The UNK Staff Senate Employee Recognition Committee announces Ruth Behlmann as the UNK Employee of the Month for September 2002.
Ruth Behlmann serves as a Staff Secretary III for the University of Nebraska at Kearney Department of English. She is the only full-time office assistant for the 30-person department, which includes tenured and tenure-track faculty, lecturers, adjunct faculty, and graduate assistants. Ruth's dedication to keeping the necessary paperwork in order and up to date is essential to the department. She not only manages the workload, but she also helps the department chair plan ahead for upcoming timelines, and handles unanticipated and unusual circumstances as well. This year those circumstances ranged from assisting with a faculty member's family crisis to re-keying all of the offices in Thomas Hall. In all situations, Ruth is the organizational center of the English Department.
Departmental projects and activities that require Ruth's assistance include the Explorations Lecture Series; the Reynolds Reading Series, which involves international guest writers traveling to UNK from many parts of the world; high school day; the publication of the Reynolds Review; and mailing newsletters, the Sigma Tau Delta Carillon, and other department materials. Ruth coordinates and provides support for all of these activities in addition to working with guest speakers, prospective faculty, and other scholars.
Then there is the student interaction - nearly 2,000 students every term. The Department of English maintains the largest general studies program on the campus, and offers courses to English education students, literature and creating writing majors, and nearly 200 English minors. The students have diverse needs and Ruth is often the person who helps them with questions about their coursework, lost items, and sometimes even personal problems. The department depends on Ruth's people skills and good sense to assist students, parents, and campus guests.
Because of her dedication to students, to colleagues, and to the wider UNK community, the University of Nebraska at Kearney is pleased to name Ruth Behlmann as the Employee of the Month for September 2002.