Behind the Scenes at Yale-NUS

No matter the day or time, staff at Yale-NUS College work tirelessly to ensure the smooth running of the College. Whether late at night or early in the morning, teams like Infrastructure, Safety and Security provide around-the-clock support to maintain a safe and pleasant living and learning environment for students.

At Yale-NUS College, the Infrastructure team is dedicated to carrying out the College’s daily operations. More familiarly known as “Infra”, the team takes care of the maintenance of facilities and every aspect of safety, from safety protocols to emergency preparedness.

“Contributing to creating a safe and conducive environment for the community is highly rewarding to me,” Head of Security, Infrastructure, Safety and Security Office, Sansurash Krishnan Samy shared.

While the work of Infra may not be constantly visible, their efforts are essential in the smooth operation of campus activities. Daily inspections and proactive maintenance allow the quick identification of potential issues before they escalate. Sansurash shared that his work is most challenging when quick decision-making needs to be made during unforeseen circumstances, such as emergencies or unexpected maintenance issues. “Balancing the diverse responsibilities and prioritising tasks can be demanding but essential for the overall success of our facility management efforts,” he shared.

At Yale-NUS, the Finance department manages all financial transactions for the College. They also do careful budgeting to deliver school events and services while complying with financial policies. To Director of Finance, Joyce Chan, their work is crucial because most of the school’s activities will inevitably involve the College’s budget. Hence, the Finance team finds themselves deeply embedded between many areas of the College, constantly connecting with different teams and functions. “We regularly update the College leadership and Governing Board on how and where the sources of funds were spent,” Joyce elaborates, this helps ensure good governance as College activities take place.

The Human Resources (HR) team is another department whose impact runs through the entirety of the College – they oversee the people-related functions for academic and administrative staff. Their work includes the hiring, onboarding, compensation and benefits, payroll, and offboarding of staff and faculty.

To Deputy Director, Human Resources, Bernard Chung, it is important that the work done by the HR team continues to embody and extend the values and ethos of the College. “Because of the tight-knit size of the College community, each hire needs to be deliberate,” he emphasised.

Due to the College’s small size, difficult decisions in resource planning often have to be made, particularly in screening and hiring new talent. “One challenge of our work is having to communicate different trade-offs and facilitate informed decision making,” Bernard explained. As Yale-NUS is a relatively new College, the HR team had the opportunity to start from first principles and design systems and processes that work for the College and in the context of a liberal arts college.

When asked what drives their work, both Bernard and Joyce agree that the Yale-NUS spirit of collaboration defines the approach to their work. “We appreciate the warm and inclusive Yale-NUS spirit. The strong bond in our teams keeps us going for more,” Joyce commented.

For Bernard, what attracted him to the College is working in a small, tight group. “We are a community, and that has allowed us to be more sincere and honest with one another,” he shared.