ITS proudly recognizes the Google Workspace Working Group as the Winter 2025 Team of the Quarter! The team is comprised of:
| Alex Chrystal Communications and Training Manager | Bart Kats Research Computing Facilitator | Bryan Meeker IAM Architect | Cliff Veasey Associate Director, Student Systems | Dalia Fadel Technical Project Manager | David Ly Systems Engineer |
| Eric Martin Technical Program Manager | Hapy Ting Communication Specialist | Jeremy Fisher Executive Director of Infrastructure | Lily Barger Director, Computing Support Services | Matt Giers BearHelp Supervisor | Okey Uchendu Associate Director, Cloud and System Engineering |
The Google Workspace Working Group was nominated by Rehan Tahir, Dalia Fadel, Kathy Rondeau-Taylor, and Patrick Wagman, who recognized the outstanding collaboration, strategic leadership, and technical innovation they demonstrated in addressing a complex campus-wide challenge: the end of Google’s unlimited storage. Formed in July 2022, the team developed and executed a long-term plan to reduce storage usage, implement storage quotas, and streamline campus storage management while maintaining a seamless experience for faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
The team’s accomplishments include the decommissioning of over 42,000 ineligible former student accounts, establishing affiliation-based storage quotas, cataloging 18,000 shared drives, and implementing account audits and storage clean-up processes. These efforts not only ensured timely compliance, but also created a sustainable framework for managing storage at UCR.
“This team deserves nothing less than Team of the Year,” shared Dalia. “Our journey from initial uncertainty to groundbreaking success exemplifies the highest standards of teamwork, strategy, and excellence.”
Rehan spoke to the team’s effectiveness in achieving outcomes:
"Their work resulted in full compliance with Google's new storage limits while minimizing impact on faculty, staff, students, and alumni. The team transformed a potential crisis into an opportunity for organizational growth, setting new benchmarks for project excellence at UCR."
Throughout the project, the team tackled significant challenges, such as auditing accounts that had not been maintained for years, changing perceptions around the storage privileges of former students and alumni, and helping users understand how shared drives work as well as the risks of data loss.
Their work extended beyond coming up with a technical solution to include collaborative and democratic decision-making and strong cross-functional collaboration. “The Google Workspace Working Group exemplifies what it means to achieve excellence in project execution and cross-functional collaboration,” commended Kathy.
Additionally, the team prioritized communication and change management and campus support. The Communication and Training team provided clear, timely guidance to help ensure users felt supported and informed throughout the process, and BearHelp assisted impacted users by guiding them through the changes and reporting incidents of data loss.
Patrick shared, “This project showcased collaborative innovation, servant leadership, strategic vision, and cross-functional excellence. Their dedication and accomplishments are truly deserving of the Team of the Quarter award.”
Through their diligent problem-solving, collaboration, and determination to achieve outcomes, the Google Workspace Working Group was able to develop a feasible and sustainable storage management system for UCR. Their success stands as a model for future campus-wide technology initiatives. Congratulations to the team on this well-earned recognition!
Do you have colleagues who deserve recognition for their hard work and dedication? Nominate them for one of ITS’ Employee Recognition Programs!
Be sure to submit your nomination for the next Team of the Quarter!