Susie Abbott Spotlight

When asked what drew her to her current position, Susie noted it was a pay upgrade, but was quick to add, "Also great parking, and there's a kitchen downstairs on the first floor. So money, parking, and food; what more could you ask for?" Photographer: Lauren Dickey.

CHSP's Susie Abbott: Setting the record(s) straight

If you could thank the people who made your graduation from CHSP possible, you might overlook the one person who completed your paperwork and made sure all of your requirements were met: Susie Abbott, records management associate in the dean's office.

"I'm the one who processes the adviser changes, when students want to change their majors, when students want to substitute or waive a class-any of the DARS adjustments," she explained. "But as you know in an office you do anything and everything-you make peace with parents, with others at the university and with students. It takes a lot of PR and people skills, really."

Susie came to work in the CHSP Student Services Office in May 2008 during a highly transitional period. Dean Randy Leite had just been hired as associate dean of academic affairs and was soon to take over the deanship, overseeing both a name change and a major restructuring of the college in 2009-2010. Then in 2012, Ohio University shifted from the quarter to the semester system. Any one of these major changes would present a major challenge, but Susie and the student services staff successfully weathered them all.

"For a while after the name change, we had Post-it notes by the phones so we would be sure to answer the phone using the right college name," she laughed.

More difficult was shifting student class hours and credits from the quarter to the semester system. "We survived that," Susie said, "because Becky Zuzpan (assistant dean of student services) and Sara White (retention and advising coordinator) worked really hard on a system to transfer the hours over, which helped make my job easier. We now feel we are at the tail end of that process. The first class under the new semester system will graduate in 2016."

Most of Susie's career has been spent in education. After a short stint in banking, she was hired by the principal of Meigs County High School, where she quickly advanced to student records manager. In 2003, she came to work for the Political Science Department at Ohio University before she shifted to her current position at CHSP, where she was named Classified Employee of the Month in November 2014. Her family members are all involved in education too. Her children-all three graduates of Ohio University-work in the public school system, and her husband has served on the Meigs County School Board for nearly 25 years.

"We are all big believers in education." she smiled. "I guess you could say it runs in the family."