CAMPUS Closeup: Andrea Jordan
The NMU Board of Trustees today approved the negotiated agreement between the university and the NMU chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). The new contract takes effect July 1 and runs through June 30, 2020. In her role assisting the AAUP president, Andrea Jordan had mailed out ballots to the union’s membership for a ratification vote, tracked them as they were returned and tallied the results in an official count earlier this month.
Jordan’s duties are shared between NMU's Academic Senate and the AAUP, with services to the latter being paid for by the union. She also serves her own union, Local 1950, as financial officer.
“As senior secretary for Academic Senate, I assist the chair, take minutes at meetings, post all meeting materials online and maintain the senate web page,” Jordan said. “I’m also responsible for confidential information that comes through the office pertaining to sabbaticals, promotion/tenure and personnel records. My senate work is pretty clearly defined. With AAUP, it’s providing whatever support is needed at a particular time. Sometimes that’s helping with the logistics for AAUP membership meetings and executive committee meetings, taking minutes or typing memos to constituents. I like the fact it’s not the same every day. I also like the quick turnaround time on everything and the fact people I work with genuinely appreciate what I do.”
There is relatively little foot traffic in Jordan’s Cohodas office compared with her previous workspace behind the circulation desk in Olson Library. Jordan joined the library’s technical services staff in July 2001. She was responsible for maintaining the electronic catalog and training/supervising student employees.
“I applied for my current job to expand my duties and responsibilities, but I do miss working with students,” she said. “Many kept in touch after they graduated. Some say working with students at a university keeps you young and I really believe that. They have their entire future ahead and you’re trying to be supportive.”
Jordan said her propensity for playing secretary as a young girl provided a clue to her future career. She also was influenced by her mother, Joanne Jordan, who worked at NMU for several years as an accounts payable clerk before transferring to the bookstore.
“I always knew I wanted to work in an office and I always knew I wanted to work at NMU,” said Jordan, who graduated from Northern with a degree in office information systems. “It all worked out well for me.”
Much of Jordan’s free time is devoted to New Apostolic Church. As music coordinator, she directs the choir (while singing alto), selects songs for each service and plays the organ. She also organizes church luncheons and dinners. Cooking for others is a favorite hobby. Jordan often takes cues from celebrity chef Rachel Ray’s 30-minute meals (garlic and rosemary chicken is a favorite). Other interests include watching classic movies from the ‘30s and ‘40s, ideally starring William Powell or Cary Grant, and a self-diagnosed “addiction” to handbags.
“When I worked at the library, students would say to me after lunch, ‘Is that the same purse you left with?’ I would switch at noon. My mom would hand down shoes and purses to me occasionally when I was growing up. Maybe that’s where it comes from.”