Tennessee Tech employee celebrates 40 years of serving students
For Tennessee Tech employee Lisa Rice, her 40-year career at the university comes down to one thing: serving students.
Rice, now the financial manager of the Volpe Library, originally worked in registration helping students sign up for classes before moving first to General Curriculum and then to the College of Agriculture & Human Ecology.
In all those roles, she said students have always given her work purpose.
“The students are what make us Tennessee Tech University. I work to serve them, and I’ve done that in every position I’ve held at the university," she said. "Some roles may affect them more directly than others, but serving the students is what it ultimately comes down to."
Rice came to campus as the university president was transitioning from Arliss Roaden to Wallace Prescott.
Her first day on the job in fall 1985 also coincided with the first day of registration. While that process is all online now, then it was a different era of university operations. Students filled hallways, and employees handled registration tasks by hand. Printed class schedules and calendars helped guide the process.
“Registration is completely different and much easier today, but I tried to make it as easy as I possibly could for them then,” she said.
That first day on the job, Rice sat at a small table in Derryberry Hall entering information from students’ registration cards, working until almost midnight to help get them enrolled in their classes.
“Without the student body, we have no job. That was instilled in me from that first day, and I do my best to remember that,” she said.
After seven years in registration, advancing from data entry to technical clerk, an opportunity to work a modified schedule took her to a secretarial position in General Curriculum, working under the direction of Gordon Hunter.
Hunter had a reputation on campus for being a natural mentor, and Rice said she quickly found that to be true. Her work in General Curriculum included helping students navigate academic decisions, and she said Hunter helped her develop those skills.
“He would bring a stack of student folders and sit down with me, asking me how I would advise each person,” she said.
Her next move took her to the College of Agriculture & Human Ecology, where she spent 15 years. That position brought new responsibilities, including a much larger budget, and opportunities to support the college’s growth.
Among the colleagues who shaped that chapter was Bruce Greene, whose work included serving as a faculty member, director and interim dean.
Rice described Greene as “an angel on earth,” adding, “He was just so wonderful to work with.”
Along with Hunter and Greene, she credits longtime friend Jerri Winningham, in the Division of Enrollment & Communication, as someone she turns to for advice.
“The people I’ve worked with over the years have become my second family," Rice explained. "When you spend as many years here as I have, you become close to those around you. Aside from our family, we spend more time with our coworkers than anyone else."
Over the years, her connections with students have extended across generations.
“I’ve been here long enough to know the children of students I knew earlier in my career. Knowing their parents and families makes those relationships especially meaningful,” she added.
After four decades, the tools of her work have changed considerably, and her current work allows her less direct interaction with students – but Rice said she makes a point to continue making student connections because they remain her reason for being at Tech.
“I look at them as my kids. They keep me young,” she said.
Rice has also served on the Staff Advisory, including a term as chair. “I tried my best to be the voice for this group of extraordinary employees,” she said of the experience.
Today, she continues to advocate for clerical and support staff across campus.
Through changes in technology, responsibilities and university leadership, Rice has continued to look for ways to improve, and she encourages others to do the same. She has passed the Certified Professional Secretary exam, the precursor to the Certified Administrative Professional exam, and won a Wings of Kindness Award and a Sheep Dog Award from the College of Agriculture & Human Ecology.
Her professional approach rests on integrity, honesty and treating others as she wants to be treated.
“But I try to keep in mind there’s always room for improvement,” Rice said.