Judith Ivankovic Oral History Transcript
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Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
1
Judith Ivankovic
Marist College
Poughkeepsie, NY
Transcribed by Erin Kelly
For the Marist College Archives and Special Collections
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
2
Transcript: Judith Ivankovic
Interviewee:
Judith Ivankovic
Interviewer:
Gus Nolan
Interview date:
15 July 2002
Location:
Marist Archives and Special Collections Reading Room
Topic:
Marist College History
Subject Headings:
Marist Brothers - United States - History
Marist College History
Marist College (Poughkeepsie, New York)
Marist College Social Aspects
Summary:
In the following interview, Judith Ivankovic speaks of her past fifteen years
working as an administrator at Marist College. The interview begins with a brief
background of Judith Ivankovic’s educational history and her coming to Marist. Within
the interview, Judith speaks of her transition from the Bursar’s office to becoming
Registrar of the College, as well as the tasks involved in being Registrar. Judith
Ivankovic also describes various previous administrators and their input over the years at
Marist College. The interview ends with Judith Ivankovic’s take on where Marist may be
in the future with regards to distance education.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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“BEGINNING OF INTERVIEW”
Gus Nolan:
Good afternoon. Today is Monday July 15
th
. It’s about 1:15 in the
afternoon and the interview today as part of the ongoing Heritage Project of the
Archives is with Judith Ivankovic who is the Registrar at Marist. Judy, would you
please give us your full name and if I mispronounced it, maybe you can
pronounce it correctly. [Laughter]
Judith Ivankovic:
Judy Ivankovic. Judith A. Ivankovic but Judy Ivankovic, that’s
what everybody knows me by.
GN:
Okay, were you named after any member of the family?
JAI:
My aunt Judy, my mother’s sister.
GN:
Okay, where and when were you born?
JAI:
I was born in Rosendale, New York in 1956.
GN:
Okay, are there other members? You have siblings?
JAI:
Yes, I’m one of seven children. I’m the second oldest and the oldest
daughter.
GN:
And are these children in the area?
JAI:
Most of them are. My oldest brother’s up near Saratoga. He’s probably the
farthest away and that’s not very far.
GN:
Okay, could you give us the names of your parents and what was your
father’s occupation?
JAI:
Okay, my father was Richard Priest and he worked for IBM in Kingston for
many years. He passed away in ’96. My mother’s Eulalia Priest. She was a
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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Kelder so she had the roots in Rosendale and is still there. [Laughter] The
family went back a long time in Rosendale.
GN:
And where was your early education? In Rosendale, right?
JAI:
Right, I went to Rondout Valley School system.
GN:
And where’d you go to high school?
JAI:
I went to Rondout Valley High School.
GN:
Okay, now before we get onto your college career, let’s just talk a little bit
more about your own personal life. When did you marry?
JAI:
1980.
GN:
Okay, at where and…?
JAI:
St. Peter’s Church in Rosendale.
GN:
Okay, and about the family now?
JAI:
Okay, my immediate family?
GN:
Yes.
JAI:
I met my husband when I went to Ulster. I was a bridge student at Rondout
Valley going to Ulster and met him there and well, we were together, dated for a
few years and after four or five years, married then decided that kids weren’t, I
guess after being one of seven and being the oldest daughter, I… [Laughter] I
had little children for a while but we were going to go on and finish our education
and buy a house and you know, get stabilized and all that type of that thing. So
we put off having kids for quite a while. And then I was thirty-four and then we
decided it was time to start a family. We both got our Master’s Degree at
Marist… And had our son and were thinking about more children and then one of
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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my siblings, my sister, was a single parent and has a hard time taking care of
herself and her son was taken away from her and we stepped up because we’re
the oldest children.
GN:
Yes.
JAI:
And took care of him and it was a temporary arrangement but in ’96 it was
due to go after a year, you know, trying to make things better between the two of
them, give her some parenting skills. My father, who was retired from IBM at the
time and who took a lot of care of my nephew, even though he was with my
sister, got cancer and it was evident that he was not going to be with us too much
longer so she had asked if she could be a weekend mom and we’d raise him and
she’d have him on the weekends and I said absolutely not. [Laughter] And
anyway, so a deal was draught basically that she wasn’t willing to give him up for
adoption but my husband and I became legal guardians.
GN:
I see.
JAI:
And that was in ’96 as well. Yea, ’96 I guess.
GN:
So now you have two boys?
JAI:
Right.
GN:
Okay, and what ages are they now?
JAI:
Dustin, my nephew, is… He’s twelve and my son, Alex, is eleven so they’re
almost exactly a year apart.
GN:
And what do they do on their free-time like in the summer time here?
JAI:
Well, they’re at basketball camp in the third week right now. They love
basketball. During the year, my husband loves sports and he has coached their
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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CYO teams since third grade. Then, they’ve been on AAU teams with my
husband coaching and then my nephew’s gone into seventh grade last year so
now it’s modified in the middle school. So we had four basketball leagues going
at one point and also they do ice hockey, travel ice hockey. That has kept us
busy the last three years. I think they’re gravitating towards basketball. When
they get to the seventh, they do the school sports thing. They can’t do everything
because the academics comes first. If that’s not done, they have to quit the
sports and so we‘ve been maybe backing away from ice hockey. [Laughter]
GN:
Give you a little more time too.
JAI:
Yea, that would be fine with me. [Laughter] So sports seems to... That’s
our, my family.
GN:
Were they ever into soccer?
JAI:
They did the AYSO soccer. My son did a travel soccer…
GN:
So you were a real soccer mom then?
JAI:
Yea. [Laughter]
GN:
With doing this kind of thing. Okay, let’s go back to your college degree.
You say you got one at Marist… Master’s. Though before that, you were at
Ulster Community College, is that right? And you graduated from there?
JAI:
Yes.
GN:
And then where did you do your BS degree?
JAI:
At SUNY at Utica/Rome.
GN:
And you finished there about 1980, I think?
JAI:
’79, ’78, yea.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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GN:
I was hoping that my numbers were the same as yours.
JAI:
Yea. [Laughter] That was a long time ago.
GN:
Okay. Okay, and then when did you start to work and where?
JAI:
When I finished there, I was working. I had always been a work/study
student while going to college so I’d worked in financial aid. And when I came
back, I worked at a bank in New Paltz and I was in the mortgage/student loan
department because I knew one end of loans [Laughter] and I’d learn the other
end. While I was there, a half-time position opened at Ulster and I had my ties
there which was assistant to the bursar. It was a new position, half-time and I
thought I’d like that field so I applied and by the time I was interviewed and
whatever, they turned it into a full-time position. So I went there and well, they
were in need to get me soon after I worked with the bank. You know, real long?
And I worked there and then came here in September.
GN:
What was the bridge to Marist? How did you move into the bursar’s office
at Marist?
JAI:
I was at Ulster for about a year and a half, very happy, very young, just you
know, feeling my way and back in those days they used to post the salary. I
wasn’t looking and both my boss who is now the like the twin Campilii at
Dutchess, John Dunn, and my husband both said, “Oh, look there’s an ad in the
paper for Marist” and you know, “It makes thirty percent more money than you’re
making and it looks like it’s doing the same thing.” I said “Oh, I’ve been working
there long, I don’t know how…” And then my husband said it first on Sunday and
then when I came to work, my boss said, “You know, there’s…”, you know. I said
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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“Oh no, no, no.” He says apply. He says, you know, we bought a house, “If
going to stay in the area…” because we had our family roots and wanted to do
that because there’s not a whole lot of positions that open up. He says, “Apply,
the experience will be good…”, blah, blah, blah. You know, “I don’t want to lose
you, you know but I also care about you.”
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
And “You know, you’d make a lot more money across the bridge.” So I
applied and I got it and was scared to death and [Laughter] but it worked out.
GN:
And then how would you compare the position in Ulster and the position at
Marist in terms of the volume of work and the number of people you have to deal
with and those kinds of student stats?
JAI:
Numbers were probably about the same. In Ulster, being a community
college, the hardest transition was, you know, working in the state system and
working with CSEA workers. Things were pretty black and white. You have to
go and pay your bill, boom, you were deleted before classes began. You know,
then I came to Marist and found out that was starless Gus. [Laughter]
GN:
Starless, yes.
JAI:
And you don’t just delete people because you know, we have to work with
them. That was a whole… That took a little while and as bursars, the two
bursars after I left came, followed me from Ulster. It was kind of… It’s a joke that
we steal the… Whenever the bursar leaves with our Ulster, we get the bursar
since I came it and it may have had the same thing. I said, “No, no. No, listen,
let me give you a hint here.” [Laughter] You know…
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Saving a lot of heartache. So that was… It wasn’t difficult. It just took a
little bit of time to, Marist being the small, specialized when I first started, small
family type of thing. It wasn’t like that at Ulster. There were a lot of nice people I
worked with and a lot of nice students but it was “Do this or this happens.” I
mean you follow the flowchart and you know, that’s how it worked.
GN:
And you were bursar here then for about six years, seven years?
JAI:
Yea, about six and a half.
GN:
And then how did you make the move from the Bursar’s office to the
Registrar’s office?
JAI:
I was on the Search Committee for the treasurer.
