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Tarleton State University

Staff Council NewsletterApril, 2009 – Service Awards Month! TT

CALENDAR APRIL 13-17 Student Worker Appreciation Week 23 Driver’s Safety Training 28 New Employee Orientation 28 Banner 101 Training 30 Service Award BBQ: 5–7 p.m. MAY 14 Staff Development Day 19 New Employee Orientation 19 Banner 101 Training 20 Driver’s Safety Training

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE .................................1CALENDAR .................................................. 1 COMMITTEE REPORTS ................................... 2 NEWS Service Learning – Tarleton Round Up . 2 Comings and Goings ............................. 3 Employee of the Month: Venetta Skinner .............................................. 3

Donna Haynie Retirement .................... 4 TARLETON: THE WAY WE WERE 1994 ‐ Cynthia Carter ........................... 5 1984 ‐ Donna Savage ............................ 6 1974 ‐ Linda McQueary ........................ 7

FEATURES I/T Services ........................................... 8 Purchasing ............................................ 9 Cashiers .............................................. 10 Mr. Graham’s Office ........................... 11 OPEIR .................................................. 12

SERVICE AWARD BBQ ANNOUNCEMENT ....... 13 See these folks get awards!................14

The Staff Council Newsletter is a publication of the Tarleton Staff Council Public Relations Committee. It is published monthly during the university academic year.

THANK YOU to all the folks who took time out of their busy days to provide

information for this issue. Special thanks to Donna Hendrix and

Jennifer Barrera, eagle‐eyed proofreaders!

Ann Pawlak

Staff Council Officers President: Angie Nimmo, Career Services. x. 9078 Vice President: Jim Looby. Student Publications. x. 9062 Secretary: Abi Freeman, OPEIR. x. 9354 Treasurer: Leah Bartelt, Business Services. x. 9434 Parliamentarian: Melet Price, Physical Facilities. x. 9267 Past President: Jason Jacks, Science & Technology

Staff Council Members Jennifer Barrera (3) Karen Hooks (7) Christi Pfau (5) Leah Bartelt (5) Sharon Iley (4) Melet Price (6) Sherri Boren (4) Jason Jacks (3) Richard Reed (7) Shelly Brown (3) Clifton Jones (3) Cheryl Rhoades (5) Nancy Easterling (3) Jim Looby (1) Maureen Scantling (7) Norman Fox (7) Courtney Maciel (3) Karen Schecht (4) Abi Freeman (5) Dana Moore (1) Lathes Towns (3) Susan Gordon (4) Angie Nimmo (3) Elizabeth Wallace (1) Sylvia Hampton (3)

Group: 1 Executive/Administrative, 3 Professional/Non‐Faculty, 4 Clerical/Secretarial, 5

Technical/Paraprofessional, 6 Skilled Crafts, and 7 Service/Maintenance

www.tarleton.edu/~staffcouncil/

Angie

Now that the QEP has been announced ‐‐“Keeping it REAL” Real‐world Experiences Applied to Learning ‐‐ what can we do as staff members to implement it into our daily work? If we expect students to truly engage in learning, then we should also expect staff and faculty to truly engage in teaching. I know that money ‐‐ the economy and how to do more with less ‐‐ is on everyone’s minds. Let’s look at the big picture. We all have an investment in Tarleton. For our investment to grow and be successful, we all must contribute. Sometimes the little ways in which we contribute have the greatest influence on our students. Making a commitment to

get involved outside the office or classroom, taking the time to explain a process, or giving students the opportunity to learn hands‐on will promote both the student and Tarleton. Knowing we can impact students and engage them with Real‐world Experiences so that they may impact the world‐‐‐our world ‐‐ should be considered compensation. As we continue to stretch our dollars, let’s unite together as a university to stretch our ideas about ways to “Keep it REAL”.

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Tarleton State University Staff Council Newsletter

Committee ReportsApril, 2009 – Service Award Month! TT

PPuubblliicc RReellaattiioonnss Chairman: Jennifer Barrera, Library Join us, April 13th at 2 pm in the Administration foyer, to celebrate the signing of the proclamation by Dr. Dottavio to kick‐off the First Annual Student Worker Appreciation Week, April 13‐17th. We encourage everyone to bring their student workers to the celebration. Cookies and punch will be served! During this week, many departments are planning various ways to recognize their student workers: providing pizza parties, giving goodie bags, taking their student workers to lunch, etc. We hope everyone will get involved and show their appreciation for this deserving group. We are providing customizable Certificates of Appreciation available on the Staff Council website. Don’t forget to take pictures of your department celebrations and send them to [email protected] so that we can post them on the website! See you on the 13th!!

