From the 2016 Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards:
Becky Sanchez is a Portland State University alumna and joined as a PSU employee in 1998. Since 2003, Becky has been with the School of Business Administration’s (SBA) student services office. For thirteen years she has focused on student success first as a front desk clerk, then as a professional advisor, and now as the Director of the SBA Undergraduate Programs Office. In her current role, Becky continues to advise prospective SBA students while also taking on institutional initiatives that move students towards graduation.
Becky’s recent efforts in SBA include launching four new mentorship programs focused on increasing student retention and redesigning the tuition remission allocation process which gave students a credit on their tuition bill, significantly helping students struggling to make ends meet with completing their degrees. Further, she successfully completed two advising-related projects through the Provost Challenge Initiative: Last 5 Miles and Reaching Out.
In addition to her work within the SBA, Becky has made extraordinary university-wide contributions to student success. This last academic year, Becky testified in front of the Oregon State Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee on Education, asking them to increase funding for higher education and professional advising services. Becky is part of the Last Mile committee through which she has helped graduate over 600 students. She chaired the PSU Excessive Credits Task Force which identified factors inhibiting graduation for students with excess credits and also worked on developing and implementing PSU’s 4-YR Degree Guarantee.
Becky has the ability to touch student lives at macro and micro levels, and she does so effectively and with unrelenting passion. She creates a positive and optimistic space in which things can happen. Becky’s colleagues within SBA and the PSU community praise her compassion, determination, enthusiasm, and fearless advocacy for students.
The Mary H. Cumpston Award for Service to Students is given annually to an academic professional or university administrator, without academic rank, who has demonstrated excellence in the area of service to students. Mary H. Cumpston was a beloved colleague who truly embodied the meaning of excellence in service to students to the Portland State University.