Cheryl Schmitz is proud to have built her career at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. She is passionate about Sask Polytech’s mission of educating students and providing skilled and successful graduates. Cheryl is excited to lead the Administrative Services’ team as Sask Polytech continues to evolve and grow to meet student and employer needs.Cheryl’s practical and thoughtful approach to planning, problem-solving, operations and team-building are among many reasons she is respected and valued as a senior administrator, project leader and strategic advisor to organizational leaders, policy makers and boards of directors. Executive-level professional development, in a range of relevant disciplines, complements her Master's degree in Educational Administration, focusing on post-secondary educational leadership, Chartered Professional Accountant/Certified Management Accountant (CPA/CMA) designation and Commerce degree from the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan. Most recently she attended the Harvard Kennedy School, obtaining a certificate in crisis leadership in higher education-2024,and Harvard”s Graduate School of Education’s Institute for Educational Management-2023. In 2023, she was nominated for and won the Saskatoon YWCA’s Women of Distinction Award in the Business and Leadership category. Cheryl joined SIAST in 1995 as the manager of payroll systems and services. In 1996, she was appointed as SIAST’s director of financial planning. In 2006, Cheryl assumed the role of associate vice president, financial services. She was appointed as chief financial officer and vice president of Administrative Services in 2019. In this role, she is currently responsible for: Communications and Marketing; Facilities Management; Financial Services; Human Resources; Information Technology Services; and Strategy.Cheryl made significant contributions toward transforming and positioning SIAST to become a first-choice polytechnic in Canada.Prior to joining Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Cheryl served as the first director of finance for a large rural health district in Saskatchewan; a position that was created in response to the province's health care reform in the early 1990s.