What area do you work in within the VPFA portfolio?

I work in Business Affairs, within Payroll Services.

What is your current position, and what are your job responsibilities?

I am the Payroll Operations Manager. I manage the staff and the workload, and the communications with the payroll administrators across campus. I do a lot of collaborating with our HR department to improve processes and ensure timely, accurate pay for the university community.

What has been your career path; how did you end up in your current position?

I joined the active-duty army right out of high school and then I spent two years in Korea. After that, I deployed to Afghanistan. While I was in the army, I was a financial management specialist, doing payroll data entry, debt collections, cashier, and reconciling accounts. After I got out of the army, I went to Tacoma Community College and got my associate’s degree. I transferred to the University of Oregon to complete my business degree and then joined the Oregon National Guard full time. I worked payroll with them for a few years and then I became a Human Resources specialist for three years and was deployed to Kosovo for one of those years. 

After Kosovo, I left full-time military service and came back to the UO to get my MBA. While I was here, I went through the ROTC program on campus. In winter term of my final year of the MBA, I saw this Payroll job posted. I realized I had the experience, so I applied. I started the job half-time in April and did that for a few months while I was finishing my MBA. I received my MBA in June 2024 and went full-time in July with this job.  I have been managing payroll my entire career, so this job was a good fit.

What obstacles have you overcome in your career?

One big obstacle that I am navigating now is the drastic cultural difference between working in the military and working in the civilian world. The military is hierarchical and direct. It is structured and you know exactly what you have to do, while the civilian side is grey. Also, you need to get creative when handling situations because the steps are not as clear, but you get to work with a much wider array of people. 

How has working at UO enabled your professional goals and interests?

Interestingly enough, when I graduated in 2015 with my undergraduate degree, I was offered a position in Financial Aid office as a counselor. Unfortunately, it didn’t make sense for me to accept it at the time due to personal reasons. However, I have been keeping an eye out ever since because I thought I would really enjoy working for a university. There are great benefits and many opportunities to move around. If you want to progress from your job, you can move departments and still stay in the same organization. You can also move to other universities in Oregon, or further afield. I really think this job will help me as I develop my career and keep growing. Also, this is a great position for networking—everyone knows payroll!

What do you like about your current position?

I really like solving problems and I enjoy the complexities of the issues we face. I like being able to send a message saying we have fixed something that was a problem! This office has gone through a lot of changes recently and so I appreciate seeing how the changes we have implemented ripple across campus quickly. It is lots of work but very rewarding!

It also feels good to have conversations with people and help them understand the different layers or their specific situation. We recently had to tell someone we could not include their stipend in this month’s payroll but let them know it would happen next month. That person was thrilled because they expected to be paid in 2 or 3 months at the earliest! 

What advice do you have for someone thinking of applying to the UO?

Don’t put yourself in a hole. Don’t think “this is all I can do”. Don’t limit your abilities based on your job title. Even if you have an entry-level job, don’t have an entry-level job mindset. 

A little personal stuff.

• Family: I got married in December of 2023 and we are a dual Military household. I am originally from Wallowa in Eastern Oregon. I have a 10-year old black lab named Odin and two 11-year-old cats that are brother and sister. 
• Favorite food: I love to eat. If I had to pick something, I would pick Korean food.
• Best movie you’ve seen: If I had to watch something forever and ever, the Harry Potter series.

If you could only take three items with you to a deserted island, what would they be?

My husband, a knife, and a lighter.

How do you want to be remembered?

As someone who takes care of the people around me.

(November 2024)