Photo by Christina VanHorn,
UNH Human Resources
If there has been one constant throughout Audra Coon’s career at UNH, it’s change.
Audra came to UNH as an hourly employee in Accounts Payable (AP) in 1999. She recalls, “I started one week before I was getting married – it made for an interesting start to a new job – I worked 3 days and took 2 weeks off – not bad hours, I’d say!”
Moving to New Hampshire from her home state of Connecticut in May of 1999, Audra “found the campus to be just breathtaking. I was going through the want ads one day trying to find a job and found an hourly position in AP and applied for it. I think my 10+ years in banking was a help in getting me that job and I was fortunate enough to be picked up as a Sr. Business Service Assistant by the Advancement BSC (Business Service Center) in the Alumni building not a year later.”
Audra’s career course at UNH has seen her move on to work in the same position within the Central Admin BSC and she now works for the Academic Affairs BSC. Some of the many responsibilities of her current position include weekly payroll for Police, Dispatch, Security, Campus Recreation, Whittemore Center, Health Services, and the Office of Community Service; EPAF entry on all new hires and terminations; managing several Police grants, as well as plant funds and gift funds; all accounting functions that go with paying invoices, journaling funds, and daily deposits; P-Card manager on 60+ purchasing cards; billing internal and external vendor’s for all police/security details; receiving payments for surrounding home and business security and fire alarm accounts (any home or business in Durham, Lee, Madbury, and Barrington that has a security or fire alarm system that is hooked into UNH Dispatch – if a fire or burglar alarm goes off UNH Dispatch is notified) and many more “other duties as assigned.” Whew!!
In order to smoothly navigate those many responsibilities, Audra says “you absolutely must have multi-tasking skills. Working in a BSC you have to know a lot about how things in H/R, Payroll, AP and Purchasing are done as the BSC’s are the ‘end all for all things’. We have to know policies from all of the core departments to perform our jobs. You have to be open to change as things are always moving in different directions around here. New processes are always being created as far as how we enter our work – new forms are always made available on UNH web sites (ex. I-9’s, travel reimbursement forms, mileage rates change every new fiscal year, etc. – we have to be on top of all the new information for us to do our jobs correctly.) The updates done to Banner are always a new challenge when things don’t work like they used to. You also need a really good sense of humor – without that you’re in trouble!”
Audra says her favorite part of the job is that “I am fortunate to work with a wonderful bunch of women in the BSC as well as those who work in the departments I serve. My Director (Dr. Nancy Hamer), Manager (Kathy Donovan) and co-workers have been overwhelmingly supportive these last few years. I’ve had both my children while working with them and lost my mother within months of delivering our son. They have listened to me rant and rave and truly supported me during these life altering events. I can’t thank them enough for their support and understanding. I have made so many friends in the last 8 years. I feel really fortunate to say I know these people.”
About Audra, Hamer says “Audra is a wonderful colleague and her contributions to the work and services of the Academic Affairs BSC are very much valued. To mention just one highlight about her great work is difficult, but I will happily venture to mention that she is the ‘Guardian Angel’ of the UNH Police Department's payroll process and so very much appreciated for her work in this area and for all concerned!!”
Working in conjunction with so many various departments has truly given Audra tremendous insight into what makes the UNH working environment tick. She says “I have done work for so many different areas on campus, besides the current areas I serve I have also worked with Presidential Event’s, Media Relations, Editorial and Creative Services, Presidents Office, Human Resources, Residential Life, MUB, OMSA, Alumni Association, Greek Affaires, Controllers Office, I honestly can’t pick just one that I most enjoy. Each department I have worked with has been so interesting in so many different ways. I have a true sense of what it takes to make this campus run on a daily basis. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that others just don’t know about that makes UNH run. I think that’s what makes me keep doing the work I do – it’s rewarding in so many different areas – although it can be very frustrating also.”
When asked who at UNH has had a positive impact on her, Audra doesn't hesitate to say “this may surprise them, I’m sure, but Kim Roundy and Donna Redfern had a great impact on me and it goes back to a quick conversation Kim and I had when he and Donna hired me. Kim told me to ‘take the full Retirement allocation of 6% and UNH will contribute 11%’. He told me to do that with the 1st check I was to receive, that way I wasn’t missing it (the money that is). They also were very supportive of me taking courses to further my education. I like to think Kim and Donna had faith in me - that I was going to be here for a while. They were both free to share their knowledge of UNH work/living and without their initial support back in 2000 I don’t know if I would have stayed. They were so patient with me in teaching me all I needed to go forward here at UNH. I asked a lot of questions my first few months and I know today they gave me the best information they had to help me in my work. This is a teaching institution and these two people were essential in getting me where I am today so I’d like to say ‘Thank you both for teaching me the ropes!’ Because of that chance they took 8 years ago my husband and I have been able to buy a house, and we now have 2 small children (Emily 2 ½ and Owen 5 months.) We’ve been able to start making a secure future for ourselves and our children. I am always saying ‘I’ll be here until our kids graduate UNH’ – I’ve got a long way to go and a lot more to learn.”
Audra, her husband (Larry), and children are residents of Barrington, NH. They share a love of the outdoors and travel in general. “Prior to having kids, my husband and I made several cross country trips on our Harley Davidson,” Audra says. “We traveled to PEI, coastal trails of Nova Scotia, Canada, NY, VT, PA, ME, RI, CT. We sold the HD the winter we found I was expecting our daughter. Now that we have 2 small children - honestly - we just focus on making it through each day! We’re hoping to do some family trips this summer with the kids to surrounding parks and zoos. It’s all about the kids now. We are saving to one day soon buy a small pop-up camper so we can camp comfortably on long weekends and enjoy the outdoors NH has to offer.”