Feature Editor- Jana McBride |
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| Volume 26, Issue #4 |
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October 20, 1999
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Feature Editor- Jana McBride |
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| Volume 26, Issue #4 |
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October 20, 1999
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| FEATURE ON MARY COLE... by Jana McBride, news/feature editor. |
| She’s “taken” people to New York,
Washington, D.C., Orlando, Atlanta, New Orleans, Nashville, Columbus,
Tulsa, Houston, Dallas and Albequerque all this year with a touch of a
few buttons.
Making travel arrangements for NIACC board members, faculty and staff is just one of the many roles of Administrative Services secretary Mary Cole. Dr. Karen Pierson, the vice president for Student Services, is a NIACC employee who frequently utilizes Cole’s talents. Pierson referred to Cole as “extremely accurate, very positive, extremely pleasant and never grouchy.” Pierson said after she gives Cole a parameter of destination and time, Cole will come back with five or six different options. “She makes our work more efficient so we can do what we’re here to do,” Pierson said. The process of planning trips takes several steps. First Cole finds price quotes on flights from Mason City, Des Moines and Minneapolis on the internet and hotel rates so travelers can present the information to their division head. After the trip is approved based on the division’s budget, Cole makes the flight and hotel reservations through 4 Seasons Travel, Inc. with the NIACC credit card. “We go through a travel agency so that if prices go down, we aren’t held to them,” Cole said. Cole records the confirmation number for the room, the credit card number and the name of the hotel employee with whom she spoke so that their aren’t mix-ups. She also keeps all mailings and notes in a separate folder for each job. She follows up with a letter to the hotel including all this information and a phone call a few weeks prior to the trip date. Even with Cole’s accuracy, have there been mix-ups? “It always seems to happen to the President,” Cole said. But because all the information is recorded, Cole said things have always been straightened out. On a typical Friday at 8:30 a.m., Cole was following up hotel reservations. “That place didn’t have registration sent September 15,” Cole said. Cole’s desk seems to be a hubbub of activity. All within the hour, Cole made three telephone calls to hotels, asked Steve Krafcisin about lodging for the basketball team for a game in Minnesota in December, Dr. Buettner asked about his upcoming Columbus trip and Nelson Crabb asked Cole for three pennies. By 1 p.m., Cole had proofed a test, followed up on more trips, served as a greeter for a meeting held in the auditorium and started on the Board of Directors agenda for its Monday meeting. Starting at NIACC 11 years ago, Cole brought experience in both travel arrangements and clerical work. She was employed by Successful Farming magazine, a division of Meredith Publishing in Des Moines from 1979-1983. Cole made travel plans for the editorial department. “Those editors did a lot of traveling,” Cole said. “I didn’t have a background in farming, but I seemed to get jobs in that area.” Since Cole has been at NIACC, Office Manager Linda See said her responsibilities have progressed. See said that Cole’s best assets are “a combination of telephone skills and personality.” When See hands Cole a project, she said Cole takes it from the beginning to end. “She’s a good representative for the college,” See said. In addition to her work with scheduling trips both by plane and within driving distance, Cole works for President Dr. David Buettner and instructors on campus. This may include word processing jobs such as typing and proofing requisitions, tests, syllabuses, letters and recommendations. Tom Oswald is one NIACC instructor for whom Cole does word processing. “She never says no,” Oswald said. “I know she minimizes her load- I’ve seen her stacks of papers.” Cole said Oswald often brings in letters of recommendations for students to have Cole type. “He gets so many of them, and he always has such good things to say,” Cole said. Cole said that because her job contains a variety of work, it doesn’t become monotonous. Fall is especially a busy time for Cole, but her different duties are spread throughout the year. In the summer, Cole does work for instructors who’ve planned ahead for the year and prepares the Personnel Directory. Though the secretaries in Administrative Services are independent of one another, Cole said, “if someone has a big project, we’ll always help each other out.” Even with the load of work, Cole finds time each day to exercise. She is frequently found walking with other staff members over the lunch hour. In addition, she tries to run every other day to maintain physical fitness and earn points for the NIACC Wellness program. Cole could be found walking or running through her hometown of Grafton, where she lives with her husband and two children, ages 6 and 11. Cole works Tuesday through Friday from 7:30-4:00 and devotes her Mondays to spending time with her children. This extra day off enables her to spend time in her children’s classrooms and chaperone field trips. The hours enable her to see her children off to school in the morning and arrive soon after school is dismissed. Cole is just one of the dedicated people who work on this campus that help make it what it is. Like many secretaries, custodians, cooks at the college, Cole does work behind the scenes, but that work doesn’t go unnoticed. Cole is much more than a voice behind a phone or a secretary behind a desk. “She’s such a gem,” Tom Oswald beamed as he put down the receiver. |
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| GREEN EARNS 3RD DEGREE BELT... by Natalie Meyer, reporter |
   He may not be Bruce Lee, but the similarities
are all too real. Besides his name, Lee Green is also a master of
martial arts.
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