SSttaaffff AAffffaaiirrss Chairman: Jim Looby, Student Publications Co‐Chair: Sheri Boren, Environmental Services Staff Affairs has been working on a number of projects, including: a comparison study of staff salaries and pay rates as compared to other institutions, awarding staff development grants, discussion and formation of a task force to study employee education benefits, studying the uses of vacation and sick leave, working with a suggested initiative to improve bussing around campus and nearby community. SSttaaffff DDeevveellooppmmeenntt Chairman: Melet Price, Physical Facilities Co‐Chair: Susan Gordon, Department of Mathematics The Staff Development Committee met twice in March. We are working hard to put together Staff Development Day. We have a speaker, we have several workshop ideas, and things are coming together quickly. Please put Staff Development Day on your calendar and plan to attend. The date is May 14, 2009 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. All staff members are encouraged to attend.

““KKeeeeppiinngg IItt RREEAALL”” ((RReeaall--wwoorrlldd EExxppeerriieenncceess AApppplliieedd ttoo LLeeaarrnniinngg)) SSeerrvviiccee LLeeaarrnniinngg iinn AAccttiioonn:: tthhee SSttuuddeenntt OOrrggaanniizzeedd TTaarrlleettoonn RRoouunndd--UUpp SSaattuurrddaayy,, MMaarrcchh 2288tthh

((LLeetttteerrss ttoo EEddiittoorr ‐‐‐‐ SStteepphheennvviillllee EEmmppiirree TTrriibbuunnee,, WWeeddnneessddaayy,, AApprriill 11,, 22000099,, ppaaggee 44)) To the editor, Six nice young people along with their sponsor, President Dominic Dottavio, arrived at my house in freezing weather to do chores for the elderly as part of the Tarleton Round‐Up. They were the friendliest and nicest bunch of people ever. They all pitched in and got the work done. Thank God for parents who teach their youngsters to give of themselves and help others. We have a lot of good young people and our new president is a wonderful example for all the young people at our university. Thank you all very much.

Sincerely, Grace Perry, Stephenville

To the editor, On Saturday, some Tarleton students came to my house and raked leaves and helped clean up the yard even though the wind was really cold. I truly appreciated them! Thank you Austin Brown, Kasey McMillan, Drew Storey and James Bland. Your parents can really be proud of you! Photo: Alyson Chapman

Sincerely, Marjory Viles, Stephenville

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Staff NewsApril, 2009 – Service Awards Month! TT

WELCOME NEW STAFF • Anderson, Roger. Student Recruiter‐TCT. Academic Dean. • Brigman, Noelle. Health & Safety Officer. Risk Management & Safety

• Freeman, Douglas. Mgr. of Application Development. CAE. • Lawson, Rachel. Transcript Analyst. Admissions. • McCauley, Randall. Mgr of Public Relations and Marketing‐TCT, Academic Dean

• Menefee, Morgan. Groundskeeper II. Facilities Maintenance. • Steinmetz, Melissa. Transcript Analyst‐TCT. Academic Dean. PROMOTIONS AND NEW JOBS – CONGRATULATIONS! • Fagan, Susie. Administrative Assistant V. President’s Office • Fischbacher, Gabriele. Administrative Assistant V. Business & CIS‐TCT

• Ott, Harriet. Administrative Assistant IV‐TCT. Education. • Steinmetz, Melissa. Transcript Analyst‐TCT, Academic Dean

DEPARTURES – BEST WISHES • Greeney, Danny. Web Services/Library. • Hash, Julie. Student Services‐TCT. • Haynie, Donna. Physical Facilities. • Kilburn, Rusty. Facilities Maintenance. • Matherly, Laura. Business & CIS‐TCT. • Sikes, Rebecca. Business Services.

MARCH EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

Venetta Skinner has been with Tarleton State University since September 1998. She began in the Department of Nursing and has remained with them for more than eleven years. Her current position as Administrative Assistant IV reflects her dedication to organization and always being there for 16 faculty members, as well as nursing students. Her record keeping skills are phenomenal and remain the basis for the growth of this department, as construction on the new Nursing Building begins a new chapter for Venetta and her “team.” She volunteers her time in behind‐the‐scenes activities for the Student Nursing Association and Sigma Tau Nursing Honor Society. Venetta plans the convocation, pinning ceremony and graduation to provide Tarleton’s nursing students with a great experience as they leave and go out into the medical profession. Her daughter is currently enrolled at Tarleton and is also on the track team. “Mom” is her #1 fan and attends home and away games, volunteering her van, helping with refreshments, score keeping and staying very much involved.

Troy Hale and Jennifer Teten

Staff Handbook www.tarleton.edu/~hr/Handbooks/StaffHandbook.pdf

The 4Es: Tarleton’s Strategic Goals www.tarleton.edu/main/strategicgoals.html

Get Involved! During the next few weeks you will be receiving two survey forms. One will ask you to volunteer for a Tarleton committee for next year, and the other will ask you to volunteer for a Staff Council committee for next year. Tarleton is what we make it. If we don’t do anything, some good things will fade away, some things that could be better will stay the same, and some new things we should try will never have a chance. It’s up to each of us to set an example of leadership, service and success. If reading this newsletter reminds you that you don’t know many Tarleton folks, committees are a great way to meet people from other departments!

