Staff Highlight: Selders Provides Critical Support
Department heads may hold one of the toughest positions in academia, but the do not have to do their job alone thanks to excellent administrative support coordinators like the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics's Christine Selders.
Administrative support coordinators and department heads oversee and execute all academic and administrative functions. Selders has seamlessly facilitated the implementation of both drastic and small changes for four department heads over the past 25 years.
“Christine has been instrumental in developing how the department works,” said Donald Schneider, head of the department. “Her experiences and judgment are extremely valuable.”
As the main point of contact for administration, Selders balances a wide variety of complex administrative and office functions. She develops and manages various budgets, creates department policies, advises department head and faculty of University policies and procedures, fills open departmental positions, trains new employees, oversees department space allocation, and manages renovation projects.
“It’s difficult to find a part of the infrastructure that does not depend on Christine,” said Suvrath Mahadevan, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics.
Selders has a busy schedule, yet she takes on additional projects in times of need. For example, when there are job searches in progress, Selders covers some of the responsibilities of those former staff members.
“The department was down two people at one point this summer, but Christine kept it running very smoothly, without any diminution in the effectiveness of the office. I don’t think the faculty realized the magic that was going on behind the curtains,” Schneider said.
Schneider admitted that even he, as an assistant department head, did not realize everything Selders does for the department until he became department head himself. Now he views their working relationship as a partnership and said that she is a tremendous asset to the department, college, and University.
An important component of Selders’s role is her intermediary communication between faculty and the department head. Former Department Head Lawrence Ramsey said he noticed faculty feel comfortable approaching Selders with issues so she could pass them on to him.
“Sometimes I was unaware that faculty members were upset if I did something wrong, so Christine was a very valuable conduit to me. When Christine comes and talks about something, we respect it,” Ramsey said.
Faculty members are grateful for efforts like this from Selders. Mahadevan especially appreciates Selders’s attentiveness to assisting with grants, a meticulous process tasked to principle investigators of a study.
“Faculty teach, mentor, and have service. So without the support of very capable, competent people like Christine, we couldn’t do our jobs,” Mahadevan said.
“My position is always challenging, and sometimes bordering on overwhelming. But I know that is just a temporary state of mind,” said Selders. “We’re a small department, but we’re nationally and internationally recognized, and I’ve been a part of it."