Members of the CHS administrative support team. L-R: Rose Lejman, Recreation and Tourism Management, Janis Lacey and Patricia Bellew, Communication Studies; Kathy Williamson and Nicole Kruse, Social Work; Betty Sedillo and Judy Sanchez, Criminology and Criminal Justice; Margaret Carbonel, Social Work; Mercy Quiroz, Enrollment Services. (Not Pictured: Marta Turoczi, Enrollment Services; Eleanor Avilez, Aging and Lifespan Development; Kathleen Rietdorf, Criminology and Criminal Justice; and Lisa Moen, CHS Executive Assistant.)

They work as one-part team, helping each other as deadlines loom, and one-part family, supporting one another in times of personal crisis. “We have the best working relationship and we know we can depend on each other,” says Patti Bellew, administrative assistant in Communication Studies.

The CHS administrative support team assists more than 100 professors, faculty associates, deans, and advisors in scheduling appointments, coordinating class schedules, and preparing documents for the undergraduate and graduate programs within the college. Kathy Williamson, administrative assistant in Social Work, finds working on important community projects with “compassionate and understanding people” especially rewarding.

Their most visible job, however, is to provide assistance to the approximately 1500 students in the College of Human Services. They describe programs of study, ease fears, direct students to appropriate faculty, and follow student progress through their undergraduate work and, in some cases, on to graduate programs. Merci Quiroz, administrative secretary in enrollment services, says that one of the best parts of her job is cheering on students as they receive their degrees.

This commitment to student success and program excellence makes the administrative support team an invaluable part of the College of Human Services.