Employee of the Month - January 2024
Ryan Keller,
Operating Systems Administrator
Division of Information Technology
Awarded Thursday, January 18, 2024, via Zoom Virtual celebration. Ryan was joined by President Jane Close Conoley, Chief Information Officer and Vice President of the Division of Information Technology Min Yao, Associate Vice President of Information Technology Services (ITS) Janet Foster, Data Center and Emergency Management Director Michael Markoski, numerous ITS and campus colleagues.
Ryan Keller has served as a loyal Cal State Long Beach employee of nearly twenty years. In his first position in 2004, he plugged in phones for the campus phone switch upgrade project. Over the years, he has moved through various positions including a Field Technician, Telecommunications Assistant, and a Telecommunications Analyst/Programmer. Currently, his responsibilities are split between a PeopleSoft Administrator/DBA and Telecommunications Technical Lead.
Bryon Jackson, the Associate Vice President of Technology Solutions and Innovations, shared, “Words cannot express the gratitude I have for Ryan Keller. His work on the reimagining telephone service at the Beach was beyond invaluable. Nearly all the work to accomplish the new IT Bundle billing process that replaced the monthly telephone bill was Ryan's design and programming.
“The Division of IT has for years (decades really) attempted to replace the antiquated monthly billing process only to have the project stopped...This year, we finally gained significant executive buy-in to make this change and the ensuing project was an extremely challenging project to meet the needs of the various stakeholders. It seems each meeting we had with the Controller, 49er Foundation, Financial Management, Budget Office, and ASMs, there were new requirements that introduced further complication on the operation.
“At each new requirement and complication, there was Ryan Keller, willing and able to programmatically solve each and request. Ryan went way above and beyond on this project as he actually works in the CMS team, which is completely unrelated to the Telecom. He stepped up and took the reins with the sudden retirement of the Telecom Lead and was able to successfully do essentially 2 jobs for the duration of the project. He put in seriously long hours, but his dedication and positive attitude never [wavered]. It would be an understatement to say this project would have not been successful without Ryan. It would have been a 'no-go' months ago without his heroics. In my biased opinion, Ryan deserves Employee of the Decade, let alone Employee of the Month.”
In Ryan’s free time, he enjoys fishing, cooking, making music, and spending time with his wife, Marissa, and kids, Autumn and Everett.