Karen Erdman-Reitmeier is office manager for the department of accountancy in the College of Business.
Erdman-Reitmeier started at the UI as a clerk typist II in the French department in June 1981. In 1983, she moved to the economics department and was promoted to clerk typist III. She moved to the department of accountancy in May 1988 and has been there since.
Erdman-Reitmeier grew up 3 miles south of Flatville, Ill., 20 miles northeast of campus. She graduated from St. Joseph-Ogden High School and earned an associate’s degree in child development from Parkland College. She and her husband, J.C., will be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in November. They have two children – Anna, 19, a second-year nursing student at Parkland, and Austin, 14, an eighth-grader at Prairieview-Ogden Grade School.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW?
Right now, I’m assisting the director of administration with registration for our tax symposium in Chicago. I’m processing registration forms and entering all the information into a spreadsheet so that we have all the registrants’ information in one file. That includes names for name tags, if they are attending the reception and Friday night dinner, how many nights they’re staying at the hotel, and a lot of other pertinent information. Since there are people coming from all over the United States and Canada, I’ve also been fielding questions from people about travel arrangements.
Next year we’ll have an audit symposium that will probably be held in Champaign. We switch off every year – one year a tax symposium, the next an audit symposium.
It’s work that requires me to be very detail-oriented.
SOUNDS LIKE IT. WHAT ELSE DO YOU DO?
When I’m not working on anything symposium-related, I assist the faculty members, grad students and teaching assistants with course work. We do a lot of copying for them. Most of the copying we do in the office. Occasionally, I still type a few exams for professors.
In the spring semester, I assist the director of administration and the faculty coordinator with Accountancy 398, commonly referred to as the CPA review course. We have between 250 and 300 students taking that class, and it meets five days a week for two hours daily, so it’s an intense class and there is a lot of material that gets covered. We reproduce between eight to 10 packs for the students to pick up at our office and there are six exams they take through Illinois Compass.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT YOUR JOB?
The people I work with are the best. I’m also the department volunteer leader for the Campus Charitable Fund Drive that started in September. Last year was the first year I was involved, and I also was the College of Business volunteer leader.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO OFF THE JOB?
My husband farms, so I like to help him during the busier times of the year, usually the spring and fall. During the fall, for example, I drive the grain trucks to the elevator. I also enjoy vegetable and flower gardening.
We’re also involved in our church – I’m on the altar guild and treasurer of our women’s group.
This year, my husband and I have been getting up 20 minutes earlier in the morning to read the Bible. Our goal is to read the entire Bible this year. We’re still in the Old Testament; we’ll read the New Testament beginning in October. It’s also our quiet time together when we can see the sun coming up and just appreciate the beauty of nature.
DO YOU LIKE TO TRAVEL?
We like to travel when we get the chance. Last year we took a Christian Heritage tour of Washington, D.C. This summer we went to Minnesota and Wisconsin, where we visited relatives, the Mall of America and an International Harvester tractor show.
We also went to Starved Rock State Park for the night in August. I highly recommend it.