Employees Recognized for Years of Service

By Ioana Patringenaru I November 7, 2005

Awardee Nancy Groves with her daughter, Bronwyn.

Old buildings were torn down to make room for new, bigger ones. Students came and went in ever-increasing numbers. Pens and paper gave way to typewriters, then to computers.

They stayed on.

UCSD recognized last week a total of 609 employees who have worked for the university for at least 10 years. Together, they served UCSD for a total of 10,830 years. Some said their focus stayed the same through the years - though they had to adapt to a changing environment. Others said they got quite an education by switching jobs every few years.

For Nancy Groves, the focus was serving students' needs. She retired in 2004 and was the only employee to be recognized for 40 years of service this year. She was dean of Academic Advising at Revelle College, where she worked for 38 years.

When Groves first started working at UCSD, Urey Hall was the only building in use. The few employees on campus worked on all sorts of things, she said.

Douglas Tower, now a data analyst at the Geisel Library, came onto campus at the same time as Groves - but as a student. UCSD's first graduating class counted only 181 students. They boarded in the officer's headquarters at Camp Matthews. Interstates 5 and 805 had yet to be built.

About a decade later, when Marcia Strong arrived on campus, the gym was the biggest facility and the bookstore was cramped into a bungalow. You could still see goats, raccoons and "big things with antlers" around campus, she said.

"That was a delight," Strong said.

Strong is now the assistant director of Student Organizations in Student Affairs and was recognized for 25 years of service.

Groves and Tower said their focus remained the same through most of their years at UCSD. But they learned to use new technology to reach their goals. Groves led the effort to introduce the online degree checking system known as DARS, said former Revelle Provost Thomas Bond.

"In my opinion, few if any individuals can match her dedication and hard work - rarely has a staff member been so admired and respected by the faculty," he said.

Meanwhile, Tower switched from mainframe computers and data tapes to servers and the Web. He was recognized for 35 years of service. He now archives data for UCSD's Social Science Data collection and makes it available on the Web. He also consulted for Gary Strong, the former California State Librarian and current UCLA University Librarian, and for a company that developed the first satellite tracking system for the U.S. commercial fishing fleet.

New technologies had an impact on

Strong's job, too. In the past, you'd always know how many people would show up at events and who they would be, she said. The Internet has changed that.

"Now anyone throughout the world can find out and show up," Strong said. "The World Wide Web has basically opened the university to the whole wide world."

But employees had to adapt to more than new technologies.

Over the years, organizations became more sophisticated, Strong said, adding she learned from students and they learned from her. For example, she got to know a lot more about politics at home and abroad as UCSD's student population grew more diverse.

"That's what keeps me coming back," she said.