GN:
So I heard, yes. [Laughter]
JAI:
And nobody wanted to take it, no. [Laughter] We came up with some
viable candidates and when you offer the job, you know, I mean some of it was
money. You know, they… The wife didn’t want to move from Texas and you
know…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
They’re so different. And we struck out on the first one. We started the
second search and kind of the same thing. So this went on for about a year
while one of the like associate registrars stepped up to the plate and managed
the office. Thank goodness that she did. And then when we were kind of not
bonding anybody on the second one. Marc vanderHayden, who was the AVP at
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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the time and he was fairly new. I got to know him a little bit because he was
leading the search…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
At the registrar and he said one day, it was around the holidays, he said,
“Well, why don’t you apply?” And I said, “Oh yea, right. Hahaha.” And I went
home and I was decorating my Christmas tree and he called me up and said,
“You know, I’m serious.” Whoa, you know, here I am getting comfortable in my
little world, I know my job now very well and he said “Think about it. Think about
it.” I said “I don’t know.” You know, I mean, in academics, I’ve been going to
school myself, you know, an accountant type of person, financial, money. I don’t
know that I could do that. He says, “Oh, you’ve done well. You’ve got a good
reputation. You know, think about it, whatever.” So I thought about it and back
in those days they posted salaries again and it was really, there was nowhere for
me to go where I was. There was no, I mean, no next level and so I thought
about it hard and long and I ended up applying and got the position and the first
year was really tough because…
GN:
You had a lot to learn.
JAI:
Yes, yes. I just sat with people and found out what they did and…
GN:
Let’s talk a little bit more about what you had to learn because I’m
interested in knowing something about the dynamics that you require from that
office. For instance, dealing with Albany and the registration for new courses or
new majors and things, where do you learn that?
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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JAI:
I always, I kept calling only asking for like the manual of a book and they all
laughed at me and said there’s a series of memos that come out in the State Ed
Department and whenever I had a question, I would ask and they would say,
“Oh, we’ll send you that memo. That’s a 1977 memo and it’s still in effect.” So I
was kind of… Accumulated my own notebook of, you know, documentation and
sort of learned as I went, just I asked a lot of questions and anything I gathered
I’d try to get in writing or any conversations, I would document it if it would help
me. You know, when I had it, who did I talk to? You know, or even why it’s like
that because a lot of times, you would think something would be one way and it
was something totally different.
GN:
What did you find to be the most challenging in that?
JAI:
Oh, it was so much new stuff at once. I mean, you were building a
schedule with the deans.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
The student problems weren’t that much different. They were, you know, “I
didn’t get my courses” and they’re paying a bill. You’re dealing with the students
more. I actually dealt more with parents when I was Bursar, you know, with
money. So that was pretty smooth. But then I was on a Curriculum Committee,
you know, how do you decide, I mean I’m a non-voting member, but how do you
decide if a course is legitimate? You know, what makes a course…?
GN:
Is it a liberal arts course?
JAI:
Exactly.
GN:
If it’s not a liberal arts, it was…
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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JAI:
Right, right. I would pull up this data, you know and… A lot of the reporting
too. You have to report to the state and the federal government. You know,
enrollment figures the way they want it. We may look at it one way, they want it
in different categories. So just, you know, I’m not a perfectionist but I strive to do
things the right way in that, so that took a lot of time just what’s with the what’s
and that was fine. It was interesting dealing with faculty in terms of… And some
students, you know, you have so many that you will have ties with forever and
then others, you can’t wait until they, you know… [Laughter]
GN:
Yea. It’s hard to believe that about our faculty here at Marist.
JAI:
I was surprised… It was my first, I guess, some type of mentality, you know,
I learned over the years that at many schools, it’s the administration versus
faculty and a lot of that goes back to budgeting and money and things like that.
That was difficult because I was young and some people would be very, you
know, have no patience or whatever with me. You know, “You should know
that.”
GN:
Yea, yea.
JAI:
But you know, and again really there were two mentalities. I’m talking
extreme, extreme in administration and extreme in faculty.
GN:
Yea, yea, just contrast it.
JAI:
That kind of surprised me because I’d go, “We’re one place, you know, one
goal.” But I learned you know, over all the years I’ve worked that that’s not
different anywhere else, you know?
GN:
Yea.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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JAI:
And…
GN:
How about the technical aspects of, you know… One little thing that we had
of course was the dropping of an “M” in communications. And that we want to
reorganize the whole communications structure [Laughter] and the computer
wouldn’t do it, you know, there was no room to…
JAI:
Right, the core course numbers so it was never in effect.
GN:
But with those kinds of problems, do you have an advisor that you can go to
or do you figure it out yourself?
JAI:
Sort of figure it out. I’m on the listserv so I ask other colleges, you know,
what they’ve done and you get a lot of answer in colleagues and some people
have the exact same issues so you know, they’ll reinvent the wheel, you try to
see what solutions they’ve come up with. The deans have always been very
supportive. I mean learning, they were wonderful to go to and they were very
patient with me, you know, in terms of teaching me the ropes or where to go
next, you know, when I… Who do I call? Whatever or how can we do this? Back
then again, we were smaller so…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
It’s a little different than it is now.
GN:
Yea, yea. You have some experience. You’ve been in there more than ten
years.
JAI:
Yea, now I’ve been there like fifteen and a half.
GN:
Yea, that’s what I think.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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JAI:
Yea. So, I mean some of it’s oh god, we’ve been through… We’re on our
second upgrade. We’re, you know, three computer systems since I’ve been
there so I know the systems well. I know what needs to be done. It’s not real
easy like that all the time.
GN:
How far down ahead do you have to project a calendar? Do you know
graduation for the next two years?
JAI:
No, I know it for next year. [Laughter] I know, I’ve been trying to get at
least a two year academic calendar. It’s so hard to get everybody to agree on
things that far in advance and someone has to know if construction’s been going
on, you know.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Does it start this week or this week, you know?
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Or where Labor Day falls has always been an issue.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
You have to do the faculty handbook and what might make more sense and
getting people with a compromise and grades.
GN:
When grades have to be in in order to be able to notify students about
taking courses?
JAI:
Only a year and a half ahead, like we have next year… I mean, the year’s
going to be starting soon but we had that in place early spring this year. The
goal has been the last few years to, you know, we’d like to get a five year
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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calendar. I think John Ritschdorff is pushing for that and I think about some of
the people that want to see it happen for athletics and many other…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Reasons. I think it might start to happen. It’s always been one of those
goals but hasn’t really…
GN:
One last favorite topic, I’m sure that you’ve there before and there’s another
one coming, how about Middle States? Do they concern you or are you…?
JAI:
Not as much as everybody else because I don’t have a real big role in it.
I’m always on one of the sub-committees, which is nice because you get to work
with, you know, people that you don’t get to work with all the time. They’ll come
in with the catalog, they’ll come in and look at some of the things but they look
more at the academic programs. So, right, it doesn’t… To me it’s a fun time
when they come because I can get to do committee work and see and work with
some people and get to meet other people that you only know talking to on the
phone and that type of thing. So, yea, where it concerns, yea rightfully so
[Laughter] you know, I’m lucky that I’m not… You know, you don’t have that role.
GN:
Still in the Registrar’s office but changing the topic a little bit, I’m concerned
with having you respond to the management of your office. There has been a
tremendous development of a work ethic in there that seems to be a happy one,
that people are pleased to be there. It was not always the case I would have to
tell you. [Laughter]
JAI:
I always thought you enjoyed it. [Laughter]
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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GN:
It was not always the case, not always this place you may want to go
[Laughter] and talk to people.
JAI:
As Bursar, I didn’t want to cross the hall… I have to go there? [Laughter]
GN:
How did that happen? How did you manage to bring on board that array of
people?
JAI:
I can’t stand that I do. As I was going to college, I mean being one of seven
children, you have this is the biggest step for me, I want to take it up but having
understand it a little better. I was always a very good student. I mean, I was… I
liked being a good student. It was demanded by my Catholic mother. [Laughter]
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
And, you know, I was on the Honors Society and you know, everything else
and like I said bridged over to college because back then it was the seventies too
so times were a little different and all I wanted as much as I loved my family
dearly, I think being the eldest daughter and you know, having so many younger
children I was, you know, the teenager who couldn’t wait to be out there in my
own place and have a job. Be on my own, you know?
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
And so I went from being like the, you know, so wonderfully academic and
probably could’ve done almost anything I wanted to do to having much lower
goals of myself. And when I bridged over to Ulster, I ended up in one of these
secretarial classes because I knew I could get a job and that was as short range
and college wasn’t a big even though my mother wants to see us go but nobody
in my family other than my brother, who is the doctor… [Laughter]
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
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GN:
Yea.
JAI:
That wasn’t a big thing you talked about growing up. Even when I was at
high school, you never visited colleges or did any of that thing you know…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
With your family. And so as a work/study student, people always trained
me very well and I think took a lot time and I took a lot of pride in what I did so
people were willing to mentor me along. That’s how my path, you know, went.
When I was at Utica, it was my senior year and the director of financial aid that I
worked for said, “Well, what’re you going to do?” I went from secretarial to
business so I lost a zillion credits so I understand how the kids feel when they
lose them when they come here now. But I didn’t understand that at the time.
