Administrator of the year
After attending a couple of quarters as an undergraduate at the University of Utah, Ron Godfrey decided to trasnfer to Utah State University.
As he walked from the student center to Old Main on a visit to the campus, two people said hello to him – two more than ever said anything to him at the U.
With a call to serve a three-year, Latter-day Saint mission in Knoxville, Tenn., Godfrey is now saying his goodbyes to USU and, he said, it’ll be hard to leave the place he has called home for the past five years.
“I’ll miss Utah State,” he said. “I’ll miss that friendly atmosphere.”
Three years ago, Godfrey was working for Shriver Foods as an executive responsible for the company’s manufacturing plants when he received a call from a friend at USU. There was a teaching position open in the business department and Godfrey said it was extended to him because of his practical experience.
As an educator, Godfrey said his love for teaching grew.
“I love sharing with students what they don’t get in the text books, where the rubber hits the road, decision making and human resource skills,” he said. “I love working with students. They’re so vibrant and just want to learn.”
Last year, however, Godfrey was promoted to an administrative position when he was named the vice president of business and finance. Godfrey said he has enjoyed the challenge and differences between the two positions.
“Teaching is just imparting everything you’ve learned onto students,” he said. “Administration is the practical application of all those things.”
Godfrey said he has three goals in everything he does:
1. Do your best.
2. Treat people the way the want to be treated.
3. Do the right thing.
“If you do those, most jobs are pretty easy,” he said.
In all his accomplishments at USU, including helping to procure bonding for the new student housing and parking project just west of the Taggart Student Center, Godfrey said he hopes he was true to his goals.
“I hope that I was a problem solver, not a problem creator,” he said. “I hope I’ve made the tough decisions and the right decisions.”
Godfrey, who is partially responsible for overseeing campus facilities, the bookstore, parking and the university police, said another of his goals for this year was to improve public relations with each department.
“In the other world it’s called customer service,” he said. “We just want to take hassle out of other people’s jobs.”
Godfrey said it will be difficult for him to leave his coworkers at USU.
“I love the people I work with,” he said. “It’s painful to leave. They’ve all taught me so much.”
While he said he might have interest in returning to the university after his mission, Godfrey said he didn’t think it would be fair to ask USU President Stan Albrecht for a leave of absense.
“I tendered my resignation,” he said. “If I can help when I get back that’s great, but if not, that’s OK.”
Godfrey will begin serving his mission on July 1. He also served a two-year mission in London as a 19-year-old.
-acf@cc.usu.edu