Staff Highlight: Karyl Burwell & the STAR Awards

Student Affairs Business Operations (SABO) is hard at work keeping the business running and ensuring the congruency in the day-to-day operations of the Division. Six full-time staff, as well as two students, are spending their hours compiling information related to work from home, documenting new processes, managing and reporting all of the Telework Agreements, CPAL forms, requests for student assistants and CARES funding requests. For March and April, they were responsible for entering, approving, and submitting more than 350 student timesheets per month to Payroll, allowing students to focus on their own challenges.

Director of Business Operations, Karyl Burwell, considers herself fortunate to work with a team of genuinely talented, dedicated, and engaged individuals. Reflecting on the transition to a virtual office, Burwell says, “The first week or so we were a bit disconnected as a team, but daily Zoom meetings and weekly one-on-ones with the staff have helped a lot and allowed us to come together as a team and manage individual projects and responsibilities.” With the support of SA-IT, the Business Operations team recently began to use Microsoft Teams. “Microsoft Teams has been a game-changer. We’re able to work together in real-time on reports, spreadsheets, and presentations. And with Teams we can video call each other any time; it’s almost like walking to one another’s office when we have a quick question,” says Burwell.

Although work is running smoothly now, Karyl Burwell misses being on campus. “One of the best things about working at Sac State is the beautiful campus and the community of students and fellow employees we are able to connect with throughout the day. As a team, we miss the connections with people and running into people on campus who you would not otherwise see in a meeting.”

The Staff Talent Appreciation & Retention or STAR awards are a way for staff and managers to recognize the meaningful work happening throughout the Division. “We all get busy, and it’s hard to find the time to recognize and celebrate the contributions staff make to help our students, each other, and the campus as a whole to succeed. We’ve all faced new challenges as a result of

COVID-19 and remote work. The fact that the Division was able to transition to remote work, juggle the various new responsibilities that came along with COVID-19 while also maintaining our focus on student success, and staying connected with each other is amazing. It’s a true reflection of the talents and contributions of staff throughout the Division,” says Burwell.

In light of COVID-19, the Business Operations team is getting creative and exploring some new and fun ways for announcing the upcoming winners. Nominations were due on June 6 and winners will be acknowledged this summer. Stay tuned for more details to come.

Written By: Alexander Nichols, Marketing & Communications Specialist