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Donna Haynie Made Tarleton a Better PlaceApril, 2009 – Service Award Month! TT

She helped find future members of the Tarleton family by serving on search committees for: • Kent Styron’s position first as Technical Administrator and then the Director of Risk Management and Safety

• Fran Teten’s position as the Administration Supervisor

• Aaron Wand’s position as Facilities Planning & Project Manager which became the Director of Planning Design and Construction

• Steve Bowman’s position as Energy Manager • Current Director of Facilities Maintenance Terry Pritchett and former Director Jim Pack

And she helped make our campus more beautiful by supporting projects including: • Tarleton Center Rehab ‐‐ coordinated buying furniture for the offices

• New Science Building construction • Observatory at Hunewell Ranch construction • Fine Arts Center Restoration in preparation for Symphony Orchestra

• Math and Library Building renovations • Rec Sports Building construction • New Dining Hall construction • OA Grant Building Revitalization

Donna’s door was always open to employees who wanted advice or needed an encouraging word. She was always there and someone who could be depended on. Donna was an inspiration to others and led by example. She has seen Tarleton through a lot of changes and she will be greatly missed.

Before the 4 E’s, Donna Haynie: • Excelled in developing an environment conducive to learning. • Expanded the horizons within Physical Facilities. • Encouraged leadership within the department by setting the example and supported student success throughout all her years.

• And Extended our reach by strengthening Tarleton’s relationship with Architects, Engineers and Contractors. Excerpts from remarks made by Mr. Joe Standridge, Associate Vice

President – Physical Facilities

Joe Standridge

Donna Haynie President Dottavio

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Tarleton 1994: Cynthia CarterApril, 2009 – Service Awards Month! TT

Cynthia Carter, Assistant Vice President for Finance and Administration, believes Tarleton has remained the same in all the important ways ‐‐ people still care about each other, they still help each other, and Tarleton still is a family – since she arrived in Stephenville as a junior transfer student from McLennan Community College in 1992. Of course, there were fewer students then and not as many buildings. Wal‐Mart was where Hastings and Tractor Supply are now. David’s Supermarket was behind Movie Gallery which was across the street from HEB. Montana’s and McDonalds were across the street from campus, but the bookstore and the drugstore are gone now. Cynthia checked her mail and participated in student events in the Tarleton Center, which used to be the Student Center.

She’s still here. After completing her MBA in 1997, she worked in Housing and for Dr. Koy Floyd, first as a Program Specialist for Annual Giving and then (when Kelli Styron joined the Criminal Justice faculty) in Planned Giving. One thing led to another. In 2000, President McCabe asked her to serve as the Assistant to the President. Her life was never the same

after that. She gained a broader perspective – federal and state government, A&M system, Tarleton campus – and began to develop contacts and relationships with many people she still deals with now. She learned a lot about higher education and how her skills and interests could make Tarleton a better place. One of her uncles is a lawyer in Louisiana. When she received her bachelor’s degree, he said he would pay for her to attend law school in Louisiana so she could eventually join his law firm. She was tempted, but Tarleton won. Thank goodness. Her legal aptitude and instincts have kept Tarleton out of more than one mess! In 2005, Cynthia applied for and was extended a job offer in Finance and Administration as Assistant Vice President for Finance and Administration. It’s a good way to use her MBA.

And she’s not done growing yet. She is ABD from Capella University and plans to complete her dissertation this fall. Her topic is “Higher Education Administration in Texas Public Universities: A Comparative Study of the Personalities and Attitudes of White Administrators at Minority Serving Institutions and Minority Admin‐istrators at Pre‐dominately White Institutions.” She plans to stay at Tarleton when she finishes her Ph.D. But some day, when the time is right, she wants to be a university president. Cynthia must get her energy and ambition from her mother. Her 65‐year old mom works full‐time, takes online courses to complete a dual master’s degree in nursing and public health, and is in her eleventh round of chemotherapy. When Cynthia asked her whether she intended to continue for a Ph.D., she said might consider it. What a woman!

