‘BG Best’ fits award-winner Robb Nardecchia

The criteria for the BG Best Award from Administrative Staff Council could have been written for Robb Nardecchia, a web applications developer in the Office of Marketing and Communications. In a time when online information and services are crucial, his commitment to excellence and continual improvement has enhanced the University’s web presence both internally and externally. Nardecchia was chosen as the 2019 BG Best recipient, and received the honor at the ASC spring reception May 21.

BG Best recognizes administrative staff members who have shown outstanding commitment to BGSU, implemented a new idea or program that benefits the learning community, and demonstrated exemplary commitment to the BGSU community. Recipients receive a cash award of $100 and a plaque.

“Robb Nardecchia is the type of coworker that will not only push you to go that extra mile, but he is always right there to do it with you,” said his nominator, colleague Tara Kanary. “There have been numerous occasions where our web team could have completed a job with the same templates and designs that we have always used, but Robb always has great suggestions and the work ethic that he wants to take our team to the next level.”

Nardecchia’s commitment to BGSU shows in his dedication to making users’ experience of the University website more seamless and more intuitive, Kanary said. Visitors to the website have benefited from his innovative approach, whether they are current students or employees of the University, are thinking about coming here to study or work, or are searching the website for information. As Nardecchia works behind the scenes to improve their experience, he puts himself in their place to make sure they find what they need as quickly and easily as possible.

For prospective students, his efforts have made it much easier to identify potential majors.

“Robb has definitely revolutionized the way incoming students can find and locate programs online,” Kanary wrote. “He has created a search technology that filters by degree type and, most importantly, by interests. For so long, incoming students have been unsure of what degree they should look for because the major name of ‘Visual Communication Technology’ means nothing to them, for example.”

Thanks to Nardecchia’s innovation, “they can instead search for web design, photography, or anything in between to come up with the major of VCT instead of needing to know the specific name.

“I should also mention that this job was not something that was on the books for our team, he just simply saw room for improvement and blew us all out of the water when it was implemented,” Kanary said. “He is a creative mind and is constantly applying his full potential.”

Nardecchia has introduced numerous new technologies that have helped the entire campus, she said. Among his achievements were helping the Office of Admissions with a touchscreen technology, and enabling Marketing and Communications to adopt a robust project management system that helps it better serve its clients. He even volunteered to learn how to fly a drone so that aerial video coverage could be captured for events and construction across campus.

He gives his time to help BGSU tell its story, an important component of the Focus on the Future strategic plan. He often works weekends to prepare video and news content to be posted on the BGSU homepage. “Through his volunteer hours, he has boosted our homepage views and news story views,” Kanary said.

Providing excellent customer service to the University community, Nardecchia is willing to assist everyone who uses the BGSU content-management system to post material to the web. “He is very thorough and patient when he works with people on the phone, in person or by email,” Kanary said.

Nardecchia shows respect for his office colleagues and those in other departments and is continually collaborating across campus to make BGSU’s web presence cohesive.

Always endeavoring to learn new technologies and attend professional trainings, he inspires others to do the same.

“He is a pleasure to work along with, and I can see so much growth in my own work because of him,” Kanary said. “He is at the top of his career in creativity and innovation and he consistently strives for excellence. It has been an honor to work alongside him and I am appreciative for all he does.”