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Faculty and Staff Q&A

Retirees 

Charlene Kalinoski - Modern Languages-34 years

What are your plans in retirement? I’ve been working on following my interests; doing those things that I wasn’t able to pursue consistently before retirement.  Reading books that have been waiting for me too long on my shelves, trying out new crafts and recipes, exercising regularly, etc. I am the caretaker to my mother who is 99 years old.  I’m working on helping her get to the big 100! In short, doing what makes me happy.  Carpe diem!

Service

20-year Employees 

Jesse Griffin -Civic Engagement 
What advice you give to new employees starting they journey with the college?
Advice (or maybe just a perspective):  When working with college students, remember that they flourish much like a newly grafted fruit tree:  Some will quickly sprout from the branch with fruit while others will wither on the vine for months before taking root.  In the end, they all take some sort of magnificent shape, modest or flamboyant, and each bring life to the orchard and provide nourishment to the world. It is our job to be patient and consistently deliver fertile ground for their growth. 
 

Can you share a memorable success or accomplishment that you were part of at Roanoke College?
Memorable successes – I have two I’ll share:  1.)  I’ll never forget the feeling of successfully finishing the first R House project in 2006.  We were fueled by a wing, a prayer and loads of Mill Mountain Coffee.  I’m was so relieved when we loaded it to move and it didn’t fall apart!  2.) I took RC students to my former Nicaraguan Peace Corps village 15 times over Spring Break from ’05 – ’19.  Each time they would arrive with faces mixed with excitement and worry and ten days later they would leave with tear stained cheeks, lifelong memories and a changed perspective.  It was a great privilege to be able to share this place with so many great students.

Hany Hosny - Library Services 
What advice you give to new employees starting they journey with the college?
There will be days when things are tough. But isn’t that true everywhere? The difference is that here, you have all kinds of benefits with which to offset some of the goofy moments: a country-club-like environment in which to take a walk; the Appalachian Mountains in the horizon; topnotch athletic facilities in which to move your body; tuition exchange possibilities for you and your family; a topnotch library from which to borrow and do research; a campus of youth with vibrant energy. The list goes on!

  

Kate ShortridgeKate Shortridge - Fine Arts

What advice would you give to new employees starting their journey with the college?  
Get to know people. All the people. We are a community where it really takes everyone to make it work. Listening, talking, understanding across disciplines. All our contributions are special, large or small. All are valuable as part of a really invested community. But we also need to find our people, those who make us laugh, who also love the things we love, or who introduce us to the things we do not yet know.

Can you share a memorable success or accomplishment that you were part of at Roanoke College?
All the hands. The team. Gosh those special moments are when it just comes together (of course not without hard work) in Fine Arts (and beyond). To see so many different people contributing to make a greater whole is wonderful. Recency bias, CABARET! Hell yah that was an awesome production where all part of the department and campus came together for something fabulous—it highlighted all the talents and wonderfully the students shined. Or in the community gallery activities like paper flowers or coral reef project, Copenhavers and visiting artists—people come together to make. Art History students presenting in the Taubman, the choirs and ensembles getting standing ovations for their performances. In the classroom when my students take over and run the critiques with insight, thoughtfulness, articulation, and individual awareness—I just sat back and smiled. Or when it is hard, and you work with the student to find out the plan for learning from that hard time and setting goals and strategies for how to make the next, the best. I love seeing students figure it out and own it. That is the best. I so enjoy learning from each other (ALL OF US), discussing real issues, celebrating and comforting each other, working side by side, appreciating all of us.  Mostly I just love it when you see students believe in themselves.

25-year Employees 

Meeta Mehrotra - Sociology and Public Health 
What advice you give to new employees starting they journey with the college?
The advice I would give to new employees starting their journey at Roanoke College is to reach out to, interact, and make friends with as many people across campus as possible.   

Can you share a memorable success or accomplishment that you were part of at Roanoke College?
In recent years, it would be establishing a successful new major, Public Health Studies, and working to create a proposed new major -- Human Service Studies.  

35-year Employees 

Bob Shupe - Plant Administration 
What advice you give to new employees starting they journey with the college?
You need to be flexible to change and remember your purpose is to help and support our students 

Can you share a memorable success or accomplishment that you were part of at Roanoke College?
Upon me arrive at Roanoke College in the spring of 1988, almost every road and sidewalk on campus was gravel and blacktop. Today, I can guarantee that you’ve “Walked all over” my work because it’s hard to navigate the campus without walking on brick pavers that my hands have touched! As I look around at the beauty of the campus, I realize this in my greatest accomplishment at Roanoke College. 

40-year Employees 

Terri Fox - Information Technology
What advice you give to new employees starting they journey with the college?
I would advise new employees to see the importance of working in Higher Ed and to fully understand how all roles at the College play a part in the student’s success.  It’s very easy to get into the details of your specific job and department and forget the bigger team and goal.   Being part of something bigger and playing a part in providing a great education and experience for the students’ needs to be kept in the forefront.  Enjoy the campus, engage and be part of a great community.

Can you share a memorable success or accomplishment that you were part of at Roanoke College?
Most would not see this as a success or accomplishment, but the technical accomplishments our IT team did through the Pandemic and Cyber Incident (which all happened at the same time) were just short of miracles.   I witnessed a group of IT staff come together in extremely trying times to flip a campus remote within weeks, support that environment, then recover from a cyber incident over an extremely needed Christmas Break.  Though the circumstances are not ones we ever want to repeat, working with the IT team during this time has been a highlight of my career.  They worked selflessly, tirelessly and in roles outside their normal duties all to support Roanoke College to continue to thrive even in the difficult times.

Carolyn Walter - Advancement
What advice you give to new employees starting their journey with the college: If you are a new employee and lack a 4-year college degree, take advantage of your tuition-free benefit and earn your degree at Roanoke.  It was one of the best and most enjoyable decisions I made. 

Can you share a memorable success or accomplishment that you were part of at Roanoke College?
I have been fortunate to have worked in the Resource Development/Advancement Office my entire college career.  When I walk around the campus, I see all of the buildings and dorms that my department helped raise the funds for their construction or renovation.  Very soon, I look forward to watching the construction of the new Science Center, one of our latest fund-raising challenges.