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Secretaries, Registrar are unsung heroes of courtesy

I love my job.

As a columnist, every week I get to write my opinion on whatever comes up for that issue. And, consequently, I get to have half the campus population hate me and the other half like me-although, I have yet to meet the latter half of you.

But my job is relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things, especially as far as the campus goes. Sure, without my column there would be birdcages left unlined and students without a picture on their dartboard. But overall, if I don't do my job, the campus does not suffer.

This is not true for most of the staff on campus, though. While the faculty is certainly important to the university for obvious reasons, the staff is what keeps it running. And this week, instead of noticing what is wrong with campus, I thought it would be a nice change to recognize people that are doing their job well and enjoying it at the same time.

Earlier this semester, I spoke nothing but praise about the university's maintenance department. I could go on for a couple weeks about everything that they are doing correctly to help the university run more smoothly. Luckily, the maintenance department shares their love for their job with a couple key groups and individuals in the university community.

Much like the maintenance department, secretaries often go unnoticed. The maintenance department analogy once again holds true for secretaries: secretaries are like umpires-when they do their job and do it well, no one notices them. It's only when there's a problem that secretaries get noticed.

As a student, I have had a lot of interaction with department secretaries. And while the department chairs do play a valuable role in the department, it is the secretary who effectively runs the department. Oftentimes they are responsible for communicating to the entire faculty, fixing any computer problems, typing tests and being overall resource people.

A secretary has a thankless job. When things are working correctly, the department runs normally and no one thinks about it. Often, secretaries are running around from the minute they get in the door until they leave in the evening. One would think with all of these thankless duties that secretaries would hate what they are doing.

Not so.

The majority of the secretaries that I've ever dealt with have enjoyed what they do and are generally happy to help. There is a real sense of satisfaction that comes from running a department effectively, and most of the secretaries do it with ease. The secretaries at Bloomsburg fall into a rare category of people who like their jobs and do them well.

When I used to work for Academic Computing in McCormick, I had the pleasure of working with a number of secretaries and administrative assistants who were top notch. Take the nursing department for instance. Mary Amick and Bonnie Mordan work diligently together day in and day out to keep that department running the way it should be. They coordinate schedules, answer phones, schedule meetings, type minutes and fix computers to name just a few of their duties. And, if you talk to them, you'd never know that they were as busy as they are. If you need their help, they drop whatever they're doing. And, if they can't help you, they find someone who can-this is the way things should be handled.

The nursing department isn't the only place at the university benefiting from secretaries who are good at what they do and enjoy it to boot. Anyone lucky enough to walk into Television/Radio Services in McCormick has had the pleasure of working with Lisa Hemrick. Lisa is a professional in every sense of the word. She is kind, helpful and courteous to everyone she encounters. Much like the nursing department, if something needs to be done, Lisa takes care of it. And just by talking to Lisa you'd never know how busy she actually is. She seems to really enjoy her job, no matter how hectic it may get.

Beyond just the secretaries, the university seems to be filled with employees who like their jobs and do them well. I would be amiss if I didn't mention the fine treatment that I always receive at the Registrar's office. Whether it's a student employee who answers the phone or Kenneth Schnure, the registrar himself, I have always gotten the feeling that when I was in the office, the employees were there to help me.

Every time I've sent an e-mail to the registrar, Mr. Schnure has promptly responded with the correct information, or at least who to contact to get the information. And this holds true for the rest of his office. Everyone holds himself or herself with a great deal of professionalism in everything they do. Beyond that, the Registrar office staff genuinely seems to enjoy what they do, and it shows through in their work.

A couple of semesters ago, I received a survey from the Registrar's office requesting feedback on my recent contact with the office.

It struck me as incredibly forward thinking and rather rare for a department on campus to do this. Think about it: the Registrar's office doesn't have to be nice to anyone. If you want your grades, you have to talk to them. But instead of taking this attitude, they were interested into how they could improve. This kind of thinking is rare in non-academic industry, but is almost unheard of in the academic community.

The same holds true with secretaries. If you need any information in a department, you pretty much have to go through a secretary. Secretaries could become embittered with the repetition of their jobs. But instead, like the Registrar's office, most secretaries take a request for information as an opportunity to help someone with good customer service.

I know the examples that secretaries and the Registrar's office set are often tough to reach. But, sometimes even if you can't reach a goal, it's often enough to just acknowledge that others have.

So, if someone gives you good customer service, thank the person and put a smile on their face. You may even encourage someone to start loving their job.