You know, why do I have to go to summer school and make-up and do all these
things? But now as Registrar, I really understand it. Because I’m a business
major, it’s “Oh, work in business field” and I could do what I wanted to do. And
he said “Well, have you ever thought about working at the college” and this and
that and I hadn’t been, you know, but people mentored me along and ultimately I
went to Ulster, you know, and then came here and special work for Tony Campilii
as Bursar. He taught me a lot and worked for Marc vanderHayden to add him as
I… He was the ultimate mentor in teaching and patience and never an unkind
word that, I don’t know, I was like you know, okay so I supervise staff. I’m going
to try to be like that with people. It’s always a team. I’ve never raised my voice
to anybody who’s worked for me. I’ve always believed in if you have a problem,
try to retrain before you get rid of somebody. People are people. They might
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have personal problems, it might be this or maybe that. And I think that I’m
willing to roll up my sleeves and if the counters busy, go up there and help. You
pick up the phones, I mean, if there’s a… You know, you get your own work done
too but I think people set an example and I tried to follow, they kind of showed
me and I thought a lot about it so I thought okay, what’s my management style
going to be? But just be a nice person and you know, got to get the work done.
GN:
Can you see a progression within the office when you bring in somebody
who might be at first a receptionist, like a Julie and will be hired for however
long? Is that part of the strategy that you see as successful?
JAI:
Yes, my first… Linda’s the only person that is working there that when you
first came to Registrar was. Just a lot of different personalities…
GN:
Yes.
JAI:
When I first came. And I guess I had a hard time with them when I went to
Ulster, when I came to Marist first because the staff… You know, who’s this
young whippersnapper? I don’t know what they, how do they expect to adapt but
once they learned to trust me it was fine but I had a hard time going into each
place because it was resentment, like you know, forty, fifty year old woman,
“Who’s this twenty-something year old person or thirty that’s going to be my
boss?”
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
But I think once they realized that I’d help them out, I didn’t, you know
whatever. I was fair. It would be fine and I also when I was Bursar and Registrar
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
19
believed in eternal promotion. If somebody’s done a good job, you get someone
a higher level in secretarial union, you know…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Go for it and so we had a lot of turnover in the beginning of the Registrar’s
office when I was there because they didn’t want to play the rules by my game.
[Laughter] They didn’t want to play the game by my rules which I don’t think
were unrealistic so one by one they left and I tried to hire. Personality I would
say is fifty percent. I just hired a transcript clerk the other day, she’ll be starting
and personality’s fifty percent. I want them to be, you know, customer oriented…
GN:
I see, yea.
JAI:
With the students, the parents. I want them to be gentle, gentle but firm
when they need to be. I need them to get all with the… and just be themselves.
Okay, in the office there’s ten women. I mean, there happen to be [ten
personalities].
GN:
I’m going to say…
JAI:
Not many males apply. [Laughter] I hire them and I have but I try to get the
right personality and the right set of skills and then mentor them along, you know,
just some cross-training and as there’s turnover, almost everybody, not
everybody but almost everyone in that office has had the transcript clerk position.
You know and then when something higher comes, you know somebody leaves,
you just keep filling, you kind of fill in the bottom. But other than this past year, I
haven’t had turnover in five years so there hasn’t been a whole lot of room for
growth which is kind of sad in a way.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
20
GN:
Yea, yea. Well, it’s just I have to react to the idea that it’s a very pleasant
place for me at least to…
JAI:
Thank you. [Laughter]
GN:
Interact with them.
JAI:
That’s well done.
GN:
Alright. Now, how is it though since you have grown in development of
ability to administer various kinds of offices, financial and academic, you’re still
here. Why didn’t you go to West Point or why didn’t you go IBM or something? I
believe in the Marist family, you said that… What is that to you?
JAI:
Marist family… People make me feel like part of the family when I first
came. It was much… It was smaller. You got to know virtually everybody on,
you know, right now I say hello to people in the hall. I don’t really know
everybody because we’ve grown so much. But I… Everybody knew each other.
I mean, I may not know them personally but enough to say hello by name. I
didn’t have children yet so I, you know, when my time was being torn, went to a
lot of Marist events,
Lessons and Carols
at Christmas time.
GN:
Oh, yes.
JAI:
You know, the plays and different things like that, bring my mother, so you
know, that type of thing. And it was just people… That’s what’s kept me here.
The people are just, they’re warm. Let me say they were patient when I needed
patience, you know, teaching when I needed teaching. You know, from anything,
from any level of staff, you know where there’s faculty, administration… I used to
workout in the gym before children. [Laughter] I need it more after children.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
21
[Laughter] I run my errands at lunch now. But just everybody was… I mean
when I came, I thought okay, five years. That was, you know, that was my goal.
Five years, you know, really become a solid Bursar, you know, and then, you
know there’s new bursars. We can move you know moving wasn’t out of the
question, you know?
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
And but I really liked it here. People say… I mean I know people commute
down to the city, which I would never do for me because I… Like over my way,
you know, I’m about twenty-five miles away. You do that commute everyday?
And I mean, I love waking up with my cup of coffee in the morning, listening to
the radio, planning my day and at home depending on the day, you know, on the
way home, relaxing and then turning into wife or mother as I pull in the driveway.
GN:
Do you come down Route 9W or do you come across Rhinebeck?
JAI:
Well, I go up 9W and then cross over to New Paltz and then take, because
Rosendale’s right between Kingston and New Paltz, so I’m kind of an odd, you
know, I could go either bridge but this way’s shorter.
GN:
Okay, let’s talk about Marist itself now, not so much the academic part but
the physical building, there must be some contrast in your mind’s eye between
when you first came here and where we are today and what would stand out?
What do you think about that?
JAI:
It’s been exciting. I remember, I probably was still bursar, I don’t have the
dates in my head, I remember when we had the Lowell Thomas ground breaking.
That was the first big... Because that was before the town houses I think, right?
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
22
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
And that was like a three hundred, the budget is all over and it was a media
event as well, you know, but it’s oh wow, building a building. I just thought that
was just so fantastic. You know, I mean, invited us all and I was so excited. I
remember that day. It really meant a lot to me. It was very exciting and now I
kind of chuckle because there’s been so many afterwards, every you know…
GN:
Well actually there were two Marist Lowell Thomas. The kids had a parade
one day and it was the second annual groundbreaking for Lowell Thomas.
JAI:
Oh, I missed that. [Laughter]
GN:
And then a whole year went by without work scene.
JAI:
Anything happening?
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
I remember the shovels and the, you know.
GN:
There was trouble with the pool and the foundation.
JAI:
Oh that’s right.
GN:
And after all that...
JAI:
That’s right. And we had the leak, the flooding incident.
GN:
But, your point is…
JAI:
When it was finally done.
GN:
Is we had many groundbreaking since.
JAI:
Right, which is still exciting and it’s nice to see the building, you know, I
mean, you hear about it all and then when it’s actually… You see them put
together and you see these buildings done, it’s like oh wow, you know? But yea,
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
23
it’s much… There’s been construction every, you know, it was I guess part of the
construction era most likely, right?
GN:
Well your own building has gone through several phases, has it not?
JAI:
Yes, I used to be on the outside where the Bursar still is but you had the
concrete balcony, you could actually step out your big windows and onto a mat
and you know, yell at somebody over in [Laughter] those days. So yes, it has
been… It’s changed a lot but it’s neat. It’s neat to see it. Some…
GN:
Okay, moving on to the college itself and its own growth, how would you
describe its positive assets? Would you say it’s its location? Would you say it’s
the facilities itself? Would you say it’s the student body? Is there any particular
area you’d focus on?
JAI:
I think the grounds is a big thing. When I visit other colleges, hearing
everybody come here, I almost, it’s terrible but you almost take it for granted
because it’s so beautiful and so well maintained and then visiting other
campuses, you start seeing oh god, no emptying of the garbage with all those
cigarette butts out on the floor, why don’t you put an ashtray here, you know, or
whatever.
GN:
Have you been to Iona?
JAI:
Not in years, no. Is that, where at…?
GN:
Well, there are a lot of small buildings that struck me and I said Dennis
Murray would put all of these out of here. [Laughter] Just little cuts as it were,
you know?
JAI:
Yea. [Laughter]
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
24
GN:
And that’s by contrast. When you said, you know, the physical
arrangement of here…
JAI:
Yea.
GN:
Is striking.
JAI:
Yea. I mean being on the river and I do think the physical plant does a
lovely job of keeping everything nice and at the location, we’re in a prime location
close to New York, New Jersey and I think it’s just worked out that we’re in a nice
place. If you put us ninety miles farther north, you know, I don’t think we’d…
GN:
It would feel colder.
JAI:
Yea. [Laughter]
GN:
A little more snow. You’ve seen also I think in your term here, a change in
the student body. Was it as… Were women as predominant in your first years as
they are now?
JAI:
No, it was more a… I think they may have been up by a little bit ahead of
the males, you know the incoming class.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
I’m thinking the freshman class but it’s really dubbed often women far
outnumber the men in terms of, you know, trying to get the class. I know that’s a
nationwide problem.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
But yea, no, it was more evenly split.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
25
GN:
And what about the character of the student? Would you say they’re more
mature or they’re more party-bound? They’re more, you know they’re coming
with more skills than they did before? Do you have any kind of read on that?
JAI:
Back when it was smaller, you know twenty years ago, you got to know the
students more. I know some students intimately but not, not as many. You
know, Bursar, there’s kids coming in with bills not paid and you know, you sat
and oh, the dad just lost his job and you know, not that I need to know all these
details but you almost got to know a lot of their families too because year after
year you help some of the same people. And it’s just probably that times have
changed, I’m getting older to be quite honest with you.
GN:
Yea, yea.
JAI:
There’s a lot of good students now but they’re racier, I don’t know that’s not
a… But I’m sure that’s the times, you know.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
It was just, how do I put this? I don’t want to say there were more family
values. That’s making too broad a statement but you almost saw and having
been raised Catholic even though we weren’t a Catholic institution when I came,
you kind of saw what you would…
GN:
They’re drifting away.
