Audra Coon, Seasoned Business Services Assistant
By Kevin Hinchey
January 23, 2008
Photo by Christina VanHorn, Human Resources
If there has been one constant throughout Audra Coon’s career at UNH,
it’s change.
“I started one week before I was getting married – it made for
an interesting start to a new job – I worked 3 days and took 2 weeks
off – not bad hours, I’d say,” says Coon, who came to UNH
as an hourly employee in accounts payable (AP) in 1999.
Moving to New Hampshire from her home state of Connecticut in May of 1999,
she found the campus to be breathtaking.
“I was going through the want ads one day trying to find a job and
found an hourly position in AP and applied for it. I think my 10-plus years
in banking were a help in getting me that job and I was fortunate enough
to be picked up as a senior business service assistant by the Advancement
Business Service Center in the Alumni building not a year later.”
Coon’s career path has taken her to the same position within the central
administration and she now works for the Academic Affairs business service
center. Some of her many responsibilities include weekly payroll for police,
dispatch, security, campus recreation, the Whittemore Center, health services,
and the office of community service; managing several police grants as well
as plant funds and gift funds; all accounting functions that go with paying
invoices, journaling funds, and daily deposits; P-Card manager on 60-plus
purchasing cards; billing internal and external vendor’s for all police/security
details; receiving payments for surrounding home and business security and
fire alarm accounts (any home or business in Durham, Lee, Madbury, and Barrington
that has a security or fire alarm system that is hooked into UNH dispatch.)
and “other duties as assigned.” Whew.
In order to smoothly navigate those many responsibilities, one must have
multi-tasking skills, Coon says. Working in a business service center (BSC)
means having to know how things in human resources, payroll, accounts payable
and purchasing are done as the BSC is the ‘end-all for all things’.
“We have to know policies from all of the core departments to perform
our jobs. You have to be open to change as things are always moving in different
directions around here. New processes are always being created as far as
how we enter our work. New forms are always made available on UNH web sites,” Coon
says. “The updates done to Banner are always a new challenge when things
don’t work like they used to. You also need a really good sense of
humor; without that you’re in trouble.”
Coon says her favorite part of the job is working with such wonderful people.
“My director, Nancy Hamer, manager, Kathy Donovan, and co-workers
have been overwhelmingly supportive these last few years. I’ve had
both my children while working with them and lost my mother within months
of delivering our son,” Coon says. “They have listened to me
rant and rave and truly supported me during these life-altering events. I
can’t thank them enough for their support and understanding. I have
made so many friends in the last 8 years. I feel really fortunate to say
I know these people.”
About Coon, Hamer says, “Audra is a wonderful colleague and her contributions
to the work and services of the Academic Affairs BSC are very much valued.
To mention just one highlight about her great work is difficult, but I will
happily venture to mention that she is the ‘guardian angel’ of
the UNH police department's payroll process and so very much appreciated
for her work in this area and for all concerned.”
Working in conjunction with various departments has given Coon tremendous
insight into what makes the university’s working environment tick.
She has also worked with Presidential Event’s, Media Relations, Editorial
and Creative Services, the President’s Office, Human Resources, Residential
Life, the MUB, OMSA, Alumni Association, Greek Affaires and the Controllers
Office.
“I honestly can’t pick just one that I most enjoy. Each department
I have worked with has been so interesting in so many different ways. I have
a true sense of what it takes to make this campus run on a daily basis,” Coon
says. “There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that others just
don’t know about that makes UNH run. I think that’s what makes
me keep doing the work I do – it’s rewarding in so many different
areas – although it can be very frustrating also.”
When asked who at UNH has had a positive impact on her, Coon didn’t
hesitate.
“This may surprise them, I’m sure, but Kim Roundy and Donna
Redfern had a great impact on me and it goes back to a quick conversation
Kim and I had when he and Donna hired me. Kim told me to take the full retirement
allocation of 6 percent and UNH will contribute 11 percent. He told me to
do that with the first check I was to receive, that way I wasn’t missing
it (the money that is),” Coon says. “They also were very supportive
of me taking courses to further my education. I like to think Kim and Donna
had faith in me - that I was going to be here for a while. They were both
free to share their knowledge of UNH work/living and without their initial
support back in 2000 I don’t know if I would have stayed.”
“They were so patient with me in teaching me all I needed to go forward
here at UNH. I asked a lot of questions my first few months and I know today
they gave me the best information they had to help me in my work. This is
a teaching institution and these two people were essential in getting me
where I am today so I’d like to say ‘Thank you both for teaching
me the ropes.’ Because of that chance they took 8 years ago, my husband
and I have been able to buy a house, and we now have two small children (Emily,
2 ½ and Owen, 5 months.) We’ve been able to start making a secure
future for ourselves and our children. I am always saying ‘I’ll
be here until our kids graduate UNH’ – I’ve got a long
way to go and a lot more to learn.”
Coon, her husband (Larry), and children are residents of Barrington. They
share a love of the outdoors and travel. Prior to having children the couple
made several cross-country trips on their Harley Davidson. They also traveled
to Prince Edward Island, Canada, New York, Pennsylvania, the New England
states and along the coastal trails of Nova Scotia.
“We sold the Harley Davidson the winter we found I was expecting our
daughter. Now that we have two small children, honestly, we just focus on
making it through each day. We’re hoping to do some family trips this
summer with the kids to surrounding parks and zoos. It’s all about
the kids now,” Coon says. “We are saving to one day soon buy
a small pop-up camper so we can camp comfortably on long weekends and enjoy
the outdoors New Hampshire has to offer.”
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