Heather Jackson: a new face in the Clayton Center

heather

A new face has arrived in the division of fine arts at Maryville College. Heather Jackson was recently named the new office manager for the division. Jackson applies a wide range of skills to cover all the bases of the fine arts office.

“I have to be somewhat of a Jill-of-all-trades, juggling and jumping between skill sets, such as accounting and office management to departmental procurement, student/faculty scheduling and acting as the liaison for the department,” Jackson said.

Her valuable skill set and training comes from her previous experiences working within the fiscal services department at Lakeshore Mental Institute, where she experienced a wide variety of roles and tasks, from working in the mailroom to admissions, and even assisting in the warehouse.

Last year, the hospital was shut down. “I was asked to remain as part of the post closure staff to help close the books, prepare the yearly cost report and box up all the records for the fiscal services department,” Jackson said. “It was quite a task, because Lakeshore had been in operation for more than a hundred years.”

She had to navigate the job market. When she noticed the opening for the position at MC, she said that she was delighted for the chance to work at place that would involve her creative interests. “I applied, interviewed, received the offer, accepted and here I am,” Jackson said. Jackson is also suited for both the Clayton and MC because of her own love of outdoors and art.

She said that she enjoys camping, hiking and bicycling in the area as well as creating works of art by painting, drawing and making jewelry. Intellectual pursuits are also a high priority for her. Jackson said that she and her husband love to read and converse about topics that range from mythology to neurology and cultural studies, in order to educate themselves constantly. “Communicating in depth about a cornucopia of topics is vastly more rewarding than zoning out in front of a TV,” Jackson said. Her interest in learning is part of what she enjoys about MC.

“[Being] surrounded by intelligent, interesting, learned people, both faculty and students is an intellectual magnet for me,” Jackson said. The combination of new experiences and new influences has helped her to settle in quickly and to enjoy her position at the college Jackson has only been here a short time, but said that she feels she has found a great place at MC.

“I am looking forward to working here for a great many years to come,” Jackson said.

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