1994 Grassburr

Grassburr 1994 Cruise TheIsland. Thistradition goesback to thedays whenthe islandwent straightthrough toWashington Street. WhenAdministra‐tion Buildingconstruction

closed the island in 1985, the event motto “Cruise It or Lose It”became the battle cry of students who wanted the remainingisland preserved for cruising. Now students Cruise the Islandonce a year to preserve this tradition. – Tarleton Traditions

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Tarleton 1984: Donna SavageApril, 2009 – Service Award Month! TT

Donna Savage, University Librarian, sees Tarleton coming full circle since she arrived in 1984. Tarleton was building then, and we are building again. At the beginning of the fall semester, Tarleton had enrolled the most students ever: 4,600. Wal‐Mart had just opened in Stephenville. The HEB store was a K‐Mart. Safeway was across the street from campus at Lillian and Washington. Downtown Stephenville was a great place to shop with Beall’s plus a couple of good restaurants, Perry’s and a nice gift store. Donna banked at Town and Country (the only bank that has kept its name over all these years). With a membership card, you could get a margarita and “fajitas to die for” at Jose’s (La Fiesta now). The campus and the community were much closer together: houses faced campus along Vanderbilt where the dining hall and Central Plant are now. When parking was scarce for campus events, homeowners would sit out in their lawn chairs and charge students to park on their lawns. Donna was amazed when, on a hot August day, a crew of students led by Mr. TSU and Senior Class Nominee Rusty Jergins arrived to unload their moving van.

We have SACS to thank for getting her here from Kansas. The 1980 SACS review included a requirement that Tarleton establish a Student Counseling Center. Given a choice between the upper peninsula of Michigan and north central Texas, Donna and her family chose good weather and a small town that seemed likely to be a great place to raise their two sons while her former husband served as director of the new Counseling Center. Not more than an hour after their arrival, they were invited to an ice cream social sponsored by Tarleton Campus Club members to welcome new faculty and staff to the Tarleton family. Hired as a clerk‐typist in the library in 1984, she completed her masters degree in library

science at Texas Women’s University in 1986. By 1988, she was serving as Systems Librarian, and in 1990 she became Division Head for Public Services. As Staff Council President and a member of many committees, she worked with President McCabe on a lot of things. One day he described an Assistant to the President job to her. Detouring from the library to work as President McCabe’s assistant for four years was an incredible opportunity to learn the inner workings of the university and higher education. The job gave her a different perspective on serving students and how she can make a difference in their lives. And she learned how to manage committee work and meetings, how to document and justify requests to the legislature, Board of Regents and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and (most important) how to handle “other duties as assigned.” She was blessed to meet and work with many great people on and off campus and to be able to nurture those relationships over time. Donna returned to the library as Associate University librarian in time to manage the renovation project.

Photo Courtesy of Glenda Stone

Library front entrance construction 1984. Note the O.A. Grant building is “Humanities & Business.”

Donna has watched technology transform libraries into something no one imagined in 1984 when the first computer project on campus included automating the library card catalog much to the chagrin of the English Department. Now an empty card catalog sits in the lobby as a display. She never expected to be here 25 years later. Tarleton really is like a family, and you don’t walk away from family.

Grassburr

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1974 – Linda McQuearyApril, 2009 – Service Award Month! TT

After thirty‐five or forty years, memories of all the university’s highs and lows fade, leaving just a day‐to‐day commitment to what Tarleton is: treating students like family and helping them to learn so they can be successful in their jobs and with their families. Linda McQueary says she loves it here and loves working ‐‐ we’re going to have to carry her out when she’s done serving Tarleton. She and her husband Roger came to Tarleton in 1968. Roger earned his associate of science degree at Tarleton when it was a two‐year school and then returned to be the basketball coach for the Plowboys. For a while they lived in Crockett Hall, the “Athletic Dorm.” The athletes had great fun teasing their young son Mark. He’s a game warden now in Bandera County. He and his wife have four dogs but no kids. Their daughter Ralinda was born in Stephenville. She’s married and has given them two grandchildren. Roger and Linda love spending time with the grandchildren and try not to spoil them too much. Ralinda was Tarleton’s Assistant Director of Human Resources for several years before resigning and becoming Director Human Resources at Weatherford College in 2007. Both Mark and Ralinda are Tarleton grads. Linda says Roger is a wonderful husband. They still live in their original house on Mockingbird.

Tarleton Agriculture Club 1974 (Grassburr photo)

Linda says one of the best things about working at Tarleton is that she always has great bosses. Her first job was as James Leeth’s secretary in the Industrial Technology (IT) Department. She worked in IT from 1973 until 1990. Then, when Dr. Tackett’s secretary resigned, Linda applied for that job in the College of Agriculture. She’s been there since 1990. After Dr. Tackett, she worked for Dr. Don Knotts until he retired. Now she works for Dr. Don Cawthon. They all have been easy to work with and always kept her informed about high priority concerns for the office.

Linda was instrumental in starting the first Cross Timbers Educational Office Personnel Associ‐ation (CT‐EOPA).

