Employee of the Month - April 2021
Shirley Quan, Technology Help Desk Supervisor
Division of Information Technology
Awarded Tuesday, April 20, 2021 via Zoom Virtual celebration. Shirley was joined by President Jane Close Conoley, ITS Vice President and Chief Information Officer Min Yao, Associate Vice President Janet Foster, Assistant Vice President Bryon Jackson, numerous Information Technology Services and campus colleagues, and family members.
Shirley Quan is CSULB’s Technology Help Desk Supervisor. In this position, she provides IT support to faculty, staff, students, prospective students, and emeriti. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shirley and her team have assisted customers with supporting services such as Multi-Factor Authentication, Zoom, Global Protect VPN, and remote desktop.
Shirley is well-known for her dedication, hard work, and above all, customer advocacy. Leading the Technology Help Desk (THD) can be at the best of times, a thankless, tough job. Customers who contact the THD are often frustrated by the technological issue they are experiencing. Shirley and her team consistently solve problems and turn upset customers into happy ones. When a particularly difficult issue arises, Shirley is persistent and dedicated, ensuring that the customer receives the service they need.
Bryon Jackson, the Assistant Vice President of Information Technology Services (ITS), holds Shirley in high regard as “an extremely hard working employee, dedicated to serving the customer.” She monitors emails, tickets, and inquiries at all hours of the day, on weekends, and on holidays. Whether it be after hours or on a weekend, she expects escalated tickets to be reviewed and resolved because the customer may have problems taking a test, accessing a class, or missing important emails.
Shirley’s hard work and dedication really showed during ITS’s response to COVID-19. She and her team stepped up during difficult times to ensure service levels remained high as ITS shifted to different support models and as the university transitioned to remote work. In addition, since the THD staff and students have been answering calls from home, there has been no drop off in call answer rates and customer satisfaction. Bryon Jackson shared some words that fittingly describe Shirley: “When times get tough, the toughest among us really shine.”