoria Weaver, Wes Lindsey, Angela Britton, Stephanie Grissett, Aubrie Smith, Tracy Stuck, Angie Wellman, Kevin Bledsoe, Molly Hall, Stephanie Lingofelter, Christy Muhoberac, Jevon Witcher, Mekdes Wassie, Courtney Atwell, Admassu Demisse, Thomas Folefac, Agendia Fontem, Matthew Brookins, Belkis Schoenhals, Man Tamang, Badreddine Affane, Chrisse Edmunds, Christian Manning, Dan Huffman, Jarrode Davis, Ray VanBoven, Aisha Echols, Noelle Bartley, John Link, Ben Daleiden, Mindy Clagg, Kim Traverse, Erica Regan, Seth Rhodes, Prestin Minter, Josh Oconer, Marjorie Freggens, Jeremy Gabis, Krystal Vielman, Tonya Dawson, Ryan Lovell, Jessi Loxley, Lori Green, John Cronin, Dave DeAngelo and Kellie Uhrig. Also, a special High Five to our student Frenzy employees, Rachel Sipes and Khushi Pabboju, as well as OUAB, Undergraduate Student Government and our friends in Facilities, Operations and Development, Public Safety, OSUPD and CampusParc.   

Off-Campus and Commuter Student Engagement led the effort to greet and welcome students living in the University District. High Fives to everyone who helped OCCSE with the Off-Campus Community Welcome, including Caleb Bench, Austin Borreson, Mindy Clagg, Shivani Edwards, Marjorie Freggens, Danny Glassmann, Brendan Greisberger, Ren Halter-Rainey, Dennis Jeffrey, Steph Lingofelter, Ryan Lovell, Lori Martensen, Paul O'Leary, Jon Plante, Zach Redecker, Nancy Thompson, Barb Urbanczyk, Lauren Zeck and Andrew Peiffer. 

A colleague nominated Housing and Residence Education Assistant Director Eric Jaburek, calling him “the definition of team player from volunteering to take calls during busy days in the Housing Admin Office, supporting students and parents and being one of the best collaborators anyone you can ask for.” High Five, Eric!  

I love it when colleagues show gratitude for each other. A team member says “High Five to TJ Logan for being an awesome supervisor and leader. His leadership of the Residential Experience team has resulted in greater collaboration and efficiencies. The future looks bright under his leadership.” 

High Five to Buckeye Career’s Jennifer Chilman, along with career services colleagues across Ohio State, who organized and facilitated the University Career Services Committee Inclusive Hiring Series. This series brought together both the Ohio State career services community and employers to learn and discuss promising practices to help support inclusive hiring, retention and advancement.  

Ryan Patel of Counseling and Consultation Service gets a High Five for providing extra assistance to a student who had a medical issue during Move-In.  

High Five to Tom Reeves for promoting the residence hall composting pilot project in Smith-Steeb. He helped get a great story on the university’s website.    

Michelle Blackstone and Travis Barnhart from our amazing Marketing team get High Fives for their tremendous work on a project that grew legs and ran really fast this week. Michelle also gets a High five for helping me with materials for the Board of Trustees meeting. 

High Five to Victoria Weaver who went above and beyond to help out after central scheduling double booked a room and we needed last minute assistance finding a spot for 100 students to complete their seminar class. And she did it while managing a reservation system that had gone down at the same time.  

The Center for Belonging and Social Change wants to give a High Five to all the Student Life team members who attended their Welcome Week events. Students say they feel supported and seen when you participate. High Five!  

Speaking of the CBSC, High Five to embedded therapist Darreon Greer for facilitating an impactful session on self-care during student staff training. Dr. Greer is always engaging and is a role model for students who would like to seek out counseling resources but may not know how to go about doing it. 

Finally, Daren Lehman gets a High Five assisting a staff member navigating a challenging situation with CampusParc which resulted in a positive outcome, then he rescued a colleague with a dead car battery. 

Have a Scarlet and Great weekend!  

 

Melissa S. Shivers, PhD 

Senior Vice President for Student Life 
The Ohio State University