Spirit of BG Award

Congratulations to Eric Crimmins from Information Technology Services! He is the winner of the September Spirit of BG Award and was nominated by four of his colleagues. Read Eric's nominations below.

Nomination by Kyle Butler

"Over the Summer, Eric has worked countless hours to make sure our new printers were up and running campus wide before start of school. This included working with Perry, setting up billing, Fax setup, back end server settings and communicating with departments. All with a small window of a few short months. Eric was essentially the back bone of this project. Without Eric on this project, campus would not have had the new printers in place and running before the Fall Semester. This is why I nominate Eric for this award." 

Nomination by Meredith Errington

"I am honored to nominate Eric Crimmins for the Spirit of BG Award in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the printer reimplementation project this summer. With several years of experience supporting printing services at BGSU, Eric possesses extensive institutional knowledge that proved invaluable during this project. His expertise quickly made him the “go-to” person for any printing-related questions, and his dedication to the university’s core value of excellence was evident in his meticulous attention to detail throughout the project. 

Eric expertly provided input on all aspects of the reimplementation, from communication and documentation to billing and technical configuration. His ability to coordinate with both internal ITS teams and our external partner, Perry proTECH, was crucial to the project’s success. On most installation days, Eric was the key figure overseeing the technical setup within ITS while ensuring smooth communication with the Perry proTECH installation staff. 

Despite the demanding nature of our summer schedule, Eric handled every challenge with professionalism, creativity and efficiency. Additionally, Eric has been cross-training with several ITS staff members, ensuring that the team is well-prepared to provide support for printing services moving forward. 

Eric's contributions were instrumental in the success of this project, and I am truly grateful to have him as part of our team. His commitment to excellence and collaboration exemplifies the Spirit of BG, and I believe he is highly deserving of this recognition. 

Hey Eric...thank you!" 

Nomination by Scott Kirian-Cressey

"Eric is probably the busiest person in ITS Client Services, not because he has to be, but because he regularly volunteers his incredible depth of technical knowledge and experience to fill gaps in projects and processes that might otherwise require training a new specialized resource. He wears more hats than I can count while maintaining a genuine smile, an infectious wit, and a cognisance of the mission of the university.

Eric recently led the transition from the ComDoc print system to the new campus print vendor, PerryPro Tech. This involved an enormous amount of work, between configuring print servers on the backend, coordinating meetings with stakeholders, answering an onslaught of questions from all directions, and actually assisting with physically setting up equipment. This was basically a second (and third) full-time job--all on top of his usual work. It is my understanding that Eric regularly left work during this period only to spend another three hours working into the evening at home. Eric did all this while maintaining his characteristic jovial demeanor and charitably helpful disposition. Eric is ALWAYS willing to stop what he is doing to teach you something.

The phrase "Hey, Eric!" became something of an inside joke within Client Services during this period--a sort of shorthand for "no on else knows; go ask Eric." The humor of this was in the frequency in which we had to "Hey, Eric" and the recognition that we have no idea what we would do without him. Thanks for your hard work, Eric!" 

Nomination by Robert Swank

"Eric has taken the lead for the printer redeployment project. Eric has been pushing himself and working his best to ensure the printers were rolled out on time and ready for start of school. Eric has gone above and beyond and has put in extra time to ensure all is ready. Eric is a hard worker and very friendly. He has been working our print vendor to determine issues with the new printers and servers and continues to assist wherever he can." 

Criteria and Eligibility

Any current full-time or part-time administrative staff member who is employed at BGSU or Firelands is eligible for the award.

The Administrative Staff Council wants to recognize, on a monthly basis, administrative staff employees who are caught showing "The Spirit of BG" as defined by any of the core values of BGSU.  The Core Values to which the University adheres include:

• Intellectual and personal growth
• Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurism
• Diversity and inclusion
• Collaboration with each other and our partners
• Excellence in all we do

Presentation and Selection Information

Awards are given monthly during the academic year.  The award consists of a cash award of $75, congratulations from colleagues and friends and a certificate of appreciation.

Winners are announced approximately two weeks after deadline, the end of each month.

Nomination Procedures

If you are a member of the University community (faculty, staff, student) you may nominate an administrative staff employee for "The Spirit of BG Award". Complete this nomination form, providing a short summary as to why you feel this person is deserving of this award.  

Nominations must be received by 5 p.m. on the last day of the month, to be considered for that month's recognition. For example, nominate by Aug. 31 for the August Spirit of BG Award.