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CAL Employee Reflects on 33 Years at ISU


Members of the Arts and Letters office staff stand together, Elise Browning on the right.

Arts and Letters staff, from left to right: Michele Brumley, Bonny Schroeder, Matt Stucki, Madison Shumway, Natalie Hardy, Patti Overy, Kandi Turley-Ames and Elise Browning 

 

After 25 years at the College of Arts and Letters, assistant to the dean Elise Browning spent her last day in the office on June 26.

Browning began at the registrar’s office in 1987 before moving to Academic Affairs. In 1995, she started working at the College of Arts and Sciences, which transitioned into the College of Arts and Letters in 2010.

In two and a half decades at CAL, Browning has worked with seven deans and hundreds of faculty members. She reflected on her experiences in an interview, which is edited for clarity.

 

How did you start working at ISU?

I filled out the state application, and I had an interview with Mike Standley in the registrar’s office at ISU. That’s where I started. I was there for three years, and an opening came in to work for Academic Affairs. At the time, Mike Gallagher was the vice president. I worked there for five years. Then Donna McKinley, who had my present position before me, came and asked if I’d be interested in working in the College of Arts and Sciences. I was excited! That was an upgrade and it was a good opportunity for me. I’ve loved it ever since.

 

What were your job responsibilities when you first started at Arts and Letters, and how have they changed over the years?

The job responsibilities are a lot the same, although technology has changed a lot. Technology changes the way we do things. But the basic duties are the same. Some duties have been added, some things have gone away, but it’s pretty much the same job, just a different way of doing things.

The main responsibility is to take care of the dean, to do whatever she needs me to do. This involves keeping her schedule, taking care of correspondence — incoming and outgoing — doing whatever the dean needs to have taken care of. Much of what I do involves faculty, such as evaluations, promotion and tenure, sabbaticals, contracts, development opportunities, hiring, recommendations for emeritus or other things, elections to committees and college functions. I also keep track of GTAs in the college, help with catalog changes and help with different college awards. And then try to coordinate the office staff schedules.

 

How many deans have you worked under over the years?

I have worked for seven different deans. Butch Hjelm was dean when I started in the college and he had been dean for a long time. When he retired, we went through five before we got Kandi [Turley-Ames]. That was kind of a crazy time to go through seven deans in ten years, but they’ve all been wonderful. I’ve enjoyed working with all of them, and it wasn’t hard for me to adjust to each one. They were all great, but it’s nice to have the stability of having Kandi here.

 

You’ve watched a lot of change over the years. How has it been adapting to all these changes?

The biggest change I can think of is the technology. I used to type all the forms on a typewriter. My first dean wrote everything out in longhand, and I would prepare it on the computer. We kept a paper calendar until Google Calendar came into existence. Email has really changed how we do things because that is how we mostly communicate.

Something that’s kind of funny is that I learned word processing in WordPerfect, and I still use it whenever I can. Most of the time when I receive documents in Word that I need to work on, I copy it into WordPerfect, make changes and convert it back to Word. I still claim, WordPerfect is just so much easier!

 

What are you going to miss the most about working at CAL?

I think I’m going to miss that structure of coming to work. Mostly I will miss the people. We spend a lot of time at work, and everyone is like your second family.

It’s been fun to meet the new hires and watch the people retiring or leaving. Only two people in our college have been at ISU longer than me. Another dozen was hired before I started in the college. I have seen many changes in personnel over the years. I will miss the people.

 

What are your plans after you retire?

I was hoping to do some traveling, but that is on hold for now. I have a nephew that lives in Mississippi, two nieces in Ohio and a cousin in Alabama that I was hoping to spend some time with. I see pictures and hear of different things they’re doing, and I think, “Oh, that’d be so fun!”

I have many projects I want to work on, like scrapbooking and family history. I have some home improvement projects that need some attention. And I want to read.

 

For those of us who will still be working at the college, what have you learned that might be useful to keep in mind?

I really think it’s important to work as a team. You spend lots of hours at work, and it helps to have a friendly place to be. Be nice and loving to everyone!



 

 


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