Sharnice Burton, Stephen Chen And Paula Prouhet Receive University Of Missouri-St. Louis Hero Awards

Press release from the University of Missouri-St. Louis:

University of Missouri–St. Louis Chancellor Kristin Sobolik and her cabinet continue to recognize the exemplary efforts of staff and faculty members from across campus by bestowing the UMSL Hero Award on up to three individuals each month.

This month’s honorees are Sharnice Burton, custodian; Stephen Chen, registrar specialist; and Paula Prouhet, assistant teaching professor of nursing and Accelerated BSN Program director.

Sharnice Burton

Sharnice Burton found out that she’d won an UMSL Hero Award as people started coming up and congratulating her.

“It shocked me,” she said. “I said, ‘Thank you,’ and then I said, ‘Well, let me go into a few questions as to what’s going on.’ Well, my hard work does pay off; somebody recognizes it. I appreciate that.”

Burton, who has been a custodian at UMSL for 15 years, has more than a few people appreciative of her hard work and good nature. Both Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Andy Kersten and Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy Jon McGinnis nominated Burton for the Hero Award.

Kerston noted Burton’s precision, kindness, devotion to the job, efforts to know the people she works with and that she’s an “exceptional colleague.”

“She loves UMSL,” McGinnis wrote in his nomination. “She always makes time to chat with me, and I have heard that she does the same with others in the building. What I recall most vividly is that during one of those chats, she said that she just wants to make sure Lucas is a place where students, staff and faculty feel comfortable and appreciated. She ended saying, ‘It’s my little way of transforming lives.’ This is a person that embodies all of what is best of the UMSL ethos.”

Getting to know those around her is one of Burton’s favorite parts of the job. She especially enjoys meeting the students and often finds herself helping out in unexpected ways.

That might mean helping carry books or talking students through their struggles with school or life.

“I love people,” Burton said. “If I can say something to uplift you, to bring a different energy to you, that’s what I want to do. You may not even know that you’re impacting somebody’s life when you really are until later on, and then they come and thank you. I’m looking at it like it wasn’t such a big deal, but they see it in a different light, and I’m good with it.”

Burton got into cleaning because of her mother’s “general clean Sunday” tradition. That’s something that’s she’s passed down to her own four children, one of whom is a current UMSL student.

“I have four of the best children in the world,” she said. “They love their mom, and their mom loves them. They know that I don’t want anything but the best for them, and I will sacrifice whatever to make sure that my children are OK.”

Stephen Chen

As a registrar specialist, Stephen Chen helps out with the many different behind-the-scenes processes that need to happen with student records, and an important aspect of his role is to have a working knowledge of the various duties carried out by the Office of the Registrar.

“I always compare it to being a utility person on a baseball team,” he said. “I just play every position, wherever I’m needed.”

Chen’s willingness to help out anywhere in the Office of the Registrar is one of the many reasons that Senior Project Coordinator Betsy Sampson nominated Chen for an UMSL Hero Award. She also noted his devotion to improving processes and exceptional customer service.

In addition to updating the system that allows faculty to identify students who are missing class to get them back on track, Chen has worked extensively with his colleagues to set up and enhance the chat and Zoom communication system for the Registration office.

“All this has really optimized the way that we are able to assist our students,” he said. “Our mission is to transform lives, and giving students more ways to communicate with us so we can help them has really assisted us in moving toward that goal.”

This press release was produced by the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The views expressed here are the author’s own.