JAI:
Expect or whatever. Yea, drifting into more of a… Now again, my husband
works at community college so it’s completely different. You know and he always
says, “You’ve got it so nice.” [Laughter]
GN:
Yea.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
26
JAI:
But it’s different. I probably liked it and that’s probably just my getting older
or whatever. I probably liked the older days better.
GN:
Are the students, are they as accepting as they were in the older days?
JAI:
I don’t think so. Some of them are but I think…
GN:
If they can’t get into a class then they get known to you?
JAI:
It’s a lot of I’m going to call my dad and…
GN:
Yea, yea.
JAI:
You know, instead of trying to work, you know, because we’ll do
somersaults trying to help these students and do what we can but we can’t make
the perfect schedule. Everybody can’t go to class from ten to two. You know,
they all want to sleep in, want Fridays, you know? And I had eight o’clock
classes when I was a student, you know, way back when. Yea, they’re more apt
to… I just see a lot of whining, you know, and I see in my old days, we almost
spoil them to death and you know, realizing that they do things differently.
[Laughter] So I guess I’m right caught in that trap too, you know. My son better
never call me from college and ask me to call Registrar or Bursar. [Laughter]
GN:
You’ve only worked with one president I believe?
JAI:
Yes.
GN:
Okay, but you had a number of vice-presidents that you’ve worked for or
people that you reported to?
JAI:
Right.
GN:
And could you… Is there a distinction between Marc vanderHayden and…
JAI:
Artin?
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
27
GN:
Artin.
JAI:
They’re… They have two different styles. I think Marc’s and it may have
been because he was new to the college at that time, we… He had Dean’s
Counsel and then he had… We had the dean’s meetings once a week but then
he had the Dean’s Counsel which includes the library and the Learning Center,
myself, Special Academic programs which we had. And we would meet every
two weeks so we’d all get together and we might only be there ten or fifteen
minutes, the bigger group. We got to communicate and it’s only [interrupt
coming], you know, I need this, I need that or your graduation’s coming. The
communication I feel was you knew what was going on with your people under
the same VP and things were pretty smooth. I think Artin looks to me as I mean,
when he came he asked me a lot of questions and I could provide him with a lot
of information but I think we’ve lost that closer tie that we had because… And
these roles, I think it has changed a little bit too under the President’s direction in
terms of going and gaining more marketers and you know.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
That type of thing and public relations that it’s almost like I don’t want to say
that we don’t have time for SSM’s , you know, free yourself of pity but…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
But we’ve lost some of the, you know, I would… We still call, we email the
deans, we see them maybe once or twice a year, you might be summoned
because they have an issue or whatever. It’s very hard if you want to talk to
everybody in the group.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
28
GN:
So you lost the frequency of those meetings…
JAI:
Yes.
GN:
And therefore some of the communication that ordinarily would take place…
JAI:
Yes.
GN:
Through them is… Are you also the Registrar for the Master’s Degree
programs? Do you take care of that as well?
JAI:
Yea, I mean they have grad directors who do some of the stuff that we do
with the undergrads in terms of clearing them for graduation. That’s about the
only thing they do that…
GN:
But registration programs would be through you?
JAI:
Everything comes through us, yes.
GN:
Okay. Okay, from your perspective now, what do you think might be one or
two of your significant contributions? What do you think you’ve done best here?
Embarrassing questions, I know.
JAI:
Yes, I know. I’d rather pat myself on the back and that’s it. Let’s see. I
think you’re right in terms that when I was… I think we’ve tried to, to the best that
we can, make to Registrar’s a friendly place where students can come in, where
we have sympathy for them when they have problems, that we just don’t pass
the buck and send them along. We… You know, if they’re crying about the
financial aid we’ll you know, again we don’t want to get on somebody else’s turf
but we’ll get them and walk them over and so they should see.
GN:
Yea.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
29
JAI:
Same with parents. Try to strive for quality in terms… That’s, I mean I
think that’s… We’re still doing a good job and it’s part of the growth with Adult Ed
programs and no official staff is biting the campus back but everybody’s aware
that we’re all facing the same problem. It’s very hard because when the stake
was made it was like nothing pointed and everybody was like “Oh gosh, if our
[manager] doesn’t have it again, have it get through.” The quality may suffer a
little bit.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
I don’t think the human touch has… So I think one of the… People say I
like hiring the transcript clerks. Some of the term candidates would say, “I’m only
applying in your office.” You know I mean it is complimentary…
GN:
Yea, I see.
JAI:
When you know, you have a good staff… You know, we wouldn’t just go
anywhere just to get out of our current job. I think there’s a nice relationship with
the faculty and the deans, which it used to be adversarial when I first walked in,
you know. And the staff itself, I mean, because it is a larger office.
GN:
That’s your point of view?
JAI:
We had two Pam’s that…
GN:
That was the nature of the world, that.
JAI:
Yea, yea. [Laughter] So I think trying to maintain quality and service, that
type of thing is something I had something to do with, you know.
GN:
Very good. Now what has not happened that you wish would’ve
happened? Is there anything in that area that you’d like to say something about?
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
30
JAI:
Again, it’s more like I think in the records mentality. Some of you should
come visit my place. [Laughter] Records management has been as long as
we’re stuffing boxes somewhere or whatever, now with scanning and stuff, you
know. We were down in our records room is still down in Lowell Thomas but we
built on a swimming pool and before there were well, many neat classrooms.
The classrooms used to flood the first couple years…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
With five inches of water and they’re not… Records that are hardcopy,
they’re not anywhere else. Okay, I’ve got a lot of mildewy student record folders.
Those are the you know, the transcripts are inside. They finally addressed where
I had a three year plan where we’re culling the records from the beginning of
time. Every add/drop slip was kept in student folders to keep it for a year
meaning that, you know, the conservative person I am keep them for five years in
case a student going through you know…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
I can go back to things if I need. We’ve been working outside the
warehouse this morning, you know, trying to say what could, you know, records
destruction, what could we get out of here. What, you know… Be very
conservative because in the old days, nothing was thrown out so I’ve got boxes
over there that computer conversions converted, you know, ten years ago. How
we got from this screen to this screen and all the conversion, it doesn’t matter
anymore. Whatever is, is, you know? Data that’s… But again, an academic
institution, it’s going to flow all over in priority for money. As long as you have
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
31
somewhere to put those boxes, it doesn’t have to be a climate controlled place.
When you see in my office, I’ve got two rows of boxes of the last five years of
graduating students…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Which are supposed to go somewhere else but now I’m being told that
there’s no longer room there. So, I would like to see the records in good shape
because the Registrar’s supposed to keep the academic records and then
preserve them and you know. And when we have the spring thaw and we
haven’t had snow, thank goodness and we wrote heavy duty so we would have
spring thaw in Lowell Thomas, it still leaks in my record room.
GN:
Oh boy.
JAI:
The security calls me and I run over with the plastic bags and plastic
things and put it all in that. [Laughter] So…
GN:
So you’d like to see some changes there?
JAI:
Yea, I’d like to see it a little bit more proactive, you know. I’ve brought up
the issues, I’ve got myself covered with memos but I don’t work like that to cover
yourself with memos. I want to do what’s right. Just trying to listen.
GN:
From your position, looking down the road ahead, what do you see on the
horizon for Marist? Where do you think it’s going to be five years or ten years
from now? Do you think technology is going to have much more of an impact
here, the teaching, the distance learning? Is that going to play a big role or you
hope that we just keep on in friendly happy place?
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
32
JAI:
I know it’s going to take on a role because it’s already started. I hate to
see, it’s like some of the, like what is it, Phoenix, or whatever. You know that
online is like the thing. I like the coziness, you know the one on one type of
thing. We’re going to go onto web registration which we have to. That would’ve
been fine for several years and it’s just taken them long enough to see that yes,
you know, your parents go for orientation, do you do web purchasing? “Oh my,
yes, I love it,” you know. [Laughter] So finally I think they heard enough of it.
They, you know, heard people made choices to go other places when they saw
that we weren’t as technologically advanced in certain areas as we maybe
should be. So I think we’re going to see more distance education with the
graduate programs, somewhat with the undergraduate with some of the co-work
groups that they do for Adult Ed because that’s the bread and butter, you know,
so it’s going to get us the money. But I don’t… I hope we never turn, you know,
where we see lots and lots of it because the… Having students here, you know,
in the faculty and everybody being together is why I’m still here.
GN:
Finally, is there something that you would like to say about your experience
here or I didn’t ask you that was like why didn’t he ask me about this? [Laughter]
JAI:
You know, I like getting up and coming to work in the morning and that’s
sincere.
GN:
Oh.
JAI:
You know, I still…
GN:
You’ve had a good run here?
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
33
JAI:
I have, I have, yea. I mean again, I never, you know, you can never show
up late for your business like I often say. If it got to the point where I wasn’t
happy, I would look elsewhere.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
You know, and as long as I’m holding up and contributing, you know. I
mean if I get stale and…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Whatever, I’d hope they’d let me know that.
GN:
You’ve been here fifteen years as Registrar and I couldn’t believe that when
I was looking at this.
JAI:
It doesn’t seem that long. It doesn’t feel that long. I know.
GN:
Well, thank you very much Judy.
JAI:
You’re welcome.
