Sara Rodriguez, Records Associate II at the International Students and Scholars Services (ISSSO) office has been awarded the Golden Paw Employee of the Month Award for September 2023

DSA News
September 28, 2023

Sara was nominated by her supervisor, Associate Director for ISSSO Stefan Johnsson, who detailed Sara’s dedication and hard work throughout the office. In addition to her normal responsibilities as a Records Associate II, Sara has taken on additional job duties as the ISSSO entered its busiest time. She responds to an average of eight hundred to one thousand emails monthly, a number much higher than the normal for other staff. She has taken the effort to develop and prepare new business practices to help ease the workflow of requests to their office, specifically for social security letters, a document that F1 students require. She has also learned how to process these social security letters, a task that is not detailed in her normal job responsibilities and has taken on training fellow staff members on how to do the processing.

Throughout her time at ISSSO, Sara has shown a wonderful ability to be reliable and handle additional tasks, even ones that are normally reserved for other staff members, such as processing (SEVIS) transfer outs, reprinting I-20's, and travel signatures. Sara has taken ownership of the office’s main email address to help sort requests and answer general emails.

Sara has taken on numerous duties in addition to her normal responsibilities. The office never receives complaints about the work she does, and she always takes great pride in completing her tasks in a quick and efficient manner. Her ability to understand, learn quickly, and adapt has made her an incredible asset to the ISSSO team and the division.

Congratulations again to Sara on being awarded the Division of Student Affairs September 2023 Golden Paw Employee of the Month.