She served as Charter Secretary and then as President for two years. She received the first Support Staff of the Year award. Linda, Sharon Haynes and Marilyn Smith initiated the proposal for support staff to receive a $500 merit raise after completing a professional secretarial training program. The one thing Linda misses in her job is all the contact with students she used to have. Now she mostly sees them when they have to talk with the Dean about a problem. And what she notices most is change: different procedures, more students, new technology. She used to talk with people in person or by telephone or letter. Now she gets so many emails that there isn’t enough time to read them all and definitely not time to reply. She treasures the relationships made with students, faculty and staff on the Tarleton campus and believes it is most important to “treat students like you would want your own kids to be treated.”

1974 was Tarleton’s first year as a state university.

Grassburr

Linda McQueary

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IT Services – Keeping Us All ConnectedApril, 2009 – Service Awards Month! TT

Stephen Wilson (2), Manager, User Support Services, has worked at Tarleton for 8 years. Student workers are very important in User Support Services. Usually a student worker at the Help Desk listens to your problem and fills out a service ticket, and then a student worker technician fixes your problem or brings you what you need. Besides guiding Help Desk Services, permanent technology support staff Jeff Stanfield (5) and Russel Thompson (4) oversee the desktop computer replacement program. Every year Tarleton buys 300 to 400 computers to replace desktop computers in computer labs and offices. The ones that were replaced are reconfigured and distributed to people who have older computers, and those computers are cleaned up and given to other people until everyone has the newest possible technology.

Vickie McCamey (20), Manager, Applications Support. We have Vickie and her staff (Ruth Cawyer (18), Darren Ray (16), Chris Holden (11), Isaac Belcher (7), Andrew Eiland (8), Jake Horn (3)) to thank for keeping Banner running. Do you know Banner is used by public universities all over the United States? And many states have their own versions because they all have different state higher education rules? Tarleton is a member of the Texas Connection Consortium, which supports the Texas version of Banner to keep track of state requirements like 3‐Peat and 6‐Drop so Tarleton complies with state law. And Applications Support maintains the Texas version for Tarleton with things like DuckTrax. If this all sounds like it could drive people nuts, some times it does!

Cory Shaw (17), Manager, ServerSupport, is a Tarleton grad whojoined the staff a year ago. Youalmost never see Cory and his staff(Ray Savage (1), Rebecca Goodwin(13), Josh Yowell (23), Mansor Hudaand Kate Poe(22)), but without them,we wouldn’t have email and wewouldn’t be able to store data onservers. Tarleton has about 70 fileservers now and the number growsslowly and steadily. Do you knowthat Blackberries require their ownseparate file server?

Jamie Trusner (14), Manager, Network and Communications, celebrated her 15th year at Tarleton last month. All the network services and telephone cable behind the walls and the wireless hubs belong to Jamie and her staff (Michael Williams (10), Michael Ables (21), Sharon Henry (25), Chad Evans (24), and Wil Jeske (15)). They make sure computers can talk to the network and phones can call other phones. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to access the internet. Jamie’s most recent challenge is working with the new Dairy Center to decide how to provide network connectivity to the Center. Do you

know that we don’t offer public internet access because the Homeland Security rules are so strict and so complicated that we can’t afford public access? The Help Desk assigns all authorized visitors a user ID so they can log onto our system.

James Wiley (19), Information Tech‐nology Advisor, is a Tarleton grad who says he has been at Tarleton “forever” (20 years). As a one‐

person Research Department, James is looking ahead to make sure IT Services is ready for the future. Now he’s thinking about ways to deliver IT support and software to students who never come to campus so IT Services can’t dispatch a technician from the Help Desk to solve their problems. Marilyn Meador (9), Information Security Officer. Marilyn says she is “socializing” us so we understand the need for and practice information security. Automatically thinking and acting safe is a learning process. For example, if you save documents showing your social security number (like your income tax forms), don’t download the documents to a flash drive. Flash drives are easy to lose and easy to steal.

Becky Gray, Executive Director

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Purchasing: 968-9611. Just Call!April, 2009 – Service Awards Month! TT

Purchasing staff wish you would make your life easier by letting them worry about buying what you need! You aren’t bothering them when you ask for help. You’re letting them do their jobs. Purchasing staff know how to fill out the forms, write specifications, prepare requests for proposals and bids, and find good sources for bids. They just need you to call and explain what you want to buy. If you aren’t sure about something, call them first before you make a mistake. It’s frustrating for everyone and wastes time when people do the best they can but get something wrong and have to re‐do what they did. Not all money is created equal (at least in the university accounting system). Sometimes money in an account can’t be spent for purchases or to purchase some things, and sometimes there isn’t enough money in the account. That’s why the first step in the purchasing process is for Business Services to review requests to purchase. They know how much money is in accounts and whether it can be spent for the purchase. As a state university, Tarleton is required by law to spend “as many dollars as possible” with HUB (Historically Underutilized Business) vendors. State agencies, including universities, are ranked according to their HUB expenditures, and rankings are published in the Austin American Statesman newspaper. Poor HUB performance can result in decreased funding from the State of Texas. This year we are not doing as well as usual. One easy way to support the HUB program is to use your state procurement card. For a full list of HUB vendors, call Purchasing or see www.window.state.tx.us/cgi‐bin/cmbl/cmblhub.pl Stephenville HUB vendors include Dowell Ace Hardware, Legendary Gift Baskets, Amazing Concepts, BES Supply (Smith Supply), State Chemical and Supply, and Jacks Chemical and Janitorial.

