REC Employee Spotlight - January 2024

University at Buffalo Recreation offers and hosts many amazing and fun programs, services, and opportunities for staff and students all year. However, the well-oiled machine that is UB Recreation would not run without its dedicated and hard-working employees. Recognizing those employees helps offer insight into the heart and home of UB Recreation.

This spotlight will be highlighting an employee who will soon be stepping down. Showcasing the legacy and impact he left on UB Recreation as he takes on the next adventure life brings him. College is a learning period for many people, UB Recreation encourages growth and the creation of new and innovative ideas. Whether that be overcoming challenges, developing new interests, or finding new perspectives UB Recreation is a home open to everyone. Frank Chen is among those who found security and clarity through all of it.

Frank Chen is a senior, majoring in Public Health on a pre-medical track. As an associate, he became a member of the Bulls Team Shop in August of 2022, where he maintained organization and provided adequate customer service. Frank’s innovative and proactive ideas, like creating barcodes for merchandise helped launch his success within the Bulls Team Shop and UB Recreation. Leading him to take over as Inventory Manager in March of 2023.

“Ultimately, my main priority shifted to ensuring that I provided the best customer experience I could toward ensuring the staff were in an environment in which they could succeed.”

Through a leadership position, Frank has gained the freedom to run with his ideas as he sees fit. Leading to multiple new creations like building the inventory team that has helped the Bulls Team Shop evolve.

Throughout Frank’s work with the Bulls Team Shop, he has helped develop many new organizational tactics that have been used to create a more enjoyable, successful, and helpful experience for both workers and customers.

However, taking on a leadership position meant completing behind-the-scenes work versus accomplishing day-to-day tasks. He learned to delegate the workload, building trust with his peers, and realizing that “many hands make light work.” It is the lessons one learns that show people the kind of person they are and who they want to be.

“As a leader, true success, doesn’t come in the form of personal accolades and accomplishments, but rather from the accolades of the people you work with.” However, The Bulls Team Shop and UB Recreation are not the only things that have evolved over the years. Frank has grown an immense amount throughout his college experience, specifically regarding his career and the relationships he has formed, helping him find stability and value in one’s work.

Frank’s position has created clarity in his career development. He no longer views a job as a means to an end, or simply a task to complete to earn money. Frank has always had a passion for helping others and working in The Bulls Team Shop has allowed him to develop his communication, conflict resolution, and leadership skills.

However, instead of creating barcodes, one day Frank will be able to use his innovative and proactive ideas to create new policies and build a better healthcare system that benefits the people.

Frank has shifted his goal in the medical field from working clinically, where he would diagnose and treat patients in a public hospital setting to working towards creating a healthcare landscape that is accessible to everyone.

The healthcare system is complicated and like many other things has its defaults. Doctors and nurses can only do so much with the policies and resources they’re given. Making substantial change goes back to the foundations the health care system rests on. Something Frank is eager and driven to improve.

“While goods and services should have an associated cost, the cost of healthcare has skyrocketed and is unsustainable. The current healthcare landscape is in my opinion, becoming way too corporatized and has reduced humans and their lives down to numbers and dollar signs.”

People deserve the best care they can be given, in every environment. Working in a leadership role has given Frank exposure to the fundamental skills needed to be successful in management. The knowledge he has gained throughout college and his time with UB Recreation will soon be applied to a career in which he finds fulfillment. Whether it be through policy development, intimate patient care, or a combination of both. Frank knows that there is no point in doing something if there is no passion or enjoyment.

“If you’re going to spend your adult life working, why not enjoy what you do?”

The bond and trust Frank has built with his co-workers and peers has shown him value in what it truly means to be a leader, relying on one another to complete a task. Meanwhile, Frank’s research in the medical field has shown him that change comes from more than those performing treatments, but also those who implicate the policies and resources to do so.

Success does not come from the number of hours one works or how many zeros are on a paycheck. But, the connections, enjoyment, and fulfillment a person receives from what they do. Frank Chen may soon be stepping away from the Bulls Team Shop and UB Recreation, but the impact he has left and the lessons he has gained will remain forever.