1. What is your role in the Service Center of Excellence (SCE)?
I’m leading the Human Resources Service Center, so that involves helping to set the priorities for carrying out human resources functions, identifying ways we can provide more consistent service, and working with our leadership team and human resources experts to bridge areas where we’ve been disconnected. We have some excellent support from Vice Chancellor Matt Fajack, our other SCE directors, and our many subject matter experts who already believe in providing a high level of customer service. We are fortunate to have the talented people that we have on our team.
2. What did you do before you came to the SCE?
I arrived at the University in September 2013 as Human Resources Director for the Division, and I was hired to start working with our management team and human resources representatives to streamline service, so a lot of our efforts have evolved from there. The SCE is helping to formalize a lot of what we started, and we’re working to make those goals of consistency and greater efficiency more concrete. I was human resources director for the Office of State Budget and Management and Office of the Governor for nine years prior to that, and also worked at the Town of Chapel Hill for four years.
3. Why are you excited about joining the SCE?
The SCE gives us the opportunity to bring together a team to provide improved service to our customers, to cross-train and become more efficient, and to share ideas. I’m impressed every day by the contributions of our Finance and Administration employees. There is a high work ethic and commitment to employees and to the University. People really know what they’re doing and want to help. I’m excited when I meet with employees and get their suggestions and input. They know so much and are willing to share, but haven’t always had the opportunity because they might be “siloed” in one Finance and Administration department and don’t have as much interaction with someone from another. It’s been rewarding to see our groups already gel and support each other.
4. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Exercise – to the degree that anyone really enjoys exercise while they’re actually doing it. It’s especially important because I really like to eat, so I’d better keep running. I’m also an avid reader and have sometimes been a freelance journalist, although I haven’t written any articles in a while. Maybe that’s because I’m easily distracted by Netflix, “The Walking Dead,” and “Survivor.”
5. What is something people probably wouldn’t know about you?
Some people do know this, but when I was a newspaper reporter in my 20s, I went through a phase of “participatory journalism,” where I wanted to live the story and write about the experience from a firsthand viewpoint. So I did things like hold a boa constrictor (a calm and well-fed one that lived in a museum), and another time I was sprayed by pepper spray so I could describe what it felt like. It was hot, and probably not my best decision.