Photo by Kevin Hinchey,
UNH Human Resources

If there were to be a procedure manual for how to take advantage of the benefits available to you as a University of New Hampshire employee it could be patterned after Sue Bennett's career. Use tuition waivers to take classes and earn degrees? Check. Attend conferences and seminars to further your skill sets in various areas? Check. Have an open-minded attitude when change in your department or position occurs? Check.

Sue came to work at UNH directly out of high school as a Cataloging Clerk in the Dimond Library in 1968. "I have to be honest," she says, "it was just a job at first. I was given the opportunity to build a strong skill set and encouraged to take classes that led me to a career in facilities management." That career path included moving to what was then called "Physical Plant Operations and Maintenance"; followed by a promotion in 1982 to Area Maintenance Manager for the academic/administrative buildings on campus; and then another promotion to Director of Plant Maintenance in August of 1990. Sue recently assumed the administrative responsibilities for the Automotive Garage and the contracted services for Facilities.

Citing "sound ethical leadership techniques and people skills, strong communication skills, financial management training, flexibility, multitasking experience and an understanding and love for the University environment" as skills necessary for her position, Sue has continually been able to take "multitasking" to new levels. While constantly learning new "on-the-job" skills and taking on more and more responsibility within the University, she also earned her Associate's Degree in Management, a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management and then an MBA. "I'm now toying with the idea of going after my Ph.D," she says.

"Timing is very important," Sue states. "Being ready when an opportunity presents itself. Having a mentor or individual who believes in you and sees things in you that you don't even see in yourself. I worked with a wonderful Senior Librarian - Jane Yang at Dimond Library. She saw through the young, rough, inexperienced person I was at 18 and encouraged me to build my life into something wonderful. During some of the tough decisions of my life I have asked myself, 'what would Mrs. Yang say or do in this situation?' She had a great sense of humor and an extremely strong work ethic. I was lucky enough to experience this in my first job, which I believe made all the difference in the world as to how my life's journey has evolved."

In her 36 years as a UNH employee Sue has seen some huge changes. "The growth of the campus during that time has been phenomenal" she says. "It feels different now. You used to know everyone by face or name and now we don't have that opportunity. And the work pace is so much faster due to the improvements in technology. I sometimes worry about a possible lack of detail and thoroughness because our environments have become so much. Quick! Get this done! Move on to the next thing... Bored, you're not!!" Sue sees the largest change in the area of Facilities Services as being the implementation of the new Facilities management software system. "A lot of money, time and effort was put into this system and there was a tremendous amount of data input, and business processes that needed to be clearly defined," she says. "We had to convince frontline staff that this was going to be a beneficial tool for them and not just 'something else they had to do'. We showed them the many opportunities this would open up for them and it helped with a lot of that potential resistance. I truly believe that has made all of our work better."

In the increasingly small increments of time outside of her work at UNH Sue is a certified aerobics instructor and has led a Northwood community aerobics class for 20 years. She also enjoys watching and attending Nascar automobile racing ("our goal is to get to each Nextel Cup racetrack at least once", they've already been to six) and camping with her husband, Walt. They have three children and four grandchildren ("the two oldest live in Texas, but we try to see the youngest two each weekend because they grow so fast.") If there's one thing Sue Bennett knows all about - it's growth!