Staff longevity

Veering away from useful information for a post, I thought I’d tell you about my lunch yesterday — not what I ate, but whom I ate it with.  Laurie and I both attended a luncheon for faculty and administrative staff members who have worked at Tufts for either 15 or 20 years.  Laurie was a 20-year veteran, and she achieved her status in a straightforward way — she took a job direct from her undergraduate studies here, and she never left.  Next thing you know, 20 years have passed.

My path was a little more zigzag:  took a one-year job, which lasted nearly 10 years, left for nearly two years, came back in a contractual set-up, finally was rehired in 2005, convinced the people who organize the lunch that this all adds up to 20 years, and attended.

A testament to the nice working environment we have here was the size of the Fletcher contingent.  Fletcher has grown in recent years, but is still quite a small place, which makes it surprising that there could be so many 15/20-year veterans.  In addition to Laurie and me, the 80-or-so person luncheon also included four other members of the Fletcher staff.  Fletcher is not only a happy place to be a student; it’s a happy place to work, too.