“END OF INTERVIEW”
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
1
Judith Ivankovic
Marist College
Poughkeepsie, NY
Transcribed by Erin Kelly
For the Marist College Archives and Special Collections
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
2
Transcript: Judith Ivankovic
Interviewee:
Judith Ivankovic
Interviewer:
Gus Nolan
Interview date:
15 July 2002
Location:
Marist Archives and Special Collections Reading Room
Topic:
Marist College History
Subject Headings:
Marist Brothers - United States - History
Marist College History
Marist College (Poughkeepsie, New York)
Marist College Social Aspects
Summary:
In the following interview, Judith Ivankovic speaks of her past fifteen years
working as an administrator at Marist College. The interview begins with a brief
background of Judith Ivankovic’s educational history and her coming to Marist. Within
the interview, Judith speaks of her transition from the Bursar’s office to becoming
Registrar of the College, as well as the tasks involved in being Registrar. Judith
Ivankovic also describes various previous administrators and their input over the years at
Marist College. The interview ends with Judith Ivankovic’s take on where Marist may be
in the future with regards to distance education.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
3
“BEGINNING OF INTERVIEW”
Gus Nolan:
Good afternoon. Today is Monday July 15
th
. It’s about 1:15 in the
afternoon and the interview today as part of the ongoing Heritage Project of the
Archives is with Judith Ivankovic who is the Registrar at Marist. Judy, would you
please give us your full name and if I mispronounced it, maybe you can
pronounce it correctly. [Laughter]
Judith Ivankovic:
Judy Ivankovic. Judith A. Ivankovic but Judy Ivankovic, that’s
what everybody knows me by.
GN:
Okay, were you named after any member of the family?
JAI:
My aunt Judy, my mother’s sister.
GN:
Okay, where and when were you born?
JAI:
I was born in Rosendale, New York in 1956.
GN:
Okay, are there other members? You have siblings?
JAI:
Yes, I’m one of seven children. I’m the second oldest and the oldest
daughter.
GN:
And are these children in the area?
JAI:
Most of them are. My oldest brother’s up near Saratoga. He’s probably the
farthest away and that’s not very far.
GN:
Okay, could you give us the names of your parents and what was your
father’s occupation?
JAI:
Okay, my father was Richard Priest and he worked for IBM in Kingston for
many years. He passed away in ’96. My mother’s Eulalia Priest. She was a
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
4
Kelder so she had the roots in Rosendale and is still there. [Laughter] The
family went back a long time in Rosendale.
GN:
And where was your early education? In Rosendale, right?
JAI:
Right, I went to Rondout Valley School system.
GN:
And where’d you go to high school?
JAI:
I went to Rondout Valley High School.
GN:
Okay, now before we get onto your college career, let’s just talk a little bit
more about your own personal life. When did you marry?
JAI:
1980.
GN:
Okay, at where and…?
JAI:
St. Peter’s Church in Rosendale.
GN:
Okay, and about the family now?
JAI:
Okay, my immediate family?
GN:
Yes.
JAI:
I met my husband when I went to Ulster. I was a bridge student at Rondout
Valley going to Ulster and met him there and well, we were together, dated for a
few years and after four or five years, married then decided that kids weren’t, I
guess after being one of seven and being the oldest daughter, I… [Laughter] I
had little children for a while but we were going to go on and finish our education
and buy a house and you know, get stabilized and all that type of that thing. So
we put off having kids for quite a while. And then I was thirty-four and then we
decided it was time to start a family. We both got our Master’s Degree at
Marist… And had our son and were thinking about more children and then one of
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
5
my siblings, my sister, was a single parent and has a hard time taking care of
herself and her son was taken away from her and we stepped up because we’re
the oldest children.
GN:
Yes.
JAI:
And took care of him and it was a temporary arrangement but in ’96 it was
due to go after a year, you know, trying to make things better between the two of
them, give her some parenting skills. My father, who was retired from IBM at the
time and who took a lot of care of my nephew, even though he was with my
sister, got cancer and it was evident that he was not going to be with us too much
longer so she had asked if she could be a weekend mom and we’d raise him and
she’d have him on the weekends and I said absolutely not. [Laughter] And
anyway, so a deal was draught basically that she wasn’t willing to give him up for
adoption but my husband and I became legal guardians.
GN:
I see.
JAI:
And that was in ’96 as well. Yea, ’96 I guess.
GN:
So now you have two boys?
JAI:
Right.
GN:
Okay, and what ages are they now?
JAI:
Dustin, my nephew, is… He’s twelve and my son, Alex, is eleven so they’re
almost exactly a year apart.
GN:
And what do they do on their free-time like in the summer time here?
JAI:
Well, they’re at basketball camp in the third week right now. They love
basketball. During the year, my husband loves sports and he has coached their
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
6
CYO teams since third grade. Then, they’ve been on AAU teams with my
husband coaching and then my nephew’s gone into seventh grade last year so
now it’s modified in the middle school. So we had four basketball leagues going
at one point and also they do ice hockey, travel ice hockey. That has kept us
busy the last three years. I think they’re gravitating towards basketball. When
they get to the seventh, they do the school sports thing. They can’t do everything
because the academics comes first. If that’s not done, they have to quit the
sports and so we‘ve been maybe backing away from ice hockey. [Laughter]
GN:
Give you a little more time too.
JAI:
Yea, that would be fine with me. [Laughter] So sports seems to... That’s
our, my family.
GN:
Were they ever into soccer?
JAI:
They did the AYSO soccer. My son did a travel soccer…
GN:
So you were a real soccer mom then?
JAI:
Yea. [Laughter]
GN:
With doing this kind of thing. Okay, let’s go back to your college degree.
You say you got one at Marist… Master’s. Though before that, you were at
Ulster Community College, is that right? And you graduated from there?
JAI:
Yes.
GN:
And then where did you do your BS degree?
JAI:
At SUNY at Utica/Rome.
GN:
And you finished there about 1980, I think?
JAI:
’79, ’78, yea.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
7
GN:
I was hoping that my numbers were the same as yours.
JAI:
Yea. [Laughter] That was a long time ago.
GN:
Okay. Okay, and then when did you start to work and where?
JAI:
When I finished there, I was working. I had always been a work/study
student while going to college so I’d worked in financial aid. And when I came
back, I worked at a bank in New Paltz and I was in the mortgage/student loan
department because I knew one end of loans [Laughter] and I’d learn the other
end. While I was there, a half-time position opened at Ulster and I had my ties
there which was assistant to the bursar. It was a new position, half-time and I
thought I’d like that field so I applied and by the time I was interviewed and
whatever, they turned it into a full-time position. So I went there and well, they
were in need to get me soon after I worked with the bank. You know, real long?
And I worked there and then came here in September.
GN:
What was the bridge to Marist? How did you move into the bursar’s office
at Marist?
JAI:
I was at Ulster for about a year and a half, very happy, very young, just you
know, feeling my way and back in those days they used to post the salary. I
wasn’t looking and both my boss who is now the like the twin Campilii at
Dutchess, John Dunn, and my husband both said, “Oh, look there’s an ad in the
paper for Marist” and you know, “It makes thirty percent more money than you’re
making and it looks like it’s doing the same thing.” I said “Oh, I’ve been working
there long, I don’t know how…” And then my husband said it first on Sunday and
then when I came to work, my boss said, “You know, there’s…”, you know. I said
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
8
“Oh no, no, no.” He says apply. He says, you know, we bought a house, “If
going to stay in the area…” because we had our family roots and wanted to do
that because there’s not a whole lot of positions that open up. He says, “Apply,
the experience will be good…”, blah, blah, blah. You know, “I don’t want to lose
you, you know but I also care about you.”
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
And “You know, you’d make a lot more money across the bridge.” So I
applied and I got it and was scared to death and [Laughter] but it worked out.
GN:
And then how would you compare the position in Ulster and the position at
Marist in terms of the volume of work and the number of people you have to deal
with and those kinds of student stats?
JAI:
Numbers were probably about the same. In Ulster, being a community
college, the hardest transition was, you know, working in the state system and
working with CSEA workers. Things were pretty black and white. You have to
go and pay your bill, boom, you were deleted before classes began. You know,
then I came to Marist and found out that was starless Gus. [Laughter]
GN:
Starless, yes.
JAI:
And you don’t just delete people because you know, we have to work with
them. That was a whole… That took a little while and as bursars, the two
bursars after I left came, followed me from Ulster. It was kind of… It’s a joke that
we steal the… Whenever the bursar leaves with our Ulster, we get the bursar
since I came it and it may have had the same thing. I said, “No, no. No, listen,
let me give you a hint here.” [Laughter] You know…
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
9
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Saving a lot of heartache. So that was… It wasn’t difficult. It just took a
little bit of time to, Marist being the small, specialized when I first started, small
family type of thing. It wasn’t like that at Ulster. There were a lot of nice people I
worked with and a lot of nice students but it was “Do this or this happens.” I
mean you follow the flowchart and you know, that’s how it worked.
GN:
And you were bursar here then for about six years, seven years?
JAI:
Yea, about six and a half.
GN:
And then how did you make the move from the Bursar’s office to the
Registrar’s office?
JAI:
I was on the Search Committee for the treasurer.
