The awards honour staff members for their outstanding presence, and their contributions to their colleagues and the wider university community.
JG Chen and Matt Stephanson are the esteemed recipients of the Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU) Staff Excellence Awards.
The awards recognize staff members who embody the university’s values and showcase excellence in their service. Started by the ECU Human Resources team in 2020, the awards aim to honour the staff and administrators who have significantly contributed to their colleagues and the wider university community.
JG Chen, Institutional Research Data Architect, was recognized for her thorough dedication and service excellence in her time at ECU. As a long-time member of the community since 2000, JG has overseen the implementation of the Colleague system and provided research support across the university.
JG reflects on how her work at ECU has been intertwined with her journey to Canada and settling into a new city.
“Emily Carr University has never been just a workplace to me. It has been an important part of my life and my move to Canada,” she says. “Over the years, ECU has been a place where I learned, grew, built meaningful relationships and became part of a wonderful community.”
Louisa Liu and Ali Entezari nominated JG and note she has become an integral part of the Finance and IT Services team’s ability to share information and make thoughtful, data-driven decisions. For Ali, JG has brought a collaborative spirit to their projects together and praises her dedication to making processes seamless and intuitive.
“JG has developed many useful Informer reports and dashboards that have made information easier for our team to access and use,” Ali says. “She takes the time to understand what Finance needs and translates those needs into practical solutions. She is responsive, knowledgeable and collaborative, and has become someone our team knows we can rely on whenever we need technical support or help finding a better way to do something.”
Matt Stephanson, Studio Technician, Media Arts, was recognized for his community building and service excellence in his role. Matt joined ECU in 2009, and has collaborated across different programs and assisted students, staff and faculty in bringing their projects from the idea stage to fruition.
A trained sound designer, Matt is known for going above and beyond to support students and faculty with their projects. His nominators, Carlo Ghioni and Harry Killas, highlighted his generosity and creativity to the ECU community.
“I have had the privilege of working with Matt on the sound design and original music scores for my stop-motion films The Man Who Collects Elastics and Two Bicycles,” says Carlo. “Matt does far more than ‘add sound’ to a film: he listens to the images, understands their rhythm, their silences and their emotional architecture and then responds as an artist. His work transformed the films, finding musical and sonic dimensions that I could not have reached on my own.”
For Matt, this honour feels rejuvenating and unexpected. “I am so thankful to have the opportunity to work in such a supportive community and am humbled by this award,” he says. “It may sound cliché, but every team member deserves this recognition; it’s certainly helped to renew my drive and feelings of excitement for the coming year!
Through their generosity, care, creativity and willingness to support those around them, JG and Matt have made a lasting impact on the people they work with and the wider ECU community.
The selection committee also recognizes Mark Elwin Solmo, Interim Instructional Designer, Online and Hybrid Learning, for ‘bringing patience, generosity, and actively working toward making things better for everyone around him.”
Congratulations to both JG, Matt and Mark!