Beth Chandler, Director, (31 years) was a student worker at Tarleton, graduated with a business degree on Sunday and started working here at 8:00 a.m. Monday morning.

JoAnn Tibbitts (11 years) lived in California for 25 years. When their daughter received a Tarleton rodeo scholarship, they bought a place here where she could keep her horses and then ended up moving here themselves.

Frances Blair (6 years) has an accounting degree from Loyola and was raised near Corpus Christi. She purchased supplies for the Baylor Chemistry department before her family moved here.

Jason Newman (4.5 years) is second generation purchasing

staff. He took his dad’s place as head of receiving and stores after his dad retired (twice). Jason has an electrical engineering degree from ITT Technology.

Lisa Stroebel (4 years) graduated from Tarleton with an Accounting degree. If her last name sounds familiar, her husband Jeff works for TIAER.

Elaine Chew joined Purchasing last July. She said having her photo in an earlier newsletter was good enough. She has an undergraduate degree in Management from Tarleton and is working on a master’s degree. If you’re wondering about her delightful accent, she is a transplant from South Africa! Don Whitten joined the Purchasing staff last June as an Assistant Buyer. Many of you will remember Don as the manager of the Printing/Copy Center for many years. Micki Crews joined the staff six years ago after working at Texas A&M. She and her husband, Dr. Steve Crews, moved to Dublin when he joined the Health and P.E. Department. A&M’s loss was our gain! Micki is the department’s Inventory and Surplus Property Specialist.

Lisa

Jason

JoAnn

Frances

Beth

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Donna Pack could teach us all a lot about never being afraid to try something new! She was a cashier at Winn‐Dixie for 8 years. Then she managed Pro‐Cuts for 21 years. But standing all day got to be harder and harder

on her back. So she looked in the newspaper, saw an ad for a drive‐thru commercial teller at First Financial Bank and did that for 3 years. Eighteen months ago, Tarleton was fortunate enough to acquire all her experience when she became a cashier.


The Cashiers OfficeApril, 2009 – Service Awards Month! TT

It’s hard to miss the Cashiers Office when you walk into the Administration Building. Usually, there’s at least a student or two or standing at the window, sometimes with parents or grandparents with checkbook and pen in hand, other times departmental employees are making daily deposits. The cashiers say the office is a great place to work because of the interaction they have with everyone at the university. They are sometimes the first contacts students, their families, and others have with Tarleton so they always provide assistance with a smile and friendly service. They help students and parents who need information about bills like when payments are due, how to pay and a variety of other questions. And then there are the weird questions like where to find a good beauty salon!

In addition to answering billing questions, during the first week of school, the Cashier’s distribute refund checks from Financial Aid and/or scholarships. There are even times when students hear that Tarleton is “giving out checks” and show up to see if they might have one even though they are not expecting one. Like other departments on campus, cashiers’ jobs have been changed by technology. Now students can pay their

bills with credit cards – either in the office or online ‐‐ and the cashiers can check students’ financial status online more quickly. Being automated is nice when the lines outside the windows are long!

A good cashier. . . • Puts customer service first. • Has a good personality. • Is a good communicator. • Knows how to calm people down and how to reassure them.

• Has experience handling money with accuracy.

Lisa Lewis, Manager ‐‐Accounts Receivable, took at job at the telephone company assuming she would work there her whole life. And then deregulation came, and the local office closed. She came to Tarleton 19 years ago. Her first job was in the alumni office working for (then) Mrs. Janis Petronis. In 2001, Lisa became a non‐trad Tarleton graduate, receiving her BAAS degree based on coursework at Cisco Junior College, work training and course work taken part‐time over about three years. Way to go, Lisa!

Debbie Prater, Head Cashier, will have been at Tarleton 18 years in May. Before joining the Tarleton family, she was a cashier at Farmers First National Bank (which became Bank of America) for over 12 years. Susan Murray left the Stephenville school district after ten years to come to Tarleton because the pay was better and there were more benefits. She’s been here five years now.

Wave when you walk through the lobby! These ladies collect money to keep Tarleton operating!