GN:
So I heard, yes. [Laughter]
JAI:
And nobody wanted to take it, no. [Laughter] We came up with some
viable candidates and when you offer the job, you know, I mean some of it was
money. You know, they… The wife didn’t want to move from Texas and you
know…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
They’re so different. And we struck out on the first one. We started the
second search and kind of the same thing. So this went on for about a year
while one of the like associate registrars stepped up to the plate and managed
the office. Thank goodness that she did. And then when we were kind of not
bonding anybody on the second one. Marc vanderHayden, who was the AVP at
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
10
the time and he was fairly new. I got to know him a little bit because he was
leading the search…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
At the registrar and he said one day, it was around the holidays, he said,
“Well, why don’t you apply?” And I said, “Oh yea, right. Hahaha.” And I went
home and I was decorating my Christmas tree and he called me up and said,
“You know, I’m serious.” Whoa, you know, here I am getting comfortable in my
little world, I know my job now very well and he said “Think about it. Think about
it.” I said “I don’t know.” You know, I mean, in academics, I’ve been going to
school myself, you know, an accountant type of person, financial, money. I don’t
know that I could do that. He says, “Oh, you’ve done well. You’ve got a good
reputation. You know, think about it, whatever.” So I thought about it and back
in those days they posted salaries again and it was really, there was nowhere for
me to go where I was. There was no, I mean, no next level and so I thought
about it hard and long and I ended up applying and got the position and the first
year was really tough because…
GN:
You had a lot to learn.
JAI:
Yes, yes. I just sat with people and found out what they did and…
GN:
Let’s talk a little bit more about what you had to learn because I’m
interested in knowing something about the dynamics that you require from that
office. For instance, dealing with Albany and the registration for new courses or
new majors and things, where do you learn that?
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
11
JAI:
I always, I kept calling only asking for like the manual of a book and they all
laughed at me and said there’s a series of memos that come out in the State Ed
Department and whenever I had a question, I would ask and they would say,
“Oh, we’ll send you that memo. That’s a 1977 memo and it’s still in effect.” So I
was kind of… Accumulated my own notebook of, you know, documentation and
sort of learned as I went, just I asked a lot of questions and anything I gathered
I’d try to get in writing or any conversations, I would document it if it would help
me. You know, when I had it, who did I talk to? You know, or even why it’s like
that because a lot of times, you would think something would be one way and it
was something totally different.
GN:
What did you find to be the most challenging in that?
JAI:
Oh, it was so much new stuff at once. I mean, you were building a
schedule with the deans.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
The student problems weren’t that much different. They were, you know, “I
didn’t get my courses” and they’re paying a bill. You’re dealing with the students
more. I actually dealt more with parents when I was Bursar, you know, with
money. So that was pretty smooth. But then I was on a Curriculum Committee,
you know, how do you decide, I mean I’m a non-voting member, but how do you
decide if a course is legitimate? You know, what makes a course…?
GN:
Is it a liberal arts course?
JAI:
Exactly.
GN:
If it’s not a liberal arts, it was…
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
12
JAI:
Right, right. I would pull up this data, you know and… A lot of the reporting
too. You have to report to the state and the federal government. You know,
enrollment figures the way they want it. We may look at it one way, they want it
in different categories. So just, you know, I’m not a perfectionist but I strive to do
things the right way in that, so that took a lot of time just what’s with the what’s
and that was fine. It was interesting dealing with faculty in terms of… And some
students, you know, you have so many that you will have ties with forever and
then others, you can’t wait until they, you know… [Laughter]
GN:
Yea. It’s hard to believe that about our faculty here at Marist.
JAI:
I was surprised… It was my first, I guess, some type of mentality, you know,
I learned over the years that at many schools, it’s the administration versus
faculty and a lot of that goes back to budgeting and money and things like that.
That was difficult because I was young and some people would be very, you
know, have no patience or whatever with me. You know, “You should know
that.”
GN:
Yea, yea.
JAI:
But you know, and again really there were two mentalities. I’m talking
extreme, extreme in administration and extreme in faculty.
GN:
Yea, yea, just contrast it.
JAI:
That kind of surprised me because I’d go, “We’re one place, you know, one
goal.” But I learned you know, over all the years I’ve worked that that’s not
different anywhere else, you know?
GN:
Yea.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
13
JAI:
And…
GN:
How about the technical aspects of, you know… One little thing that we had
of course was the dropping of an “M” in communications. And that we want to
reorganize the whole communications structure [Laughter] and the computer
wouldn’t do it, you know, there was no room to…
JAI:
Right, the core course numbers so it was never in effect.
GN:
But with those kinds of problems, do you have an advisor that you can go to
or do you figure it out yourself?
JAI:
Sort of figure it out. I’m on the listserv so I ask other colleges, you know,
what they’ve done and you get a lot of answer in colleagues and some people
have the exact same issues so you know, they’ll reinvent the wheel, you try to
see what solutions they’ve come up with. The deans have always been very
supportive. I mean learning, they were wonderful to go to and they were very
patient with me, you know, in terms of teaching me the ropes or where to go
next, you know, when I… Who do I call? Whatever or how can we do this? Back
then again, we were smaller so…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
It’s a little different than it is now.
GN:
Yea, yea. You have some experience. You’ve been in there more than ten
years.
JAI:
Yea, now I’ve been there like fifteen and a half.
GN:
Yea, that’s what I think.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
14
JAI:
Yea. So, I mean some of it’s oh god, we’ve been through… We’re on our
second upgrade. We’re, you know, three computer systems since I’ve been
there so I know the systems well. I know what needs to be done. It’s not real
easy like that all the time.
GN:
How far down ahead do you have to project a calendar? Do you know
graduation for the next two years?
JAI:
No, I know it for next year. [Laughter] I know, I’ve been trying to get at
least a two year academic calendar. It’s so hard to get everybody to agree on
things that far in advance and someone has to know if construction’s been going
on, you know.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Does it start this week or this week, you know?
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Or where Labor Day falls has always been an issue.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
You have to do the faculty handbook and what might make more sense and
getting people with a compromise and grades.
GN:
When grades have to be in in order to be able to notify students about
taking courses?
JAI:
Only a year and a half ahead, like we have next year… I mean, the year’s
going to be starting soon but we had that in place early spring this year. The
goal has been the last few years to, you know, we’d like to get a five year
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
15
calendar. I think John Ritschdorff is pushing for that and I think about some of
the people that want to see it happen for athletics and many other…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Reasons. I think it might start to happen. It’s always been one of those
goals but hasn’t really…
GN:
One last favorite topic, I’m sure that you’ve there before and there’s another
one coming, how about Middle States? Do they concern you or are you…?
JAI:
Not as much as everybody else because I don’t have a real big role in it.
I’m always on one of the sub-committees, which is nice because you get to work
with, you know, people that you don’t get to work with all the time. They’ll come
in with the catalog, they’ll come in and look at some of the things but they look
more at the academic programs. So, right, it doesn’t… To me it’s a fun time
when they come because I can get to do committee work and see and work with
some people and get to meet other people that you only know talking to on the
phone and that type of thing. So, yea, where it concerns, yea rightfully so
[Laughter] you know, I’m lucky that I’m not… You know, you don’t have that role.
GN:
Still in the Registrar’s office but changing the topic a little bit, I’m concerned
with having you respond to the management of your office. There has been a
tremendous development of a work ethic in there that seems to be a happy one,
that people are pleased to be there. It was not always the case I would have to
tell you. [Laughter]
JAI:
I always thought you enjoyed it. [Laughter]
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
16
GN:
It was not always the case, not always this place you may want to go
[Laughter] and talk to people.
JAI:
As Bursar, I didn’t want to cross the hall… I have to go there? [Laughter]
GN:
How did that happen? How did you manage to bring on board that array of
people?
JAI:
I can’t stand that I do. As I was going to college, I mean being one of seven
children, you have this is the biggest step for me, I want to take it up but having
understand it a little better. I was always a very good student. I mean, I was… I
liked being a good student. It was demanded by my Catholic mother. [Laughter]
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
And, you know, I was on the Honors Society and you know, everything else
and like I said bridged over to college because back then it was the seventies too
so times were a little different and all I wanted as much as I loved my family
dearly, I think being the eldest daughter and you know, having so many younger
children I was, you know, the teenager who couldn’t wait to be out there in my
own place and have a job. Be on my own, you know?
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
And so I went from being like the, you know, so wonderfully academic and
probably could’ve done almost anything I wanted to do to having much lower
goals of myself. And when I bridged over to Ulster, I ended up in one of these
secretarial classes because I knew I could get a job and that was as short range
and college wasn’t a big even though my mother wants to see us go but nobody
in my family other than my brother, who is the doctor… [Laughter]
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
17
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
That wasn’t a big thing you talked about growing up. Even when I was at
high school, you never visited colleges or did any of that thing you know…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
With your family. And so as a work/study student, people always trained
me very well and I think took a lot time and I took a lot of pride in what I did so
people were willing to mentor me along. That’s how my path, you know, went.
When I was at Utica, it was my senior year and the director of financial aid that I
worked for said, “Well, what’re you going to do?” I went from secretarial to
business so I lost a zillion credits so I understand how the kids feel when they
lose them when they come here now. But I didn’t understand that at the time.
