COLUMN: Meet McConkie the graduate maker
Many in the ever-moving sardine can that is the Huntsman School of Business may not notice or even see a need of Kathy McConkie’s services, but if you asked an ungrad senior or graduate student, they just might consider her a best friend.
McConkie, the assistant director for the Huntsman MBA Office, has been aiding students in furthering education for five years and said she prides herself most on being a guide and tool for them.
“The most important thing I do is serve students,” McConkie said. “They are the reason we exist, I wouldn’t have a job without them.”
McConkie, 55, has been employed by USU for 21 years. She worked in Distance Education, international research and agriculture before deciding to stay with the MBA office. She would never complain either, saying she has loved her work experience and the knowledge it has given her about the university.
Usually she is in her office on the third floor of the Business Building just before 7:30 a.m. She likes to be in before most people clock in for the day. The day usually starts with checking and organizing her email, which according to her is no easy task.
“On a normal morning I’ll have about 30 emails in my inbox, but there are days where it can grow over a hundred. I am very inundated with emails,” McConkie said.
Amid the early mornings and email duties, McConkie especially enjoys working personally with students. She considers herself to be a “problem solver.” Her emails house everything from prospective students’ questions to advice for current graduate students, or issues with staff and faculty to coordinating marketing and recruiting initiatives all over the world. She does her best to take care of duties herself, but keeps a running list of things she can call upon for help from MBA Office Program Coordinator Lindi Brown, her three student office assistants or other auxiliaries on campus.
“There are so many people who make my job easier,” McConkie said. “We have a great team here in the office and a wonderful team around campus, it makes it such a fun place to work.”
Checking email generally takes a few hours, but still gives her ample time to meet with as many students as she can. The office tends to get pretty busy in the late morning. Between working with 64 graduate students and anyone else who has concerns, this takes up a great amount of her time. Her appointments include anything from face to face and phone conversations, to frequent walk ins — which she said she is a big believer in.
“Even though some people frown upon it, I have an open door policy. If I’m there and there is no meeting, I want to do the best I can to talk with and help whoever comes by,” McConkie said.
In between meetings with students, McConkie is busy organizing graduate needs for all of the departments and majors in the Huntsman school.
One of her biggest projects every year is getting everything in line for the annual international trips that MBA students are required to take. McConkie, who spent a great amount of her upbringing in North Africa and Libya, said she loves planning for these trips. This year the plan is to take students to Jordan and Israel sometime next Spring.
“There are so many things we do to give the students the best experience possible,” she said. “We make a point to show the faculty and students that they belong.”
After a day of scheduling, helping students, helping faculty, planning trips, setting up classes, making phone calls, working with other departments and beyond, McConkie usually leaves well after 5 or 6 p.m. She is the first to come in and the last to leave. It is a lot of hard work, she said, but definitely feels it is worth the while.
“I love what I do,” McConkie said. “This is an exciting place to work. I love being here because I truly feel like I can contribute and be of great service to these people. It may not be the perfect place to work, but I couldn’t think of anywhere better.”
– steve.schwartzman@aggiemail.usu.edu