Where do you work within the VPFA portfolio?
I'm actually a part of Institutional Research (IR). Though IR is actually a branch of the Provost's office, we work very closely with the VPFA.
What is your current position, and what are your job responsibilities?
My current title is Senior Institutional Research Analyst for Financial Systems. I collect, compile, and clarify data for analysis and reports providing decision support for administrators across campus. While my focus is primarily on fiscal data, I also work with personnel and student data when relevant. Though I use a wide variety of software, my principal expertise is in Cognos and Excel.
What has been your career path and how did you end up in your current position?
I started working serious jobs when I was still in high school and earned my way through college. Tough assignments with significant responsibilities but limited resources have been strangely appealing to me all my life. I guess I like a good challenge. Making the best and most efficient use of the available resources to exceed my employers’ expectations has become an integral part of my work ethic and, over time, as a result, opportunities have presented themselves in ways I never expected.
What is your work history and education that enabled you to attain your current position?
If you can name a job, there's a good chance I might have done it or something like it. Simultaneous and varied jobs before and all through my college years were the norm. I earned a BS in Leisure Studies and Services from the UO in the 1980s, a degree geared toward the creation and administration of businesses centered around the delivery of intangible benefits. That education set me up nicely for my first salaried job in the private non-profit world. Fifteen years and several promotions later, economics necessitated a job change and I took a temp job at the UO in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), to see what was possible here. I learned everything I could as fast as I could and made the best of the resources I had. Within a year, I applied for and was offered the position of Coordinator of Business Operations for the Department of Psychology. After ten years of challenging and rewarding work there, an opportunity to work with the Dean's Office in the College of Design (DSGN) presented itself. My knowledge of both UO operations and administration, accumulated while working in CAS, became an immediate asset in my work with DSGN. My work with DSGN then paved the way for the analysis work I do now with IR.
Please share some insight into what your job involves.
Successfully completing tough assignments with significant responsibilities but limited resources.
What advice do you have for others, or what secrets would you share for someone thinking of applying to the UO?
Some simple advice that I have given my kids over the years and would give to anyone else who's interested: Be reasonable. Be responsible. Be respectful. Be grateful. Be generous.
How do you want to be remembered?
As someone who was always reasonable, responsible, respectful, grateful, and generous.
(July 2021)