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Students鈥� interactions with front-line staff and faculty have a major impact on their experience at SFU. But for every staff member that a student sees, there are many more quietly working behind the scenes. One such person is Yasko Sugai, recipient of a 2020 Staff Achievement Award for Student Services.

Sugai鈥檚 job title is Records Assistant, but it doesn鈥檛 fully capture the work that she does in Student Services. For many people at SFU, she is the key point of contact in Undergraduate Records, the unit that keeps a detailed account of each student鈥檚 journey from enrollment to graduation. It鈥檚 absolutely crucial that these records are accurate and up to date, and in an organization as large and complex as SFU, with tens of thousands of students with unique situations, that process can be very complicated.

When something goes wrong with a student鈥檚 records, Sugai is often the one to sort it out. Though she rarely works directly with students, the impact that her work has on them is always top of mind. 鈥淓verything is always urgent,鈥� she says, 鈥渟tudents don鈥檛 see the volume of other work that staff are dealing with, but you have to put yourself in their shoes, and be compassionate.鈥�

During her time at SFU, she has amassed a wealth of institutional knowledge of complex university policies, faculties and programs; and back-end processes that help her ensure that students in complex and unusual situations do not fall through the cracks.

Her colleagues value her ability to break down these processes in ways that others can understand, proactively spot issues that might arise, and to suggest solutions to students鈥� problems that are compassionate and fair. But Sugai stresses that this is a team effort, that she is always working collaboratively with her colleagues to find the best possible outcomes for students.

As 51社区黑料transitions toward in-person classes and services this fall, Sugai is looking forward to spending more time on campus. She鈥檚 found that it鈥檚 harder to train and support new staff while working remotely, and she鈥檚 missed the informal check-ins that help keep people connected.

She鈥檚 also really looking forward to seeing students return to Burnaby campus. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so invigorating being around young people,鈥� she says. 鈥淪tudents are the heartbeat of the university. Coming to 51社区黑料is an achievement for them and it鈥檚 not always easy. We should approach in such a way that they feel we鈥檙e here to help. That鈥檚 very important to me.鈥