Interview by Brian Gottesman

Q: What are your responsibilities here at MCB?

A: I do a variety of things. I assist in coordinating faculty searches, more so for senior faculty, and I also coordinate the promotion reviews for MCB junior faculty (assistant to associate promotions). So, I send the letters to outside reviewers and collect their responses, and I coordinate assembling the other aspects of the dossier with the chair, which is submitted to the Dean’s office. Aside from that, I attend faculty meetings, record information, and write the minutes and distribute them to faculty and the staff who attend. I’m also the point person for hiring new staff, so that means lab managers contact me when there’s a new job opening. We work on a job description, which I review and submit to the Human Resources Department. When it’s posted, I receive résumés, screen candidates’ applications, and forward them to the hiring manager. So that’s pretty much it in a nutshell.

Q: Which part of the job do you find the most challenging?

A: Writing the minutes can be challenging, and keeping track of a lot of loose ends and being organized about it. Just being organized and staying on top of things is always a challenge. 

Q: Which part of the job do you enjoy the most?

A: I like that the office is friendly. People are in and out from other labs and parts of the department, so I like that element a lot. Probably the people I work with are what I enjoy most. It’s a friendly and relaxed environment.

Q: What kind of job did you have before you got to MCB? 

A: Before I was at MCB, I was a Spanish teacher in a high school. I did that for about a year. I moved here because I wanted to pursue a graduate degree potentially in education. Before teaching, I was an editor of marketing materials.

Q: Are you taking courses at the extension school using the Tuition Assistance Plan (TAP)?  What kind of courses are you taking?

A: Right now I’m taking an advanced feature-writing class, which focuses on reviewing the arts. I’m interested in film so I write about current movies. It’s a demanding course but it’s fun and rewarding. I love being able to pursue things I’m interested in outside of work. Before this class, I took another feature-writing course, which involved longer profiles and other types of reviews; that was a good class too. I studied English literature and writing, so it’s a different spin on that.

Q: And you’re still trying to decide what the end goal is in terms of a degree?

A: I’m thinking of a writing degree or an education degree but I’m not really sure yet. I think that’s probably the direction I’ll head over the next few years.

A: Definitely. It’s great; it’s a really good benefit.

Q: What transpires on a typical day for you?

A: I don’t know that any days are typical. Each day has a different schedule; for instance, we have the seminars on Thursdays in the lecture hall and the faculty meetings and chalk talks on Fridays. So those days are pretty typical; they have that routine. Other days are more flexible. There may be seminars or visitors or a faculty search, but I don’t know that there are so many routine things, which is nice—the variety. 

Q: Has your job changed since you first started working here?

A: Definitely. It’s become more structured and I’ve gotten more responsibilities as time has gone by. Initially, I was involved with faculty searches and the dossier work, but then I took on the minutes and attending faculty meetings, which gives me more of an overview of the department, which is helpful. And then there’s the HIRES [jobs database] aspect. I like how the job has evolved.

Q: You came in without a science background. Through reading everything, or through osmosis, have you picked up some understanding of the science since you got here?

A: I don’t know if I understand any of it! [laughs] Well, maybe some of the language, and I have more of an interest than I had before. In the faculty searches and meetings, you read about and hear about what each faculty member is working on, and it’s fascinating. 

Q: What are you looking forward to? What do you envision happening in the next couple of years?

A: I like working with faculty, so I would like to continue to do that; I really like the academic environment, and it would be great to work with students.

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