Sept. 29, 2009 issue

I started as a temp in the library at Eastern Michigan University in 1993. I was hired as a full-time library assistant II in August 1994. I worked in the periodicals department back when the library was in what is now the Porter building.

During my time here, I've also worked in Career Services, HR, Admissions, Continuing Education, and Institutional Research and Information Management (IRIM). I learned a lot in each department. Career Services prepared me for posting jobs in HR. My HR experience helped me with this job here at the Graduate School, where I process PAF forms for graduate assistants and doctoral fellows.

It’s a very busy office. We have contact with students before they even apply to a graduate program all the way to their submitting their thesis or dissertation. There are approximately 450 graduate assistants and 44 doctoral fellows on campus. We’re starting a new GA/DF application process for the winter where graduate students will be able to go online and apply for available positions.

One of the nice things about working at Eastern as a clerical is that you are able to move around if something opens up in an area you’re interested in working. I’ve been at Eastern for 15 years, which is the longest I’ve ever been at one institution. I’ve met a lot of people, made some good friends and even met my husband here. I plan on retiring from Eastern.

If it weren’t for that temp job, I wouldn’t be at EMU today. My future stepdaughter, whom I didn’t know at the time, had applied for that same job in the library. She was an internal candidate and, if she hadn’t withdrawn, I wouldn’t have gotten that job or met my husband. — Contributed by Ron Podell

 

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