Pam Owenson
Administrative Specialist II
Agricultural Education and Studies
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Work
As an Administrative Specialist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Agricultural Education and Studies Department, Pam's responsibilities include providing all administrative services for her unit, including assisting in making decisions and directing day-to-day operational tasks for the AGEDS department, departmental accounting, budget planning, contract management, payroll, purchasing, hiring, advising faculty and staff regarding university and departmental policies and procedures, consultation and liaison for the department. Also, she serves as academic and research representative on the Professional and Scientific Council and Chair of the P&S Peer Advisory Committee. She also serves on several other university and departmental committees.
Outside of Work
Pam enjoys camping, hiking, bike riding, spending time with her daughter and husband, golfing, collecting recipes, gardening, and spending time outdoors.
Work/life Issues
Two key areas for Pam are her commute and her health. Pam drives an hour to work, and an hour home again. She finds creative ways to handle meals, housework, other responsibilities at home. Pam has Type 1 diabetes and must make sure to have all the essential supplies with her to be prepared for any emergency.
With diabetes, Pam makes more decisions regarding her day than the average person. As she ages, more health issues arise that are related to having diabetes or not. She looks for ways to stay healthy and researches healthy ideas.
Resources
Pam looks for ideas on the Web and networks with others to find out how they deal with these issues. She is interested in what ISU has or could offer for issues that employees may deal with.
"My job requires more of my time than anything else in my schedule," Pam says. "At the end of the day, eight hours just doesn't seem quite enough to get the work done. I try to prioritize what is important. I also look for training and classes to help in my work balance."
