UHDS News

[The Daily Barometer, March 16, 2012] —  Concept manager Jayne Novotny, is a person who many consider the heart and spirit of West dining on campus.

Tuesday through Saturday of every week, she arrives at work by 11a.m. to help open shop.

Her father was a Teamster directly under Jimmy Hoffa, as was her aunt. Novotny cracked a sly smirk as she discussed her father’s work during her youth.

“They all had semis back in the 40s, and my dad ran moonshine all throughout Missouri and Illinois. We lived mostly out on farms or ranches, and that’s probably why I talk the way I talk.”

Not referencing a dialect or an accent when she mentions “talk,” 64-year-old Novotny, much to the enjoyment of her co-workers, has a mouth to rival that of George Carlin. You haven’t heard a dirty joke until you have heard it from a short, rail-thin woman who, despite her pension for snide humor, has become known as the “Grandma” of West Dining Center.

“She is the most feminine male I know,” said Dave, her husband of 35 years.

Since 2004, Novotny has worked at West Dining Center, one of several dining facilities on the Oregon State University campus. She started as a temp, and in 2005 was hired full-time to work in the Clubhouse Deli, which provides soups, salads and sandwiches to students — namely residents of Sackett Hall, West International Housing and the Hawley/Buxton/Poling dormitory system directly across the street.

“First and foremost, I was just out looking for a job.” Novotny said.  “And then I got to know the kids, and I knew God had put me here for a purpose. I belong there.”

Prior to starting her job at West, Novotny made rounds of the greater Willamette Valley, attending high school in both Corvallis and Philomath, where she eventually met her husband. The two were temporary nomads of sorts until they ended up in Arizona, where Dave got a job with the Tucson Police Department. While he trained, she worked three jobs at once to help support their two daughters.

Now that their children have families of their own, she and Dave have settled in a Corvallis far different from the one she knew in 1965. But Novotny said she hasn’t had to look far to find “replacement kids.”

“These kids, the ones I work with, or used to and am still friends with, they keep me happy. They keep me young,” she said. “They are giving me a chance to show them about older people and what kind of sense [of humor] some of ushave.”

Those students seem to agree.

“She’s like my Oregon grandma,” said Jordan Guerrero, senior in sports science who worked with Novotny for years. “She’s definitely put a brighter spin on living in Oregon seeing as how it’s gloomy about nine months of the year.”

Swift hands, steady from years of training show horses and holding more jobs than most can count, fly across the food preparation counters everyday as she makes sure to greet her fellow co-workers, many of whom are students at OSU.

Jana Boyl, senior in apparel design, began working alongside Novotny at West Dining Center four years ago, which is when she got her first dose of the notorious humor of “Grandma Jayne.”

“Jayne has definitely acted as a mentor for me,” Boyl said. “I remember seeking her out at work after my first relationship ended. I couldn’t think of anyone better to talk to, because I knew that she would have something to say that would make me feel better. And I was right.”

Many echo this sentiment. In 2009, the RA staff members of the Hawley/Buxton/Poling residential hall units honored her with an award commending her for her invaluable service to the school and her warm attitude toward all students.

A face etched with laughter lines cringes at the mention of some of her “kids” graduating and leaving soon.

A matter-of-fact sense of humor often masks her awareness of the type of role she has played in the lives of the students.

“My favorite aspect of her personality is that she can point out the silver lining of any situation or event, while still being the one of the most down-to-earth women I’ve ever met,” Boyl said.

Novotny has seen two changes in management since she started at West, one of which she claims was lacking in a lot of direction and compassion for student-workers, a void which she chose to fill. ..

Read the full article by Drew Wilson-McGrath.

Community Relations Facilitators assist University Housing & Dining Services’ Multicultural Resource Coordinator in working with staff members and residents in a variety of tasks specifically related to social justice education and cultural development.

There will be four Community Relations Facilitators for the 2012-13 academic year. Each student will work an average of 15 – 19 hours each week. This position requires independent work as well as collaborative relationships with three other CRFs as well as a variety of student and professional staff from Residential Education (UHDS), cultural and resource centers, and other campus partners.

The major duties of this position will likely include serving as an ambassador of UHDS to outreach to various campus partners, helping build collaborative relationships between UHDS residents and student staff, and campus partners engaged in social justice education and cultural development, developing and facilitating educational workshops for residence hall audiences, developing and executing large scale events, and contributing to a social justice focused blog.

Compensation for the Community Relations Facilitators is a place to live on campus (UHDS double room as a single), premium meal plan and $300 per term stipend.

• Community Relations Facilitator Application

Please contact UHDS Multicultural Resource Coordinator Teresita Alvarez with questions about the application.

[KEZI9] — Before the special session adjourned Monday night, lawmakers passed a set of bills that approved millions of dollars to help fund new buildings at Oregon State University.

OSU administrators say the funds will go toward building a Student Experience Center, remodeling the east wing of the Memorial Union, and building a new residence hall.

Lawmakers put those projects on hold in 2011 due to concerns about the additional state debt.

Administrators say that didn’t stop students, Oregon University System leaders and OSU’s president from pleading for the projects — especially the new 270-bed residence hall, which will help take care of the lack of housing problem for students in Corvallis.

“This will help by enabling us to house more students on campus here at OSU and contribute to their success as well.  We’ve found that students that live on campus, it’s a great way to get connected and enhance their academic success,” said OSU Housing & Dining Director Tom Scheuermann.

The new 5-story residence hall suites on the east side of campus could open as early as Fall 2014, and will be available to all OSU students.

A classroom building construction project was also put on hold at the end of the last session in June, OSU plans to pitch that project during next year’s legislative session.

Watch the video and see the original story by KEZI’s Heather Turner.

Approved building bonds put new student center, residence hall back on track

[Corvallis Gazette-Times, March 7, 2012] — Oregon State University will receive funds to build the Student Experience Center and a residence hall, after all.

Lawmakers passed a set of bills at the end of the Legislature’s short interim session, which adjourned Monday night. They approved millions of dollars in IX-F bonds for the new student center, a remodel of the Memorial Union’s east wing and a 270-bed residence hall.

Student fees will pay back the $47.2 million student center and $9.18 million renovation. Room and board fees will cover the $29 million residence hall.

Lawmakers put the projects on hold after the end of the last legislative session in June over concerns about the state’s ability to carry additional debt. OSU President Ed Ray, students and Oregon University System officials testified on behalf of the projects in front of the Legislature’s Joint Ways and Means Committee in November.

Another OSU construction project — a classroom building — was also put on hold at the end of the last session, but the university plans to pitch the project during next year’s legislative session.

The news of the projects’ approval was great news for the university, especially for student groups involved in the student center project.

“They saw the need early on and worked to make this project come to life,” said Tiffany Perkins, an OSU senior who co-chaired the student committee that helped the project pass an initial student vote.

Students voted in May 2010 to pay $48 a term beginning last fall to pay off the bond. With funding secured, students will be charged the fee beginning spring term, and construction will begin January 2013, said Michael Henthorne, the director of the MU.

The new building will replace Snell Hall, built in 1959 as housing to accommodate the enrollment booms of the post-World War II and Korean War era. It now houses various student organizations and offices but it has numerous major structural deficits.

See the original article by Gazette-Times reporter Gail Cole.