JOB: Assistant manager for the Illini Union guest rooms. He books and assigns the 76 available rooms and ensures that the guests are comfortable. He has worked at the Union since 1997. He and his wife, Kathy, live in Ogden with their son, Ross, who is 15.
Tell me about the hotel and guest rooms.
Lots of people call up and say, ‘I didn’t know you had a hotel there.’ ‘Are the rooms all right?’ ‘Are they nice?’ Actually, they’re better than a lot of hotels in the area. Some hotels are sort of plastic looking. The rooms all look the same. But ours have character; they’re a little richer. There’s a lot of wood and a kind of colonial-style wallpaper. Our maids are really nice ladies. They’re concerned about the guests and they take care of any special requests that they can help the guests with. And they’re friendly. We don’t have a big turnover. Our staff has been here for years.
Where are the guest rooms in the Union?
The rooms are on the third and fourth floors of the south wing. Originally there were 14 rooms in the north wing. In the ’60s when they built the south wing, they added 76 rooms there. So many of them have views of the Quad. The North wing rooms were converted to meeting rooms in the ’80s.
What are the busiest times of the year?
Recruiting season in the fall. We have corporate recruiters come on campus in September, October and a little into November to recruit students. They keep our rooms booked.
Why do you think that is?
We can’t advertise as extensively as the private sector does. We’re not a private company. We are part of the university, but the money that’s made from here goes to help the Union provide many of its free programs and services for the students. The money goes back to the students themselves in a sense.
Do the students use the guest rooms much?
Yes. Before school starts, I think we have two to three weeks when we offer special rates to new international students. They’re coming to campus from around the world, and they need to get here before classes start to find a place to live. And we have a lot of them take advantage of that.
And we have Finals Week study specials that we also offer to the students. So often students find that the dorms are so noisy that they can’t study, so they can stay in a guest room at a special student rate. A lot of them will study down in the lounges and then go up to their room. We also offer them a snack pack with little goodies.
Do you have a lot of regular customers?
Some of our football people have been coming here for years and years. We also have the UI Board of Trustees. They’re a nice group of people. They’re really friendly and easy to work with.
Do you frequently have celebrities stay here?
David Hartman was just here. The governor’s come through. Roger Ebert’s here quite a bit. All the people honored by the university at Commencement stay here. We meet them and we talk to them.
What do you do when you’re not working?
I have a honey-do list. I’m remodeling a bathroom now. I remodeled the utility room. If I’m not working on that I’m going to sports events with Ross. He plays baseball, football and is in wrestling. We’re always involved with that.
And I’m secretary of the school board for the Ogden Grade School. This is my fourth year. It’s been interesting. I think school boards are great. The school board is about education, about kids. When I decided to run I saw things going on in the school system that I didn’t like to see. So you can sit on your thumbs or you can go get involved.
What else do you do?
I cut a lot of grass. My son has a lawn-mowing business during the summer. When he’s not in sports or in school or in practice, he cuts the grass. But if there’s something going on with him, I cut the grass. So I’m busy all the time.
I also do a lot of reading. I love to read. Right now I’m doing science fiction. Next week it may be mysteries or westerns.
Do you like working at the UI?
I like the security. It’s a good place to work. There are good benefits. I plan on my son going to school here.
And I like to work with the students. I hire students and we train the students. We always have students working as a desk clerk and a page. We work around their schedules. The students are like family. I like to hire freshmen and keep them their entire careers here. It’s fun to watch them develop. For some of them, this is the first job they’ve ever had. Then when they leave, it’s like losing one of your own.
Is it interesting to meet so many different people all the time?
Each guest has a different story. They’re all interesting. Since we are the campus we also have international guests. That’s challenging to communicate with them sometimes. But I’ve learned that most all of them, if they can’t speak English can write and read English. So if you can write notes, you have found a new friend.