By Adrianne Eager
If you’re looking for comedy
relief on the campus of Northeastern Junior College, the Mail and Document
Center in Walker Hall is one place to go for it. Amidst ringing phones,
massive, whirring Xerox machines, several daily mail deliveries and endless
publication processing, Martha Gareis has a smile on her face and a habit for
making people laugh.
If you’re not there for the free
stand-up, you might be there for the simple fact that this sunny corner suite in
the administrative building is a hub of campus activity. “We process all the
incoming and outgoing mail on a daily basis as well as logging in and sending
out all campus freight for staff and students” said Martha. “Our department is
also responsible for all copy work, print jobs, brochures, programs, and other
publications across the campus.”
What that means in broad terms is
that any time you see an athletic program at the Bank of Colorado Event Center
on game night, any time an instructor needs 80 note packets made for an
economics class, or any time a hall director needs 200 copies of a free movie
night flyer to post across campus, it goes through Martha. Oh, and did we
mention that it is her department, staffed by two, that is the first line of
contact as campus operator answering incoming calls and acting as switchboard to
direct callers to the right departments?
The job in itself is more than a
little daunting, considering most people’s natural aversion to copy machines
given their finicky nature and ability to always jam up in high-pressure
situations. Despite this, since July of 2009, Martha Gareis has been making the
document center machines hum, facilitating the publication of thousands of
documents, and making sure the mail comes in, is accounted for, and leaves
campus on time. The work she does touches virtually every part of campus in one
way or another. Just a few weeks ago, she was recognized with the 2013
Northeastern Junior College Administrative Professional/Technical Employee of
the Year Award for doing just that. The award, now in its third year, asks the
professional and technical employees on the campus to nominate deserving peers
for this award. All employees in this classification are then able to vote for a
name on the nominee list and a winner is chosen. Other winners have included
Barbara Baker, Director of Marketing Services and Andy Long, Dean of Enrollment
and Recruitment.
Having been on and off the
Northeastern campus since 2000, Martha has had a role in more than a few places.
From being the administrative assistant for the nursing department to being the
facilities use coordinator in Hays Student Center, to helping Barbara Baker in
the marketing department or Ronda Monheiser with AmeriCorps; if she hasn’t done
it all , she has come pretty close. This cross training she’s received over the
years has made her invaluable.
When asked about her former
assistant, Ronda Monheiser doesn’t hesitate to throw out the accolades. “You
couldn’t ask for a better colleague, Martha is top notch!, “ Monheiser said. “
For quite a while we would work in the evenings on AmeriCorps paperwork after
our regular 9-5 jobs. It was great working with Martha! You knew that if
Martha had anything to do with it, the end result was going to be done to
perfection and finished on time. If she had a personal work motto it would have
to be, ‘Any job, big or small, do it right or not at all.’ Monheiser shares.
When nominating Gareis this year,
it was Barbara Baker who wrote, “Martha Gareis is the ultimate team player.
Having worked in several areas of campus over the years, she is extremely
familiar with the campus and how it operates. As director of the college’s
document/mail center, she is well versed with who works where on campus. Combine
these two assets and you have someone who can and will help in all areas. Her
professionalism is second to none. Her work ethic is an example for all of us.
Martha comes in contact with people from all over the campus and the community
on a daily basis, as well as interacting with hundreds of students each year.
She treats everyone as a valued “customer” and takes care of them all with the
utmost spirit of service to others. Martha puts many hours in above and beyond
the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule—doing whatever is required to make sure the needs
of others are always met. Her work often goes unnoticed as her position is
somewhat of a behind the scenes situation; however, what she does (mail and
copying and overseeing main phone line) is critical to all areas and individuals
on campus.”
Martha’s personal philosophy
shows a definite reflection of that mindset, “My belief about work has always
been you get out of it what you put into it,” she admits. “ If I spend my days
helping others and going above and beyond, it usually comes back full
circle.”
This month Martha was honored at
a luncheon in Denver with fellow winners from the other 12 colleges across the
state that are also members of the Colorado Community College System.
Adrianne Eager is a sophomore student from Gunnison, CO.
She works part-time in the college’s marketing office. She is pursuing a
business degree, but is passionate about communications, especially social
media.
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