The voices of the 'hands-on implementers'

Thursday, October 18, 2001 • Vol 7, Issue 20

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Support staff in all divisions can find myriad answers on the Internet at Administrative Support Core Group pages

By CLAY EALS

Photo by Clay Eals

Members of the Administrative Support Core Group - from top: Lisa McInnis, Janielle Pelroy, Betsy Paige, Diane Koehnen, Jenny Torgerson, Maria Gonzales-White, Cecilia Larson, Donna Isaacs and Roy Multer - represent 77 years of experience at the Center.

The nine have nearly 77 years of Hutch support-staff experience among them, more than triple the life span of the Center itself.

Small wonder that none of the nine relishes taking minutes at their own monthly meetings.

They look forward to the meetings, however. Known collectively as the Administrative Support Core Group, they represent the seemingly invisible backbone of hundreds of staff who handle the myriad clerical, reception and other so-called red-tape tasks that keep the Hutch running smoothly.

Dianne Koehnen, a 15-year Center veteran and administrative coordinator of the Cancer Prevention Research Program in the Public Health Sciences Division, puts it succinctly and with a twinkle:

"We know things."

Start in 1999

Coordinated by Cec Larson, 10-year Center veteran and project manager in Strategic Planning and Development, the group got its start at the suggestion of Peggy Means, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, in February 1999.

It quickly organized a dozen short, easy-to-use Internet pages that explain Hutch basics for newcomers and long-timers alike. The pages, available at an introductory page at http://www.fhcrc.org/admin/support/intro_page. html, were launched two years ago and have been updated regularly.

"It sort of takes the place of a formal training program," said Lisa McInnis, eight-year Hutch veteran and fellowship specialist in Grants and Contract Administration, "which is really helpful because a lot of the time when somebody new comes into a position, the previous person is already gone."

Topics covered on these pages are as plainly identified as the information therein: "Your First Day," "Your Space," "Getting Around." "Buying Things," "Sending Things," "Online Forms," "Seminar/Meeting Planning," "Grants and Finance," "Employee Resources," "Center Work Groups," "Alpha Index" and "Department Index."

Compendium of 49 forms

The information - soon to be posted in PDF format for easy printouts - includes details on pay days, security, moving furniture, archiving information, setting up conference calls and video conferences, plus a compendium of on-line versions of 49 commonly used forms at the Center.

Some of those forms, Larson said, were initiated or refined at the behest of the Administrative Support Core Group, which acts as the eyes and ears of support staff in all Hutch divisions. "We've seen a lot of changes," she said. "We've seen revisions to all the forms you could possibly think of.

We've seen new forms developed and not used, in part because of our feedback. We've given feedback on organizational development, and we've helped shape Human Resources' new-employee orientation."

For example, one or two members of the group attend each orientation, meeting separately with the three to 12 new support staff who come to each twice-monthly session.

Providing such a voice for administrative staff in Center-wide policy decisions is part of the group's mission, which makes sense, given that the group's members are the literally the voice of experience.

"When policies are made, we're often the hands-on implementers of those policies," said Maria Gonzalez-White, a five-year Center veteran and administrative manager for Immunology in the Clinical Research Division. "Sometimes, we can see things that just aren't practical, and we can get feedback from other support staff in our divisions and pass it along to those who need to know."

The group's membership spans all divisions (see list above). To be filled is a representative from the Human Biology Division.

For more information on the group, visit its Internet site or call any of its members.

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ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CORE GROUP - A WHO'S WHO

• Maria Gonzalez-White, administrative manager, Immunology, Clinical Research, phone: 206-667-5180, fax 206-667-7983, mailstop D3-100/D3-100, e-mail mgonzala@fhcrc.org.
• Donna Isaacs, research program coordinator, Basic Sciences, phone 206-667-4481, fax 206-667-6526, mailstop A2-168, e-mail disaacs@fhcrc.org.
• Dianne Koehnen, administrative coordinator, Cancer Prevention Research Program, PHS, phone 206-667-5856, fax 206-667-5977, mailstop MP-702, e-mail dkoehnen@fhcrc.org .
• Cecilia Larson, project manager, Planning and Strategic Development, Administration, phone 206-667-5362, fax 206-667-6028, mailstop LY-302, e-mail clarson@fhcrc.org.
• Lisa McInnis, fellowship specialist, Grants and Contract Administration, Administration, phone 206-667-5872, fax 206-667-6221, mailstop LY-201, e-mail lmcinnis@fhcrc.org .
• Roy Multer, research program coordinator, Basic Sciences, phone 206-667-4496, fax 206-667-5894, mailstop A3-025, e-mail rmulter@fhcrc.org.
• Betsy Paige, administrative assistant, Director's Office, Administration, phone 206-667-6777, fax 206-667-5268, mailstop D1-060, e-mail bpaige@fhcrc.org.
• Janielle Pelroy, administrative assistant, Planning and Strategic Development, Administration, phone 206-667-2631, fax 206-667-6028, mailstop LY-302, e-mail jpelroy@fhcrc.org .
• Jenny Torgerson, grant and contract coordinator, Weiss-Daling Studies, PHS, phone 206-667-6582, fax 206-667-5948, mailstop MP-381, e-mail jtorgers@fhcrc.org.

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