Each year during the One University Awards, dozens of employees are recognized for achieving Years of Service Milestones. Recipients at the 2023 ceremony included faculty and staff who achieved 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and even 50 years of service to Syracuse University in 2022.
In an era when the median number of years workers stay with a single employer nationwide is 4.1*, employees with a long tenure at a single organization are becoming something of a unicorn.
What’s the secret to a long and fulfilling career? Three 45-year employees celebrated at One University—Ann Marie McGinnis, David Jensen and Marie Sarno—share some of their stories, memories and advice for those earlier in their career journeys.
McGinnis
Standout memory: “I was on my way to work one beautiful late summer day in the mid-90s and Captain Scott King was reporting on traffic from the air. On this day, instead of reporting on typical vehicle traffic he reported on a line of students stretching from Steele Hall to College Place, across the Quad and beyond.
“As the person who managed the [class registration] process, I knew it would be a challenging day ahead. Administrators vowed to never let it happen again. I put together a plan to change the way we handled registration for new students during the summer months. This new system, AutoReg, was put into operation 27 years ago when I moved to the College of Arts and Sciences and had the tools to develop a system to create schedules for first-year students. New programs have come to market since the creation of AutoReg and the University currently uses Schedule Builder for this process.”
Tech, then and now: “After a few years with the registrar’s office, I became the manager of the registration process, which at the time was an arena-style process. It all happened on one day, starting at 8 a.m. and concluding around 2 a.m. for staff who needed to finalize the process. My worst fear was dropping any of the trays of punched cards as we carried them from Archbold gym to Machinery Hall, where the cards were put through the card reader. Now, registration is a self-service process that is both efficient and easy. I must admit I enjoyed the arena style and can honestly say I miss those days.”
Advice to someone just starting their career: “Keep an open mind. Change is inevitable and it is easy to resist change that may not seem to be in our best interest. I have found that if I maintain a positive attitude and try to look at things differently it does work out to my advantage.”
Jensen
Most dramatic memory: “Sept. 11, 2001. I listened all day to NPR as I continued cataloging in special collections. When the first tower collapsed, I went out into the special collections reading room to relay that news—the only time in my life the word ‘aghast’ applied. The University sent an email saying they wanted to send representatives to residence halls to offer counselling and asking anyone with counseling experience to contact them.
“I had done informal suicide counselling with people who already knew and trusted me but that is hugely different from grief counseling, especially with strangers—so I ignored that email.
“With trepidation [after a third email from the University] I wrote back specifying that informal suicide counseling was just too different from grief counselling and that I am not qualified, and that if they wanted me regardless, I thought it would have to be with older students. They took me at my word and assigned me to Washington Arms (juniors and seniors). There they had a TV on in the common room, so that is where I saw my first pictures of 9/11 while I watched the students around me.
“With one definite exception the students were engaged with each other, seeming not in denial or subdued or otherwise off balance. I could only see one person who clearly needed someone to talk with, a young lady who was quite ‘shell shocked’—but I could not shake off the parallel that in a very broad sense, 9/11 was an intrusion by strangers, and if I approached her, it would be an intrusion by a stranger.
“When she left the room, I immediately got her name from somebody, and when the Washington Arms director returned, I made sure he knew to seek out that student. I very much felt for that person who was clearly overwhelmed.”
[Editor’s note: This anecdote was condensed from its original version.]
Biggest transformation on campus: “Computing has to be the biggest sequence of transformations. When I was a freshman at SU in ’73, people were allotted a rationed amount of computer time per year, and the interface was called a DECwriter: a huge freestanding interactive typewriter that printed on a supply of fan-fold paper from a box on the floor.”
Advice to someone just starting their career: “Be sure you love what you do. The people you work with may come and go, the technology may change, your work location may get moved around—I think it is most important to love what you are accomplishing.”
Sarno
Most meaningful accomplishment: “In the variety of roles I played, my ability to see the big picture and small details at the same time helped make a difference in the student, faculty and staff experience in the School of Education. I began at the school during the first year they admitted freshmen directly to the school (vs. upperclass internal or external transfers) and after they had done major restructuring. That gave me opportunities to create new initiatives, impact policies and learn about and involve myself with a variety of different academic services and issues. It set the stage for the rest of my career.”
Tech, then and now: “When I first came to the University, computerized mainframe records were just beginning. There was no email, and desktops had typewriters! Registration was still in a large gym with students collecting and turning in computer cards for each class.”
Other transformations on campus: “Student expectations and needs seem to have grown. Mental health needs have grown (and maybe we all are more aware of them). Technology has greatly impacted their lives and perhaps helped increase their expectations for service, in some cases expecting more immediate action. There are more Universitywide initiatives in the area of diversity, and attention to health and wellness.”
Advice for someone just starting their career: “I learned a lot from attending meetings and reading the catalog and eventually websites. I got more of the big picture that way (beyond things directly related to my position) and met some helpful colleagues. It’s important to embrace the importance of details related to your work. Interact with your work colleagues and help to create a workplace that is serious about what needs to be done, but also congenial enough to create fun moments that will have you laughing in the years to come!”
Thomas McGinn, residential community safety officer, and Nancy Rothschild, senior associate dean of admissions, were also honored with 45-year milestone awards this year. To see the full list, visit the One University Awards webpage.
*Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022
