For many students at the University of New Hampshire, president Mark Huddleston may be an unrecognizable figure, as most do not have the chance to interact with Huddleston over the course of their time at UNH. But for sophomore Lauren Myette, Huddleston is more than just an administrative figurehead.
Myette is a work study office assistant in the president's office, where she sees Huddleston whenever he is not away on business. She is responsible for a number of tasks, including working with the the UNH foundation board, which deals with private support for the university.
Myette started working at the office, located on the second floor of Thompson Hall, this past September.
"I had a friend who was a senior last year who was looking for a sophomore this year to replace her for this year to work for the next two years of being at UNH and I took the job," Myette said.
As one of just five student office assistants, Myette has the unique opportunity of working with Huddleston on a near-day-to-day basis. In her second semester of working at the office, Myette has learned Huddleston is more personable than people may think.
"Once you get to know him, he's very sweet," Myette said. "The office is a lot like a family, so everyone is very close and he always is very kind and generous and we even got a gift from him for Christmas, all the girls that work there. So he goes out of his way to make sure that we feel comfortable working there."
While Huddleston is often away to attend conferences, alumni events and the like, Myette says that he is very friendly when he's in the office.
"He travels a lot, but when he is in there, he's always interacting with everyone who works in the office," Myette said.
One fact many people may not know about Huddleston is that the president is actually a pilot in his spare time. He even took two of the office employees in a plane ride to Nantucket recently.
As for Myette, the job in the president's office has given her valuable experience in a professional setting.
"It makes me a more diverse worker, because I had never worked in an office setting before, so that's definitely broadened my horizons," she said. "I've never had a position where I would work with someone that has such high power. It's not like I'm just working for a professor or a dean's office. … I'm basically representing him and his office, so if I look bad or I make a mistake on his part, that makes him look bad."
Myette says that many people do not understand what the president's office actually does, as many students and parents call with inquiries about housing academic services, class registration and admissions.
"I think they underestimate what we do," Myette said "It's actually just being in charge of the people that have donated so much money. For example, with the Peter T. Paul school, we've had to stay in contact with him since he's committed to the new school and we have to stay and have relationships with the foundation board that keeps this school running and keep giving us donations. Because if we're not appreciative of them, then they won't help us at all. I think people don't understand that. When they leave UNH and they have a successful business like [Paul], they want to give back to the university that made them like that. So it's important that we stay in close relationships with them."
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