The Trail

Issue date: 3/23/07 Section: News

Media Credit: UPS website Resident Director Ben Hahn will be leaving this spring.

Media Credit: UPS website

After years of watching students sprout from freshman newcomers to successful graduates, several UPS staff members are ready for retirement or are moving on to bigger and better things.

Ben Hahn and Corey Kopp, who are the Resident Directors, are both leaving at the end of the year. This will be Hahn's 4 year as an RD and Kopp's 3 year.

"I think one thing that is really important is that were not leaving because we're unhappy here," Hahn said. "We don't even know where we're going yet."

Kopp explained that both he and Hahn knew the job was only supposed to last for a few years and that they are both on a search to find the next best place to settle down and start over again.

"UPS made it clear to all of us that [our job] was a 2 to 5 year position; they want a program that is going to grow," said Kopp. "We all knew it was going to be a great, [but short] experience."

Overall the two co-workers were very satisfied with the time they spent here at UPS.

"As a division, we're exceptional at what we do," Kopp said. "Our jobs are just fun, I get paid to sit and talk to kids about how they're doing, create relationships and plan events. There are very few things I didn't enjoy about this job."

Other retiring staff members who will leave at the end of the 2007 academic year include Barry Anton from the Psychology Dept., Suzanne Barnett from the History Dept., Keith Maxwell from the School of Business and Leadership, Thomas Rowland from the Chemistry Dept., John Underhill from facilities services, Kristi Maplethorpe, who is the Assistant Director for Student Services, and Sharon Mihelich, who is an administrative assistant in the Dean of Students office.

Dean of Students, Mike Segawa said the Student Affairs Department needs to replace several staff positions as well. "We're anticipating to replace six or seven new staff members between now and the start of the new school year. We have two people retiring, we've promoted a few people in CHWS also, so we need to backfill their positions."

He also said that UPS staff would adjust accordingly and immediately start the search for new staff members.
"It is easy [to hire new staff] in that we are confident we will find people to fill those slots; it's a labor intensive process to do these things," Segawa said. "Two resident directors will go to a national conference at the end of this month to interview [prospects]. We plan to have these positions filled by the end of the academic year."

There are also a handful of staff members who either just returned from maternity leave or will soon have one. Because maternity leave is a fairly long period of time off from work, affected students were worried about replacement staff, but Dean Segawa said they were able to find compatible temporary replacements.

Overall, about 5% of staff are leaving from the Student Affairs Dept. alone, but the administration is fully prepared to fill those positions by the next academic year, as they anticipate the new wave of staff members for the next few years.

•Alison Mesinger to the beach for spring break.

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