Robert Thorpe, Alejandra Espinoza, and Erin Pleše named Educators of Influence by

Graduating Seniors

As the academic year draws to a close, NAU prepares to recognize outstanding graduating seniors with the Gold Axe Award. This award celebrates seniors who have made significant contributions to the university, both inside and outside the classroom. Every year, over 400 seniors apply to the award, with only a handful being selected. During the application process, seniors were asked to name the person who has made the biggest impact on their undergraduate career.

ITS is pleased to announce that Robert Thorpe, an IT Service Analyst working in conjunction with ITS under Campus Services; Alejandra Espinoza, ITS’ Assistant Manager for Operations; as well as Erin Pleše, a Senior IT Security Analyst were all recognized by a graduating senior as influential educators. ITS congratulates these individuals for their positive impact to the Lumberjack Community.

Pete Zeman & Team Achieve Milestones in Advancing Foundation Projects

University Advancement IT has accomplished impressive feats under the leadership of Pete Zeman. Over the past year, the team has completed several crucial projects, including the implementation of a cloud-based financial system using Sage Inacct. This system provides detailed scholarship balance reports to colleges.

The team also completed a cloud-based donor experience officer solution using Evertrue, as well as a digital wallet implementation for the Giving Day platform, streamlining the donation process. Zeman's team replaced the existing end-of-life platform with Signal Vine, a more effective texting platform. Finally, the team conducted the BWF Donor Survey, providing valuable insights into donor behavior.