UBC Reports | Vol. 50 | No. 5 | May 6, 2004

Staff Members Receive President’s Service Award for Excellence

By Hilary Thomson

As associate director, Facility Services, Belle Dale-Wills is responsible for planning, budgeting, directing and evaluating the operations of various facilities management and custodial functions throughout campus.

Peers acknowledge major changes she has made, including a shift to customer service, an emphasis on safety and training and redefining the role of facility manager to serve as a resource for campus clients.

She has made numerous improvements in the management of workplace injuries and in 2002, the Workers’ Compensation Board recognized her achievements in workplace ergonomics by featuring her in their WorkSafe newsletter.

Dale-Wills’ attention to staff is exceptional. She regularly works 10-12 hours per day to have contact with every shift and knows the name of each of our 300 custodial workers.

A dedicated communicator who keeps staff motivated, recognized and valued, she also is the driving force of her group’s highly successful United Way campaigns.

Yashmin Kassam, advising officer and administrator for the first-year English program, is known to her colleagues as a “miracle of energy and commitment”.

By listening to concerns, fixing problems and answering a myriad of questions, she helps make new students’ experience at UBC a positive one. Well-known for her patience, diplomacy and compassion, Kassam has a special skill in helping international and multicultural students feel at home at UBC. She also co-ordinates the program’s instructors and teaching assistants.

Kassam embraces the idea of continuous learning and is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree part time. Her knowledge, organizational skills and spirit have prompted many colleagues to regard her as the heart of the department.

Alumna Audrey Lindsay is associate registrar and director of student systems in Enrolment Services.

Since joining UBC in 1972, Lindsay has envisioned, developed and provided technology systems for students that have spanned punch cards, telephone and Internet registration.

The student information system she established is considered the envy of universities across North America. In 2003, EDUCAUSE -- a coalition of North American colleges and universities dedicated to advancing education through better use of information technology -- honoured her for the online student self-evaluation and self-admission program she developed.

Known as a dynamic innovator, Lindsay’s co-workers say she puts her whole mind and heart into her work, whether recruiting student workers, motivating team members, or fostering interdepartmental consultation.

Suzanne Poohkay, associate director, facilities and capital planning, in the Dept. of Campus and Community Planning, is UBC’s acknowledged “doyenne of space.” She is responsible for planning and budgeting construction and maintenance programs for campus buildings.

Since joining UBC in 1989, she has headed projects ranging from better research labs to more usable student social space. She is respected across campus for her fairness, creativity, collaborative working style and energy.

She drafted UBC’s first five-year and 10-year capital programs and her proposals have influenced the provincial government to commit funds to UBC over and above its normal allocation. She has also been instrumental in developing an innovative agreement to rehabilitate campus facilities -- a $120 million project known as UBC Renew.

As founder and director of UBC’s Arts Co-op Program, alumna Julie Walchli has increased the image and value of an Arts degree to the community and the university.

She has worked tirelessly for the last five years at both campus and provincial levels to promote co-op education and is recognized as having developed the most successful student co-op association in B.C. Key among her accomplishments is campus-wide branding of all UBC co-op programs.

Walchli is also an advisor to the UBC chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society where she guides and mentors some of UBC’s most accomplished students.

Her staff says she is passionate about her work and a visionary pioneer whose leadership and commitment have helped hundreds of students realize their potential.