August 5, 2009
Dear Mr. Fear:

My name is Paul Casebolt and I am the Campus Tour Coordinator here at Western Kentucky University.  I just wanted to relay to you a couple of experiences I had today with members of some of the different landscaping crews while I was providing a campus tour to a group of about 30 guests (about 15 prospective students and 15 parents).

The first occurred while walking in front of the Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center at the bottom of the colonnade sometime between about 10:30am to 10:45am.  There were three gentleman operating push mowers along the small embankment at the base of the bleachers.  As the group approached, each one of these men, stopped and turned off their lawn mowers until the group passed (2 of them even smiled and waved at the group).  Having given numerous tours over the years, the mowing crews have always stopped as a group approached, but rarely turn off their lawn mowers, and rarely smile at the group.  Judging by the faces of some of the people in the group, they seemed fairly impressed by this gesture.

The second occurred near the Guthrie Bell Tower around 11:10am to 11:15am.  There was a group of 3 men who appeared to be pruning some of the shrubs along the wall of Academic Complex.  As the group approached, one of them smiled at the group and greeted them with a hearty, "Hello!  How are all of you today?".  This got a smile from many of the people in the group and several members of the group responded in kind.

The campus visit is so crucial to a student's decision to attend a particular college or university.  Everyone (from Admissions to the academic departments to the grounds crews) can play a huge role in whether or not that experience is positive in nature.  I just wanted to commend these four gentleman who went the extra mile today to make this group's visit to campus a pleasant one.  While the things they did were perhaps "minor" in their eyes, sometimes these details go a long way to make (or break) a student's decision.  I wish I would have had time to stop and get their names, but hopefully from the time and location descriptions, you can identify them and offer my thanks to them.

Keep up the great work!  The campus is looking beautiful!

Sincerely,
Paul J. Casebolt
Tour Coordinator/Admissions Counselor
Office of Admissions

From: Mike Hartz
May 14, 2009
To: Dale Dyer

I and my department are housed in the rock house at the corner of University Blvd & Normal (1790 Normal Dr.).  We moved into this facility in August of last year.  There were some issues that are typical with an older home that made our work environment a bit uncomfortable.  Facilities Management personnel addressed almost all of our concerns promptly and satisfactorily after our move.
As winter arrived, we became aware the insulation integrity of the house left a lot to be desired.  My supervisor and our building coordinator was hesitant to ask for something she knew would be expensive and we were all unsure if anything could really be done to mitigate the cold air blowing in from windows and doors.  We also had a leaky porch roof and she did address that.  Then the University implemented a policy to make as many of  these older facilities more efficient in heating and cooling which brought our problems to Facilities Management's attention without our having to make the request.
Over the past several weeks, crews have been at our house making upgrades, repairs, and making this old house sealed to the outdoors.  I wanted to thank you and your staff not only for coming up with creative solutions to our house's problem, but the way your crews completed their work with little instrusion into our work day and keeping their work area neat and clean as some projects extended over a few days. 
My work space is in one of the front rooms of the  house and I admit I was fascinated with watching the workmen and their supervisors (apparently I love hard work and can watch it for hours).  After each project Rooks Howard came by to check with us, to inspect the work and send his men back if he felt there were adjustments needed.  We had doors sealed, storm windows re-attached, porch roof repaired and porch ceiling fixed and painted just to name a few of the projects.  My co-workers and I are grateful for the work and wanted you to know what a great job all the carpenters, painters, and crews did for our department's house.  Our offices are much more comfortable and I'm sure our HVAC is no longer straining to keep the temperature at appropirate levels.  Thank you.

6/12/2009
Bob,
I just wanted to commend the following Building Service Attendants for their tremendous work this morning in the Preston Center: Pearl Cowles, Bonnie Dietz, Kurt Dunning, Wanda McDavitt, Joe Smith, Tina Sneed, and
Tammy Thomas.

After a washing machine hose burst, our equipment room quickly flooded. Additionally, the flooring at our Control Desk area and lobby carpets collected much water. The BSA's, particularly Tina Sneed, took the lead on immediately responding to the situation.

Please express my gratitude to each individual that assisted this morning.  Thank you.

Brad Stinnett
Intramural-Recreational Sports

6/12/2009
Bob,
I just wanted to commend the Plumbing Shop for their efforts regarding a mini-emergency in the Preston Center this morning. We had a hose to
burst on our washing machine, obviously rendering it inoperable. I was concerned that our laundry service would be out of service for the day and possibly quite longer, but Nathan Brindley and Jimmy Lee
immediately responded to my call and went "above and beyond" to remedy the situation.

The Plumbing Shop, under the leadership of Danny Madison, has never let me down over the years. Danny and his staff are a "well-oiled machine"
and I want to express my appreciation for their latest work in our facility.

Sincerely,
Brad Stinnett
Intramural-Recreational Sports

On Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:18:17 -0500
Greg Fear <greg.fear@wku.edu> wrote:
Julia,

Thank you so much for the beautiful card, it was very sweet of
everyone.  I wanted you to know who the real heroes were.  When you
called earlier in the morning asking for the fountain, I called *Danny
Madison*, Supervisor of Plumbing.  He told me that the fountain was
down due to some work that was going to be going on around it but that
he would be glad to turn it on so we wouldn't break the 26 year
streak.  Danny had it going and then you emailed me that it was getting
close to time and there was just a little bubble coming out.  I called
*Joe Keith*, Supervior of Weekend Maintenance who I knew could fix the
problem.  Unfortunately, he was gone from campus, but he called the 2nd
shift maintenance person *Mark Royse*, who did what he needed to do to
get it running ( there must have been some trash in the system). 
Anyway, I just wanted you to know how wonderful these guys reacted when
it was crunch time.  I am really proud to work with all three of these
guys and had all the faith
> in the world that they would have it ready for you.  Thanks again, I
will share your card with each of them

Greg

   THANKS GREG, I DO APPRECIATE YOU PASSING THIS ON. SO MANY TIMES OUR
PEOPLE ARE OVERLOOKED FOR THEIR DEDICATION . IT TAKES A GOOD MANAGER TO
PASS ON REWARDS SUCH AS THIS. A KIND GESTUER GOES A LONG WAY. JOE