You know, why do I have to go to summer school and make-up and do all these
things? But now as Registrar, I really understand it. Because I’m a business
major, it’s “Oh, work in business field” and I could do what I wanted to do. And
he said “Well, have you ever thought about working at the college” and this and
that and I hadn’t been, you know, but people mentored me along and ultimately I
went to Ulster, you know, and then came here and special work for Tony Campilii
as Bursar. He taught me a lot and worked for Marc vanderHayden to add him as
I… He was the ultimate mentor in teaching and patience and never an unkind
word that, I don’t know, I was like you know, okay so I supervise staff. I’m going
to try to be like that with people. It’s always a team. I’ve never raised my voice
to anybody who’s worked for me. I’ve always believed in if you have a problem,
try to retrain before you get rid of somebody. People are people. They might
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
18
have personal problems, it might be this or maybe that. And I think that I’m
willing to roll up my sleeves and if the counters busy, go up there and help. You
pick up the phones, I mean, if there’s a… You know, you get your own work done
too but I think people set an example and I tried to follow, they kind of showed
me and I thought a lot about it so I thought okay, what’s my management style
going to be? But just be a nice person and you know, got to get the work done.
GN:
Can you see a progression within the office when you bring in somebody
who might be at first a receptionist, like a Julie and will be hired for however
long? Is that part of the strategy that you see as successful?
JAI:
Yes, my first… Linda’s the only person that is working there that when you
first came to Registrar was. Just a lot of different personalities…
GN:
Yes.
JAI:
When I first came. And I guess I had a hard time with them when I went to
Ulster, when I came to Marist first because the staff… You know, who’s this
young whippersnapper? I don’t know what they, how do they expect to adapt but
once they learned to trust me it was fine but I had a hard time going into each
place because it was resentment, like you know, forty, fifty year old woman,
“Who’s this twenty-something year old person or thirty that’s going to be my
boss?”
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
But I think once they realized that I’d help them out, I didn’t, you know
whatever. I was fair. It would be fine and I also when I was Bursar and Registrar
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
19
believed in eternal promotion. If somebody’s done a good job, you get someone
a higher level in secretarial union, you know…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Go for it and so we had a lot of turnover in the beginning of the Registrar’s
office when I was there because they didn’t want to play the rules by my game.
[Laughter] They didn’t want to play the game by my rules which I don’t think
were unrealistic so one by one they left and I tried to hire. Personality I would
say is fifty percent. I just hired a transcript clerk the other day, she’ll be starting
and personality’s fifty percent. I want them to be, you know, customer oriented…
GN:
I see, yea.
JAI:
With the students, the parents. I want them to be gentle, gentle but firm
when they need to be. I need them to get all with the… and just be themselves.
Okay, in the office there’s ten women. I mean, there happen to be [ten
personalities].
GN:
I’m going to say…
JAI:
Not many males apply. [Laughter] I hire them and I have but I try to get the
right personality and the right set of skills and then mentor them along, you know,
just some cross-training and as there’s turnover, almost everybody, not
everybody but almost everyone in that office has had the transcript clerk position.
You know and then when something higher comes, you know somebody leaves,
you just keep filling, you kind of fill in the bottom. But other than this past year, I
haven’t had turnover in five years so there hasn’t been a whole lot of room for
growth which is kind of sad in a way.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
20
GN:
Yea, yea. Well, it’s just I have to react to the idea that it’s a very pleasant
place for me at least to…
JAI:
Thank you. [Laughter]
GN:
Interact with them.
JAI:
That’s well done.
GN:
Alright. Now, how is it though since you have grown in development of
ability to administer various kinds of offices, financial and academic, you’re still
here. Why didn’t you go to West Point or why didn’t you go IBM or something? I
believe in the Marist family, you said that… What is that to you?
JAI:
Marist family… People make me feel like part of the family when I first
came. It was much… It was smaller. You got to know virtually everybody on,
you know, right now I say hello to people in the hall. I don’t really know
everybody because we’ve grown so much. But I… Everybody knew each other.
I mean, I may not know them personally but enough to say hello by name. I
didn’t have children yet so I, you know, when my time was being torn, went to a
lot of Marist events,
Lessons and Carols
at Christmas time.
GN:
Oh, yes.
JAI:
You know, the plays and different things like that, bring my mother, so you
know, that type of thing. And it was just people… That’s what’s kept me here.
The people are just, they’re warm. Let me say they were patient when I needed
patience, you know, teaching when I needed teaching. You know, from anything,
from any level of staff, you know where there’s faculty, administration… I used to
workout in the gym before children. [Laughter] I need it more after children.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
21
[Laughter] I run my errands at lunch now. But just everybody was… I mean
when I came, I thought okay, five years. That was, you know, that was my goal.
Five years, you know, really become a solid Bursar, you know, and then, you
know there’s new bursars. We can move you know moving wasn’t out of the
question, you know?
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
And but I really liked it here. People say… I mean I know people commute
down to the city, which I would never do for me because I… Like over my way,
you know, I’m about twenty-five miles away. You do that commute everyday?
And I mean, I love waking up with my cup of coffee in the morning, listening to
the radio, planning my day and at home depending on the day, you know, on the
way home, relaxing and then turning into wife or mother as I pull in the driveway.
GN:
Do you come down Route 9W or do you come across Rhinebeck?
JAI:
Well, I go up 9W and then cross over to New Paltz and then take, because
Rosendale’s right between Kingston and New Paltz, so I’m kind of an odd, you
know, I could go either bridge but this way’s shorter.
GN:
Okay, let’s talk about Marist itself now, not so much the academic part but
the physical building, there must be some contrast in your mind’s eye between
when you first came here and where we are today and what would stand out?
What do you think about that?
JAI:
It’s been exciting. I remember, I probably was still bursar, I don’t have the
dates in my head, I remember when we had the Lowell Thomas ground breaking.
That was the first big... Because that was before the town houses I think, right?
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
22
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
And that was like a three hundred, the budget is all over and it was a media
event as well, you know, but it’s oh wow, building a building. I just thought that
was just so fantastic. You know, I mean, invited us all and I was so excited. I
remember that day. It really meant a lot to me. It was very exciting and now I
kind of chuckle because there’s been so many afterwards, every you know…
GN:
Well actually there were two Marist Lowell Thomas. The kids had a parade
one day and it was the second annual groundbreaking for Lowell Thomas.
JAI:
Oh, I missed that. [Laughter]
GN:
And then a whole year went by without work scene.
JAI:
Anything happening?
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
I remember the shovels and the, you know.
GN:
There was trouble with the pool and the foundation.
JAI:
Oh that’s right.
GN:
And after all that...
JAI:
That’s right. And we had the leak, the flooding incident.
GN:
But, your point is…
JAI:
When it was finally done.
GN:
Is we had many groundbreaking since.
JAI:
Right, which is still exciting and it’s nice to see the building, you know, I
mean, you hear about it all and then when it’s actually… You see them put
together and you see these buildings done, it’s like oh wow, you know? But yea,
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
23
it’s much… There’s been construction every, you know, it was I guess part of the
construction era most likely, right?
GN:
Well your own building has gone through several phases, has it not?
JAI:
Yes, I used to be on the outside where the Bursar still is but you had the
concrete balcony, you could actually step out your big windows and onto a mat
and you know, yell at somebody over in [Laughter] those days. So yes, it has
been… It’s changed a lot but it’s neat. It’s neat to see it. Some…
GN:
Okay, moving on to the college itself and its own growth, how would you
describe its positive assets? Would you say it’s its location? Would you say it’s
the facilities itself? Would you say it’s the student body? Is there any particular
area you’d focus on?
JAI:
I think the grounds is a big thing. When I visit other colleges, hearing
everybody come here, I almost, it’s terrible but you almost take it for granted
because it’s so beautiful and so well maintained and then visiting other
campuses, you start seeing oh god, no emptying of the garbage with all those
cigarette butts out on the floor, why don’t you put an ashtray here, you know, or
whatever.
GN:
Have you been to Iona?
JAI:
Not in years, no. Is that, where at…?
GN:
Well, there are a lot of small buildings that struck me and I said Dennis
Murray would put all of these out of here. [Laughter] Just little cuts as it were,
you know?
JAI:
Yea. [Laughter]
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
24
GN:
And that’s by contrast. When you said, you know, the physical
arrangement of here…
JAI:
Yea.
GN:
Is striking.
JAI:
Yea. I mean being on the river and I do think the physical plant does a
lovely job of keeping everything nice and at the location, we’re in a prime location
close to New York, New Jersey and I think it’s just worked out that we’re in a nice
place. If you put us ninety miles farther north, you know, I don’t think we’d…
GN:
It would feel colder.
JAI:
Yea. [Laughter]
GN:
A little more snow. You’ve seen also I think in your term here, a change in
the student body. Was it as… Were women as predominant in your first years as
they are now?
JAI:
No, it was more a… I think they may have been up by a little bit ahead of
the males, you know the incoming class.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
I’m thinking the freshman class but it’s really dubbed often women far
outnumber the men in terms of, you know, trying to get the class. I know that’s a
nationwide problem.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
But yea, no, it was more evenly split.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
25
GN:
And what about the character of the student? Would you say they’re more
mature or they’re more party-bound? They’re more, you know they’re coming
with more skills than they did before? Do you have any kind of read on that?
JAI:
Back when it was smaller, you know twenty years ago, you got to know the
students more. I know some students intimately but not, not as many. You
know, Bursar, there’s kids coming in with bills not paid and you know, you sat
and oh, the dad just lost his job and you know, not that I need to know all these
details but you almost got to know a lot of their families too because year after
year you help some of the same people. And it’s just probably that times have
changed, I’m getting older to be quite honest with you.
GN:
Yea, yea.
JAI:
There’s a lot of good students now but they’re racier, I don’t know that’s not
a… But I’m sure that’s the times, you know.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
It was just, how do I put this? I don’t want to say there were more family
values. That’s making too broad a statement but you almost saw and having
been raised Catholic even though we weren’t a Catholic institution when I came,
you kind of saw what you would…
GN:
They’re drifting away.
