Liz McCue | University Communication and Marketing
Liz McCue | University Communication and Marketing
Adriana Suarez, sport program support specialist, picks up a plaque celebrating her fifth anniversary at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln during the Celebration of Service in the Coliseum.
When Bill Manning looks back at his 50 years at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, it’s not the work that stands out most.
It’s the people.
Manning started with the university police department in 1976 and later moved to Parking and Transit Services. The work connected him with hundreds of students and colleagues across campus.
Some of those students have stayed in touch long after graduation. At Manning’s retirement celebration, one former student walked up, put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey, Pops.”
Manning turned and recognized him by his eyes — once a student he worked with more than 40 years ago, now a grown man.
Jordan Opp | University Communication and Marketing
Manning was among 870 University of Nebraska–Lincoln employees recognized Oct. 2 at the Coliseum during the annual Celebration of Service. The honorees represented five to 50-plus years of university service. Prior to the ceremony, 10 were asked to look back on their careers and consider a simple question:
If you could talk to yourself on your first day at Nebraska, what advice would you give yourself to help along the way?
The answers were as varied as the careers themselves.
For Tina Harris, five years at Nebraska have taught her that confidence matters.
Harris, an administrative technician in Civil and Environmental Engineering, said she would tell her younger self to be more confident.
“Everybody is very helpful here,” Harris said. “You just have to kind of be yourself, be more confident and use your experience.”
Jessica Roberts’ 10 years at Nebraska have included a pivot to more scenic work.
Roberts started as a temporary custodial employee in 2015 and moved into a full-time position the following year. She eventually decided that spending her days inside wasn’t for her.
That personal choice led her to apply for and become a landscape assistant with Landscape Services.
“You can find me outside playing in the dirt now,” Roberts said with a smile.
If she could return to her first day at Nebraska, Roberts said she might tell herself to start in Landscape Services. More than anything, though, she would tell herself to simply keep at it — that there are good things coming.
University of Nebraska–Lincoln staff, faculty and administrators listen to Rick Alloway, associate professor emeritus of journalism, during the Celebration of Service in the Coliseum. Photo by Liz McCue | University Communication and Marketing
Jeremy Steele knows something about taking a different path.
His Nebraska career began as a student studying agricultural technology. He later volunteered at the tractor museum, where he worked as a development associate and educational communications associate before becoming the museum’s first manager.
Steele eventually left Nebraska for work in precision agriculture and industry, including positions with Beck’s Hybrids and BASF. Along the way, he set a goal of returning to the university.
He eventually did, joining the Nebraska Mesonet as a technician.
Steele said he has accumulated around 10 years of university employment across three decades and multiple roles, although only five years count toward his current service-award milestone.
After all those turns, Steele’s advice wasn’t about having a perfect career plan.
“Everything works together for good,” Steele said. “It just sometimes takes longer than you expect.”
Stephanie Osterthun has spent 15 years at Nebraska watching students discover that their own plans can change, too.
As a career coach in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Osterthun works with students who are considering major changes, looking for experiential learning opportunities or preparing for job searches and career fairs.
Looking back, she said she would tell herself to pay better attention.
“You will be amazed at all of the people you will meet and all of the things you will learn,” Osterthun said. “I would also tell myself to never forget the impact that higher education has on the lives of young people.”
That revelation was fresh as she had just mentored a student worried about a change in their major. The discussion explored some alternatives, and Osterthun reminded them that they weren’t the first Husker to change majors.
As they talked, Osterthun could see the weight of worry lift from the student’s shoulders. The student left with a smile and a plan to continue the discussion next week.
“It feels so good when you see the relief come over them,” Osterthun said.
For Chad Brassil, 20 years at Nebraska have confirmed something he hoped would be true when he arrived: He would continue to enjoy the work.
Brassil, an associate professor of biological sciences, said he isn’t sure he would give his younger self much different advice than the outlook he had on his first day. His 20-year milestone also happened to fall on his birthday, making the passage of time particularly striking.
“Time is passing, and this 20-year mark is kind of stunning,” Brassil said. “There’s an element where it feels like it’s been a couple years, but it’s been so much more than that.”
Part of what has kept the work interesting, Brassil said, is the variety. A professor’s job can mean teaching, research, working with students and developing new ideas, often all in the same week.
“It’s like I’m not just making a donut every day,” he said. “Sometimes I’m making donuts, and sometimes I’m cleaning up the donuts, and sometimes we’re inventing new donuts, and sometimes we’re teaching people to make donuts.”
That variety remains both intellectually and emotionally satisfying, Brassil said.
Joanie Barnes has had 25 years at Nebraska to see how quickly a university can change.
Barnes, a professor of practice in University Libraries, has worked through changes in leadership, periods of success and some difficult stretches. Looking back, she said she would give her younger self a simple piece of advice.
“Don’t worry so much,” Barnes said. “We have so many resources available to employees and plenty of people who can help.
“Situations change, leadership changes and jobs change, but things have a way of working themselves out.”
After 30 years in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Teresa Ryans’ advice is more practical.
Ask questions.
“No matter who you have to ask, ask questions,” said Ryan, a graduate program specialist in the department. “They help you learn how to do your job well, which allows you to better serve the students and others who depend on you.”
Establishing one-to-one connections with students remains Ryan’s favorite part of the job.
“I like to sort of become their second mom/grandmother from their home away from home.”
LuAnn Wandsnider has spent 35 years at Nebraska and has watched plenty change along the way. A professor in the School of Global Integrative Studies, Wandsnider said she would tell her younger self to simply smile more.
“Lots of change comes, lots of change goes, and the students will still continue to be wonderful, and there’ll be lots of opportunities to do cool stuff,” she said.
For Wandsnider, one of those opportunities is helping students reach an “aha” moment, when they suddenly see an idea in a different way and begin thinking about what they might do with it.
Rick Alloway, who also served as emcee for the service awards ceremony, spent 40 years at Nebraska. Some of the best advice he received came from Ron Joekel, a mentor who had worked about 30 years in a faculty role at the university.
Alloway remembers asking Joekel how someone survives for decades at a university.
Joekel told him there were two spheres of influence: one centered on students, classroom work and academics; the other on campus politics and institutional maneuvering.
“He told me that success will be directly tied to how much you can keep your head in the first sphere and out of the second,” Alloway said.
Alloway, an emeritus associate professor of broadcasting in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, recently retired after four decades at Nebraska.
Manning, meanwhile, spent enough time at Nebraska to see several generations of students come and go.
After five decades, the advice he might give his younger self is rooted in something he could not have known on that first day: The people you meet along the way may become the part of the job you remember most.
“When I look back, it’s the people. That’s what kept me coming back,” Manning said.
