Sutton, program aide in Registrar’s Office, receives Poummit award

Karly Sutton, a program aide who takes customer service that’s so essential in the Registrar’s Office at SUNY Fredonia to the next level, has received the Poummit Secretarial Award in honor of Janet Marks.

“She is quite often the first to answer a ringing phone or greet a student in our office. Every encounter Karly has with a member of the campus community not only gets service or an answer to their question, but benefits from information or guidance that they didn’t know they needed,” said Registrar Scott Saunders, who nominated Ms. Sutton.

The award was set up by the late SUNY Fredonia alumnus Morris Poummit through the Fredonia College Foundation in honor of Janet Marks, a former secretary to the SUNY Fredonia president.

Though Sutton’s desk is not close to the office’s main entrance, whenever she’s needed, Sutton is the first to shift to an empty desk to be closer to the front so she can be of better service to anyone entering or seeking assistance.

Karly has many high-level responsibilities in the registrar’s office. However, she is one of the first to roll up her sleeves and attack an everyday data entry job that needs to get done.” -  Registrar Scott Saunders

Sutton’s not hesitant to go beyond the expectations of her regular duties. She’s shown to be quite creative in examining technical resources to see how they could be incorporated into the solution to a problem or process flow that occupies her time.

A noteworthy example of this trait is Sutton developing a fully electronic process for the registrar’s degree application and audit process that was heavily dependent on actual paper applications that had to be collected, distributed and returned to the Registrar’s Office and then ultimately mailed to the student.

“This was an extremely cumbersome and time-consuming workflow,” Mr. Saunders noted. “Additionally, with the constant movement of the paper, documents could be easily misplaced or lost.”

Sutton was able to develop a fully electronic process that saves time and paper and also improves accuracy and communication, according to Saunders.

Known for her impressive technical skills, several members of the Registrar’s Office staff rely on Sutton when they have an issue with a spreadsheet or formatting documents or updating web pages. 

Sutton is not reluctant to ask questions, which is a valuable trait to have in that office. When the staff is confronted with new queries or problems that seem to lack an immediate answer, Sutton will always ask questions and then find an answer or solution, instead of referring the student, faculty or parent to another office.

Having this inquisitive nature adds to the resourcefulness Sutton brings to the Registrar’s Office. After raising questions about a process, Sutton seeks out ways to improve upon it for everyone involved. Improving the readmission process was a challenge Sutton embraced. Applications sometimes lacked detailed information, as many parties were involved in the process. Sutton assembled key players to discuss how the process could be improved. What resulted was a process that brought everybody on board and led to a greater understanding by each person of his or her role and importance in the process.

Sutton is always ready to help when day-to-day operations can seem overwhelming, as more processes go online. She’s willing to learn a new task and often rallies the office staff together when something needs to be known and shared with all. The resulting cross training of staff is now more efficient than ever.

“Karly has many high-level responsibilities in the Registrar’s Office. However, she is one of the first to roll up her sleeves and attack an every day data entry job that needs to get done,” Saunders said.

As the degree audit clerk, Sutton handles inquiries in a professional, thoughtful manner and helps students with the next steps toward degree completion.

Sutton also directed the implementation of the certified electronic diploma to make it available to students. She arranged training and adoption sessions with the vendor, adapted web pages to reflect this new option, fully tested the order submission and receipt processes and worked with the vendor to resolve issues when they arose.

Saunders went so far as to say Sutton was instrumental in the review of the mandatory web information supplied by the vendor that made that information more “Fredonia-ized.” She also determined new language and products that were now needed online with the implementation of the certified electronic diploma.

Sutton, who has a bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College, joined SUNY Fredonia in 2010.

“Karly is everyone’s biggest cheerleader,” Saunders remarked. “She’s there to lift us up when she can tell something is wrong. She is always excited and the first to confirm what she’s bringing to one of our many office parties! She is a team player, a leader and a friend to all who know her.”