Lisa Lewis Debbie Prater Susan Donna Pack Murray

Lisa Debbie Susan Donna Lewis Prater Murray Pack

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Behind the Scenes: Mr. Graham’s OfficeApril, 2009 – Service Award Month! TT

If it has anything to do with money, it eventually comes to Mr. Graham’s office for one reason or other. And when it arrives, staff members Paulette Cavitt and Patty Morrison make sure everything that needs to happen does happen. For example, Mr. Graham’s office must maintain copies of and receive payments from hundreds of contracts, licenses and grants. For each contract and license, Patty has to know which forms to use, how many people receive copies of the forms and how to route forms for signatures. She also must know which contracts require payments (for example, the dining service makes a monthly payment for use of Tarleton facilities), what the payment amounts are, and when the payments are due. And then there are the phone calls. Paulette and Patty spend time every day directing calls to the right people. Students who see “Finance” on the telephone number list call and ask about financial aid. People with questions about budgets and accounting call the first number they see. And every so often, Patty answers the phone and hears “I need to sell my house near campus!” Sellers want to know if their property is within Tarleton’s land acquisition plan in the near future. Paulette celebrates her fifth anniversary in Mr. Graham’s office in May and combined ten years of service at Tarleton. Her first Tarleton job was at TIAER; she worked there five years with some time off to stay home with her daughter. Paulette’s 25+ years of diverse work experience include being a legal assistant and working a a police agency. Her husband is a school principal and Tarleton alum from Stephenville. When they moved back here, he encouraged her to get a job at Tarleton because education is a great place to be. Ask her about her daughter and cows! They took grand champion at the Fort Worth show this spring.

Patty will have been in Mr. Graham’s office for four years in August. She has done a little bit of everything everywhere. She has done everything from administrative support for a big construction project to being a beautician to assisting a nursing home administrator with payroll and charts. Her favorite project is tracking Mr. Graham’s PUF dollars and balancing to FAMIS. It’s a puzzle, and she has figured out how to solve it. Her advice: be patient, have the right mind set, and track your spending instead of relying on monthly reports. With a 33‐year old daughter, 31‐year old son and two grandkids, Patty recently adopted a five year old daughter Kaelyn who came to her as a three day old foster child. Patty’s husband Mike is a superintendent for a construction company in Ft. Worth.

DID YOU KNOW? Ever wonder about the process vendors go through to use a Tarleton logo on objects like the clothing and commemorative items the bookstore sells? Mr. Graham’s office takes care of that. Before someone can use our logo, they must sign an agreement with Tarleton, pay the required feeds, and submit an illustration showing what the logo will look like on the object. The purple must be PMS 268 (a standard code all printers recognize). Once an object is approved, the vendor mass produces it for local merchants to sell and pays a royalty fee on the sale of the items. Patty receives and records payments and sends receipts. She also monitors payments and sends reminder letters to late payers. Last time she sent letters, she collected almost $1,000 to deposit in the Service Marks Royalty account.

Patty

Paulette

Advice from Patty: to avoid over‐spending, keep your own

spreadsheet. Monthly reports are not up‐to‐date when you receive them. This is more work, but it will

keep you out of trouble!

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OPEIR – They Can Find the Answer!April, 2009 – Service Award Month! TT

OPEIR maybe be best known for creating and managing Texan Facts, our major source of information about Tarleton. If you can’t find the answer there, you can call extension 9354, explain what you need, and OPEIR staff will create a custom report for you. They just ask that you be clear about what you want so they can get the report right the first time and that you be patient because there are a lot of us and not very many of them.

Noel Sauceda, Bonnie Hurford, Abi Freeman and Wayne Atchley

With the 2009 TAIR Award for Best Electronic Fact Book Senior Database Developer Noel Sauceda attended Tarleton on a baseball scholarship (his dad is a baseball coach in Mexico). He received his bachelors degree in CIS in 2003 and a masters degree in Business Administration in 2006. He’s a “nuts and bolts” guy who says its fun to turn long columns of numbers into meaningful information. Thank goodness for people like him! Bonnie Hurford, Senior Database Developer, started working for Tarleton as a student in 1999, received her Tarleton bachelor’s degree in CIS in 2002 and her master’s degree in information systems in 2004. She joined OPEIR after a year in the Graduate School Office. She is a genealogy expert and has traced one branch of her family back to Wales in the mid‐1300’s! Abi Freeman, Group Mom, was working for the Chamber of Commerce in New Boston (TX) when Alma Bane persuaded her to move to Stephenville and work at Tarleton. Then, when Alma got a job in Washington, D.C. and moved, Abi couldn’t leave the best boss – Dr. Chilton – and the best job she has ever had. She’s been part of the OPEIR family for three years now. Wayne Atchley, Data Research Administrator, admits to being a TCU Horned Frog. He graduated with a BS degree in radio/TV/film in 1995 and an MBA in 2003. Now he’s working on his Agricultural Education Ed.D. degree in a joint A&M and Lubbock distance learning program. He came to Tarleton as a database developer at CAE in 2005 and then, given the opportunity to work for Dr. Chilton, transferred to OPEIR in 2008.

