Vancouver staffer's commitment to creating innovative, imaginative and inviting spaces at SFU wins staff achievement award

Known for his professionalism and collaborative attitude, Staff Achievement Award recipient Augustin Tretinik, Facilities Services’ project manager for SFU’s Vancouver Campus, garners praise from every partner he has worked with to revitalize Vancouver Campus's spaces.

“Augustin is an integral member of our campus facilities’ team, a core group of professionals who are instrumental to the implementation of our campus renewal plan,” says Laurie Anderson, executive director of SFU's Vancouver campus. “The transformation of the Vancouver campus, especially at SFU Harbour Centre, is repeatedly and positively commented on by visitors, students, faculty, staff and SFU colleagues from other campuses. Augustin has played a vitally important role in making all of this possible.”

Vancouver campus’s Claudia Wang describes Tretinik as “a breath of fresh air,” with his “unusual combination of qualities for a project manager – an acute esthetic sense for colours and design, a warm and friendly personality, a meticulous style for budgets and numbers, and the unwavering ability to keep projects on time and on budget.”

For the creation of the Graduate Research Commons in Harbour Centre and the renovation of Belzberg Library’s service desk and adjacent staff workspaces, Tretinik “leveraged his ability to translate educational imperatives into design language in order to create beautiful, multi-functional spaces that enhance the work and learning of SFU community members,” says Ebony Magnus, head of Belzberg Library. “Augustin sees possibility where others glaze over opportunity,“ says Ailsa Brown, project director of brand expression at SFU. “He strives for an unparalleled quality of execution.”

At 312 Main St., “Augustin made numerous suggestions that improved our use of the space and was always looking for ways to efficiently utilize a limited budget,” says Shanthi Besso, director of leadership and community building programs. “His response time to questions or concerns is incredibly fast and he always troubleshoots challenges with grace and good humour.”

Tretinik’s dedication was apparent particularly during the pandemic. “Augustin continued to come to campus and work tirelessly to keep things moving,” said his nominator, Mat Cocuzzi, associate director of Facilities Services.  “He was forced to quickly adapt worksites and adopt new and critical safety protocols to ensure the university’s pandemic response was quick and effective.”

With so many projects on the go at SFU’s Vancouver campus, it’s hard to find this sought-after project manager in one place. “We are in the busiest season for Vancouver campus renovations right now and many times I wish that the day could have 36 hours,” says Tretinik.

Whether it is renovating the Segal School of Business’s main floor event space and installing universal washrooms there to upgrading the School of Contemporary Art’s student studios at 611 Alexander St., Tretinik values seeing the reaction from the SFU community.

“What I find rewarding – especially after the pandemic – is when people come back and see the new spaces and can’t help but smile. To see their happy faces, to see them returning and collaborating again in these new spaces – that makes me happy.”

On winning this year’s Staff Achievement Award, Tretinik prefers to share this honour with his colleagues. “I find the SFU community to be a very special community. [The Staff Achievement Award] is not only my success. It’s everyone at Facilities Services’ success. It’s everyone at the Vancouver campus. We are like a family here.”