How Suite It Is
President's Office Moves to Funderburg
Jared Hubbard
President McFadden and his two assistants—administrative assistant Jill Manns and executive assistant Julie Knuth—just moved their offices and their entire operation to the Funderburg Library. The goal is to help with the development of the university and bring its employees and students even closer together. “The move has been planned for months but the process only took a day,” McFadden said. He believes the change was needed to become more accessible to the student body and be able to help at any time.
“Accessibility is definitely my main goal, but I love to be able to see the students walking to class and being productive,” McFadden said. “The only things I miss are my windows.”
The office suite comprises the area behind the circulation desk. “They are tidy and very spacious,” McFadden said. On the wall before his office there is a mural with the Manchester logo, and it says, “Become your best self.”
Inside his office he has to still put up pictures, and inside of his moving boxes he has many pieces of autographed baseball memorabilia. “I pride myself on my pictures and these baseballs,” McFadden said. “One of my prized possessions is my autographed baseball from Hank Aaron that I got when I was a kid.”
Jill Manns and Julie Knuth both agree that the move and process is coming together well. “The process is going to take some time,” Manns said. “We have to still finish and construct our 24-hour food service and finish our new board meeting room, but in time we’ll be up and running.”
They too love being more accessible to the students and pride themselves on being part of the small, tight-knit North Manchester community. “We like to be able to eat and talk to students,” Knuth said. “We ask them about the school and for their brief suggestions on what we can do better, and also what we’re prevailing at as a school.”
The suites are not the only construction going on around campus. “We plan to build a chain of competitive buildings on the campus including a new stadium to house multiple sports,” McFadden said. “We want to be competitive with buildings in our town to get our name out there as a school that everyone is talking about. This is our main focus here at Manchester.”