Having the opportunity to work in the Memorial Union has had a huge influence on my life after graduation. While working as a graphic artist at Sign & Design Studio I was able to strengthen my problem solving skills. Through my position, I have gained an immense interest in graphic design and the developments within the design industry.

As well as having the opportunity to learn the importance of building relationships with your clients and the effective use of good communication tools to design projects down to the last detail.

There wasn’t a day that I wish I didn’t have to be at work while working at the Memorial Union. The people I worked with were what made it a very enjoyable work environment. A lot of the work and projects in which I was involved in were team efforts and because of this I greatly learned the importance of teamwork and not eating Cheetos when taking clients’ orders.

The two years I spent working in the Memorial Union helped create many of the wonderful memories during my college career. Working in the Memorial Union allowed me to start great friendships in a welcoming and caring environment. I was given several opportunities to be involved in student driven leadership and take on leadership roles, while improving my character and confidence. Looking back, working at the Memorial Union was a dream job for me as a college student. It allowed me to become a leader and form great relationships with faculty, staff, and my fellow peers. My time in the Memorial Union was an amazing addition to my college experience!

Working at the Memorial Union was a valuable experience for me.
Besides having a job that I enjoyed, I learned skills that I am applying after graduation. I worked as a building manager which required such things as decision making, and interacting with all types of people. On a daily basis it was common to help professors, athletes, sorority women, and community leaders. I needed to interact with people who grew up across the street, across the country, or across the international dateline.

My attention to detail has grown because of the demands of my position at the Memorial Union. When I worked there, I needed to check furniture, people, locks, and maintain safety. Now, my job requires me to check detailed math, inspect electronics, and locate bugs in the systems I design.

Being a vital part of the heart of campus gave me the chance to be an important part of a team. In the future, I will continue work in positions that allow me to contribute at this level.

While working at the Memorial Union, I found a passion for a career in higher education. The experience, the staff, and the lifelong friends I made have shaped me into a future leader. I learned teamwork skills, the value of a strong work ethic, and the importance of having fun while working. My development through college was shaped by my time spent at my home away from home, the Memorial Union.

Bio:
I received my Bachelor of Science from the University of North Dakota in May 2004 and my Masters of Science from the University of North Dakota in May 2006.

I am the Assistant Director of Student Activities - Operations at Philadelphia University in Philadelphia, PA.

As Henry David Thoreau said, “Things do not change; we change.” I can look back on my time as a student building manager in the Fabulous Memorial Union as being a great time of change and transition in my life.

It was at the Union that I was first blessed with the privilege of responsibility and all that comes with it. Yes, wearing a kelly green blazer (standard attire at the time) and carrying three pounds of keys can’t help but command respect from one’s peers and Union patrons. What they don’t see is the return trips at 2 o’clock in the morning to triple-check that doors are really locked; the late nights of helping to clean up after a late showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show – toast anyone?! All were great memories and great experiences that helped me to appreciate true customer service and to develop skills and contacts that were essential for me to get my first job after graduation. I still value those contacts, skills, and friendships that I first developed as a building manager at the Union.

Bio:
After graduation, I added my marketing and communications degree to my building manager experience and pursued a career in marketing and development. My career path has taken me to New Mexico, Minnesota, and back to Grand Forks where my wife (Kaye Lynn) and I have raised our family of three children…including our oldest son, Tony, a current UND building manager.

• UND Building Manager 1982-85
• UND Graduate 1986
• Work History Highlights
  • Advancement Office UND College of Arts & Sciences – 2005-present
  • Director of Development University of Minnesota –Crookston 2002-2004
  • Director of Development North Dakota Special Olympics 2000-2002
  • University of New Mexico Assistant Athletic Director 1999-2000
  • UND Assistant Athletic Director 1996-1999
  • Director of Marketing – local United Van Lines agent 1988-1996
  • Advertising Representative – Grand Forks Herald
  
  

Growing up near a small farming town in northwest Minnesota and attending UND from 1976 through 1980, in 1979 and 1980 I had the opportunity to work at the Memorial Student Union as a student manager. Many of the people I had the chance to work for, and along side, became good friends. I still have the good fortune to call some of them "friend" to this day.

My "TRAINEE" name tag pinned to the green blazer of a Union student manager, my initial tasks were to assist an experienced student manager on the rounds through the building, assisting the Union manager whenever requested, and making the final inspection of the building before locking up for the night.

After only a two-rotation trainee period, I then got my personalized name tag and began to take on the duties of a student manager on my own. In addition to assisting the Union manager and assistant building manager with setting up rooms for events and helping out in any capacity I could, rounds were continually made to insure items were in place and no unauthorized people were in limited access areas. Additionally, large blocks of time were spent assisting the personnel at the information desk, answering questions, cashing checks, and providing any service which could be helpful to UND students and visitors. At the end of the evening the job included reconciling the amount of the checks cashed throughout the day with the money in the cash box. Typically a stress fee event, occasionally there would be a discrepancy requiring any number of recounts of checks and cash, making for some longer nights with visions of numerals dancing in my head. Little did I know that crunching numbers would become a part of my profession a decade later.

Most days and nights it was a pleasure to assist the public with their inquiries, and there was such a great opportunity to meet so many interesting people. The students and administrators were a true pleasure to be around, and the experience of holding this position of some responsibility was an asset to my life experience as I moved on. The logistical experience also assisted in helping organize students to lend a hand in the flood of 1979. I was a part of a handful of students working out of the Union, available 24-7 to take incoming calls from students wishing to help, then arrange for them to get to areas of the city requiring assistance. We were the coordinators of manpower between students, the media and local organizations. The job also allowed me to becoming familiar with levels of administration, which assisted me in heading the 1980 Homecoming Committee.

After graduation from UND, I taught 6th grade for a year in a town north of the Twin Cities. Through unexpected twists of fate, opportunity and friendships, I went on to become the manager of a cellulose insulation factory in southern Mississippi. In 1986, I began my tutelage under one of the pre-eminent commercial real estate appraisers in the country, Jack K. Mann (also the owner of the defunct insulation factory). After obtaining my MAI designation (member of the Appraisal Institute), I became a partner with Mr. Mann in 1996, creating Jorgenson & Mann, Inc. In 1999 I purchased the company from Mr. Mann, who remained my friend and "Southern father". As a commercial real estate appraiser I have had the chance to travel throughout the United States, and even once to Greece, in the course of performing appraisal assignments.

In addition to the much-needed money I made, the general skills and techniques of communicating and assisting people I developed while being a student manager at UND have served me in some capacity ever since. Some of the 1979 flood experiences were also remembered in the course of some volunteer work after Hurricane Katrina devastated my adopted state of Mississippi. I continue the enjoyable process of meeting and serving people from my home in Ridgeland, Mississippi, and remember all of my time at the University of North Dakota with fondness and pride. (To this day I remain stout in showing my pride by wearing UND alumni shirts and become annoyingly excited around my Southern friends when the UND hockey team makes the Frozen Four.)