Positive, passionate Karen Power embodies employee excellence

Karen Power has been providing excellent administrative support and customer service at UFV since 1990, and is the winner of the 2018 Staff Excellence Award.

Balancing a passion for customer service and a positive results-driven nature with the ability to overcome challenges, Karen Power embodies employee excellence.

For her years of dedication to and excellence in her work, Karen is this year’s winner of the Staff Excellence Award.

Karen Power joined UFV in 1990, starting as an Assistant to the Director of Trades (later to the Dean of Trades and Technology). “To have had a front row seat and been able to assist during that era of UFV’s extraordinary growth was truly exciting and very fulfilling. Those times made it very energizing to come to work with such quality people. Looking back, it’s amazing what we were able to accomplish. The experience is something I will never forget.”

Karen first became an Assistant to the Dean in 2004 and brought those talents to the Faculty of Professional Studies in 2012 where she has excelled ever since.

“Moving to the Faculty of Professional Studies allowed me to take on an entirely new world of challenges and brought me back to the Abbotsford campus where it all began. New people and different challenges made for a steep learning curve, again making it exciting to come to work.”

Dean of Professional Studies Tracy Ryder Glass notes that Karen’s organization skills are impeccable. She ensures timelines, processes and meetings are planned for, always with an eye to deadlines. Through her leadership, the Department and School staff (she mentors 13 staff) are fully connected and provide a voice in relation to important Faculty of Professional Studies plans and decisions.

Aside from her unparalleled ability to plan and organize, if you ask anyone what they admire most about Karen, they will say it is her positive approach to all that she says and does.

Her smile is genuine and infectious.

“UFV is a place where service is not just a word. It is an action that flows continuously, creating a community – it’s contagious,” says Karen.

“The greatest part of working for UFV is knowing that I have a part in helping students succeed from their first introductory tour of UFV to crossing the stage at Convocation. It’s exhilarating to know that we all played a part in making others’ dreams come true.”