JAI:
Expect or whatever. Yea, drifting into more of a… Now again, my husband
works at community college so it’s completely different. You know and he always
says, “You’ve got it so nice.” [Laughter]
GN:
Yea.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
26
JAI:
But it’s different. I probably liked it and that’s probably just my getting older
or whatever. I probably liked the older days better.
GN:
Are the students, are they as accepting as they were in the older days?
JAI:
I don’t think so. Some of them are but I think…
GN:
If they can’t get into a class then they get known to you?
JAI:
It’s a lot of I’m going to call my dad and…
GN:
Yea, yea.
JAI:
You know, instead of trying to work, you know, because we’ll do
somersaults trying to help these students and do what we can but we can’t make
the perfect schedule. Everybody can’t go to class from ten to two. You know,
they all want to sleep in, want Fridays, you know? And I had eight o’clock
classes when I was a student, you know, way back when. Yea, they’re more apt
to… I just see a lot of whining, you know, and I see in my old days, we almost
spoil them to death and you know, realizing that they do things differently.
[Laughter] So I guess I’m right caught in that trap too, you know. My son better
never call me from college and ask me to call Registrar or Bursar. [Laughter]
GN:
You’ve only worked with one president I believe?
JAI:
Yes.
GN:
Okay, but you had a number of vice-presidents that you’ve worked for or
people that you reported to?
JAI:
Right.
GN:
And could you… Is there a distinction between Marc vanderHayden and…
JAI:
Artin?
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
27
GN:
Artin.
JAI:
They’re… They have two different styles. I think Marc’s and it may have
been because he was new to the college at that time, we… He had Dean’s
Counsel and then he had… We had the dean’s meetings once a week but then
he had the Dean’s Counsel which includes the library and the Learning Center,
myself, Special Academic programs which we had. And we would meet every
two weeks so we’d all get together and we might only be there ten or fifteen
minutes, the bigger group. We got to communicate and it’s only [interrupt
coming], you know, I need this, I need that or your graduation’s coming. The
communication I feel was you knew what was going on with your people under
the same VP and things were pretty smooth. I think Artin looks to me as I mean,
when he came he asked me a lot of questions and I could provide him with a lot
of information but I think we’ve lost that closer tie that we had because… And
these roles, I think it has changed a little bit too under the President’s direction in
terms of going and gaining more marketers and you know.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
That type of thing and public relations that it’s almost like I don’t want to say
that we don’t have time for SSM’s , you know, free yourself of pity but…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
But we’ve lost some of the, you know, I would… We still call, we email the
deans, we see them maybe once or twice a year, you might be summoned
because they have an issue or whatever. It’s very hard if you want to talk to
everybody in the group.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
28
GN:
So you lost the frequency of those meetings…
JAI:
Yes.
GN:
And therefore some of the communication that ordinarily would take place…
JAI:
Yes.
GN:
Through them is… Are you also the Registrar for the Master’s Degree
programs? Do you take care of that as well?
JAI:
Yea, I mean they have grad directors who do some of the stuff that we do
with the undergrads in terms of clearing them for graduation. That’s about the
only thing they do that…
GN:
But registration programs would be through you?
JAI:
Everything comes through us, yes.
GN:
Okay. Okay, from your perspective now, what do you think might be one or
two of your significant contributions? What do you think you’ve done best here?
Embarrassing questions, I know.
JAI:
Yes, I know. I’d rather pat myself on the back and that’s it. Let’s see. I
think you’re right in terms that when I was… I think we’ve tried to, to the best that
we can, make to Registrar’s a friendly place where students can come in, where
we have sympathy for them when they have problems, that we just don’t pass
the buck and send them along. We… You know, if they’re crying about the
financial aid we’ll you know, again we don’t want to get on somebody else’s turf
but we’ll get them and walk them over and so they should see.
GN:
Yea.
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
29
JAI:
Same with parents. Try to strive for quality in terms… That’s, I mean I
think that’s… We’re still doing a good job and it’s part of the growth with Adult Ed
programs and no official staff is biting the campus back but everybody’s aware
that we’re all facing the same problem. It’s very hard because when the stake
was made it was like nothing pointed and everybody was like “Oh gosh, if our
[manager] doesn’t have it again, have it get through.” The quality may suffer a
little bit.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
I don’t think the human touch has… So I think one of the… People say I
like hiring the transcript clerks. Some of the term candidates would say, “I’m only
applying in your office.” You know I mean it is complimentary…
GN:
Yea, I see.
JAI:
When you know, you have a good staff… You know, we wouldn’t just go
anywhere just to get out of our current job. I think there’s a nice relationship with
the faculty and the deans, which it used to be adversarial when I first walked in,
you know. And the staff itself, I mean, because it is a larger office.
GN:
That’s your point of view?
JAI:
We had two Pam’s that…
GN:
That was the nature of the world, that.
JAI:
Yea, yea. [Laughter] So I think trying to maintain quality and service, that
type of thing is something I had something to do with, you know.
GN:
Very good. Now what has not happened that you wish would’ve
happened? Is there anything in that area that you’d like to say something about?
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
30
JAI:
Again, it’s more like I think in the records mentality. Some of you should
come visit my place. [Laughter] Records management has been as long as
we’re stuffing boxes somewhere or whatever, now with scanning and stuff, you
know. We were down in our records room is still down in Lowell Thomas but we
built on a swimming pool and before there were well, many neat classrooms.
The classrooms used to flood the first couple years…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
With five inches of water and they’re not… Records that are hardcopy,
they’re not anywhere else. Okay, I’ve got a lot of mildewy student record folders.
Those are the you know, the transcripts are inside. They finally addressed where
I had a three year plan where we’re culling the records from the beginning of
time. Every add/drop slip was kept in student folders to keep it for a year
meaning that, you know, the conservative person I am keep them for five years in
case a student going through you know…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
I can go back to things if I need. We’ve been working outside the
warehouse this morning, you know, trying to say what could, you know, records
destruction, what could we get out of here. What, you know… Be very
conservative because in the old days, nothing was thrown out so I’ve got boxes
over there that computer conversions converted, you know, ten years ago. How
we got from this screen to this screen and all the conversion, it doesn’t matter
anymore. Whatever is, is, you know? Data that’s… But again, an academic
institution, it’s going to flow all over in priority for money. As long as you have
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
31
somewhere to put those boxes, it doesn’t have to be a climate controlled place.
When you see in my office, I’ve got two rows of boxes of the last five years of
graduating students…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Which are supposed to go somewhere else but now I’m being told that
there’s no longer room there. So, I would like to see the records in good shape
because the Registrar’s supposed to keep the academic records and then
preserve them and you know. And when we have the spring thaw and we
haven’t had snow, thank goodness and we wrote heavy duty so we would have
spring thaw in Lowell Thomas, it still leaks in my record room.
GN:
Oh boy.
JAI:
The security calls me and I run over with the plastic bags and plastic
things and put it all in that. [Laughter] So…
GN:
So you’d like to see some changes there?
JAI:
Yea, I’d like to see it a little bit more proactive, you know. I’ve brought up
the issues, I’ve got myself covered with memos but I don’t work like that to cover
yourself with memos. I want to do what’s right. Just trying to listen.
GN:
From your position, looking down the road ahead, what do you see on the
horizon for Marist? Where do you think it’s going to be five years or ten years
from now? Do you think technology is going to have much more of an impact
here, the teaching, the distance learning? Is that going to play a big role or you
hope that we just keep on in friendly happy place?
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
32
JAI:
I know it’s going to take on a role because it’s already started. I hate to
see, it’s like some of the, like what is it, Phoenix, or whatever. You know that
online is like the thing. I like the coziness, you know the one on one type of
thing. We’re going to go onto web registration which we have to. That would’ve
been fine for several years and it’s just taken them long enough to see that yes,
you know, your parents go for orientation, do you do web purchasing? “Oh my,
yes, I love it,” you know. [Laughter] So finally I think they heard enough of it.
They, you know, heard people made choices to go other places when they saw
that we weren’t as technologically advanced in certain areas as we maybe
should be. So I think we’re going to see more distance education with the
graduate programs, somewhat with the undergraduate with some of the co-work
groups that they do for Adult Ed because that’s the bread and butter, you know,
so it’s going to get us the money. But I don’t… I hope we never turn, you know,
where we see lots and lots of it because the… Having students here, you know,
in the faculty and everybody being together is why I’m still here.
GN:
Finally, is there something that you would like to say about your experience
here or I didn’t ask you that was like why didn’t he ask me about this? [Laughter]
JAI:
You know, I like getting up and coming to work in the morning and that’s
sincere.
GN:
Oh.
JAI:
You know, I still…
GN:
You’ve had a good run here?
Interviewee: Judith Ivankovic July 15, 2002
Interviewer: Gus Nolan MHP
33
JAI:
I have, I have, yea. I mean again, I never, you know, you can never show
up late for your business like I often say. If it got to the point where I wasn’t
happy, I would look elsewhere.
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
You know, and as long as I’m holding up and contributing, you know. I
mean if I get stale and…
GN:
Yea.
JAI:
Whatever, I’d hope they’d let me know that.
GN:
You’ve been here fifteen years as Registrar and I couldn’t believe that when
I was looking at this.
JAI:
It doesn’t seem that long. It doesn’t feel that long. I know.
GN:
Well, thank you very much Judy.
JAI:
You’re welcome.
“END OF INTERVIEW”