Texas Association of Institutional Research (TAIR) – 2009 Award for Best Electronic Fact Book TAIR is a statewide organization of Institutional Research and Assessment people from Texas public and private four year universities as well as many community colleges. TAIR is affiliated with the national Association of Institutional Research (AIR) and the Southern Association of Institutional Research (SAIR). The 2009 conference and awards ceremony were attended by people from universities including the University of Texas system, the A&M system, Texas Tech, Baylor, Rice, TCU and many more. OPEIR employees Wayne Atchley and Noel Sauceda accepted the award. The fact book contains student enrollment numbers, semester credit hours, graduation rates and loads of other information. It is part of a larger system called “Texan Facts” that has many more reports available to authorized faculty and staff. OPEIR staff began working on a more accessible, more interactive, electronic/web‐based version of the information about two years ago. The initial fact book was created in about six months, and the entire Texan Facts system took about 12 months. The system remains current now with little or no manual intervention. Data is automatically extracted each night and pulled into a data warehouse that allows automated updates of all the reports. OPEIR employees who worked on various aspects of the project include Dr. Brad Chilton, Bonnie Hurford, Lauren Morton, Alma Bane, Abi Freeman, Noel Sauceda, and Wayne Atchley. OPEIR also won TAIR’s Best Printed Factbook Award in 2006.

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Announcement! Announcement!April, 2009 – Service Awards Month! TT

26th Annual Distinguished Service Awards

Barbecue

When: Thursday, April 30, 2009 Where: Administration Mall Area

Rain site: Wisdom Gym

Time: 4:00 p.m. – Activities 5:00 p.m. - Dinner 6:00 p.m. – Awards Presentation

Cost: $1.00 per person/ Children 6 yrs and under eat free.

Tickets may be purchased at the cashier’s window in the Business Office beginning Monday, April 13 through Tuesday, April 28.

Activities sponsored by The President’s Office, Staff Council, and Faculty Senate

include: Inflatable Obstacle Course and Giant Slide.

To be eligible for door prizes, you must have your ticket.

We look forward to seeing you!!!

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Celebrate with These Award Winners!April, 2009 – Service Awards Month! TT

5 Years of Service Cynthia L. Adams Jodie E. Baker Angela D. Ballard Melissa R. Becker Melissa D. Brown Ronald W. Bulman Carolyn D. Carpenter Pamela A. Carpenter Frank D. Chamberlain Cheryl A. Coffey Shelly S. Conboy Lenora Davis Linda S. Dorman Keith E. Emmert Oscar Gallego Dawn M. Green Terri A. Hardcastle Sally A Hoger John C. Holden Glenda F. Hood Raja K. Iyer Janie S. Jones Lawrence W. Kennedy Crystal L. Ledbetter Barbara A. McCoy Maria N. Mejia Jimmy S. Millican Betty J. Monk Susan L. Murray David T. Nedbalek Michael R. Newton Melet N. Price Linda J. Sanders Frances E.Teten Lana L. Walker Jackie G. Williamson Mary B. Winton

10 Years of Service Sharon M. Battenfield Tamera S. Bohanan Debye M. Cox F. Dayle Cox Richard S. Dorman Joyce L. Goodman Cynthia A. Hess Tracy G. Holtman Lori A. Jefferies Sally S. Lewis Bert B. Little Angie D. Nimmo Tracy G. Rogers Max G. Sanderford Ramona J. Simpson Burton A. Smith Karen D. Varnell Kathy L. Whisenant 15 Years of Service R. Carol Barrett Darlene Barton Sherrianne Boren‐Magnani Cynthia A. Carter Mary G. Cauble Mary L. Chenault Billie R. Cox Clayton A. Dameron Teresa M. Davidian Stephen W. Field Dana L. Foster Rex J. Gamble Javier Garza Laurie M. Hawke Michael F. Hawke Jerry R. Jordan Paul Koonsman Buddy McIntyre Linda G. McLean

20 Years of Service Joe M. Brocato Jill A. Burk Hazel E. Grissom Sabra L. Guerra Hussain Jafri Pamela S. Littleton Lawrence S. Margolis Alben R. McLean Alice A. Newsome Kathryn M. Poe Diane Valenciano Rodriguez Roger D. Wittie 25 Years of Service Craig E. Clifford Frank D. Ewell Cathy A. Hare Chao M. Liu Frank O. Manzaneres Donna D. Savage J. Steven Simpson 30 Years of Service Elaine Evans Sharon H. Haynes B. R. Kirkland Patricia G. Zelman 35 Years of Service John S. Calahan, Jr. Danny R. Dudley James T. Ford Joe W. Gillespie Linda F. McQueary 40 Years of Service Tommy G. Barker Don L. Zelman

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