KU employees of the month recognized

Janet E. Elder
February classified employee of the month

Started at KU: Janet Elder joined the Division of Biological Sciences more than 25 years ago and served for many years as supervisor of the division’s Word Processing Center.

Current title: Elder, whose official title is public service administrator, is the administrative assistant to the director of the Undergraduate Biology Program.

What that means: Elder organizes all activities of the program. She maintains enrollment and grade records and applications for scholarships and awards, interacts daily with undergraduate students and graduate teaching assistants, works with the lab directors to schedule GTA assignments, maintains waiting lists for closed classes, manages the department’s $1 million-plus budget, oversees the activities of the Biology Teaching Resource Center and coordinates the annual graduation and recognition ceremony.

Notable: Elder’s transfer to the program was advantageous for the division—it coincided with the explosion of student interest in biology and with the implementation of the memorandum of agreement that governs the employment ofgraduate teaching assistants at KU.

Recent feat: Each semester Elder helps three laboratory directors match GTAs to more than 200 laboratory sections. The program has 1,500 majors and teaches about 5,000 students each semester, and the numbers continue to grow.

Jan Thomas Barron
February unclassified employee of the month

Started at KU: Jan Barron joined the fledgling KU Continuing Education Aerospace Engineering Short Course Program in 1980 when it offered only a few courses.
Current title: She now serves as senior program manager.

What that means: Barron oversees a staff of six and a program that has grown to 65 short courses that are available to aerospace engineers across the country and around the world.

Notable: A member of Barron’s staff says, “Jan leads by example. She allows the staff to take a portion of the program, make it their own, and gives them full credit both publicly and privately. She continually challenges the staff to achieve full potential, whether it is for the program or for personal self-growth.”

Recent feat: Barron has developed the program wisely, cautiously and successfully. Under her leadership it has grown from a regional training operation to an internationally recognized program. Aerospace short courses are offered in Williamsburg, Va.; Seattle, Wash.; San Diego, Calif.; Orlando, Fla.; and Lawrence. They also are available via electronic distance education in Canada, Switzerland and Brazil. Since its inception, the program has served more than 18,000 professionals. In 2004 alone, 63 courses reached 1,555 students.