July 10, 2024
1985年6月，玛琳·麦基恩作为一名临时雇员第一次踏上十大菠菜台子的校园. 她曾在许多校园办公室工作，直到1986年2月全职加入Meadow Brook Health Enhancement Institute. 她在工程与计算机科学学院的旅程始于1989年7月，当时她转到咨询办公室.
网络和电子邮件等现代便利设施还不是她工作环境的一部分.
“我用打字机通信，用纸和笔写笔记.” McKean recalled. "Appointments were made on a hard-copy calendar, 它总是在手边，你不用担心系统会崩溃, which did happen back in the day."
当她滔滔不绝地说出值得注意的名字和时刻时，她的记忆丰富了:
"Before we were the Golden Grizzlies, we were the Oakland Pioneers, with mascot Pioneer Pete, and the student newspaper was called the Oakland Sail. 我还记得足球赛结束后的烤猪，以及在奥克中心或莱普利体育中心为篮球队举行的兴奋和集会. 安妮塔·拉普(OU足球运动员)和海瑟姆·哈桑(工程学生/OU游泳和跳水队成员)参加了2000年夏季奥运会.
“The president was Dr. 约瑟夫·尚佩恩是公开大学的第三任校长，保罗·哈特曼是体育主管. 格雷格·坎普一直是篮球教练，皮特·霍夫兰是游泳和潜水教练. 我参与梅多布鲁克优雅大会很多年了. I attended plays at The Barn. 看热气球降落在校园里是多么有趣啊!”
While her character is one of quiet dedication, working behind the scenes and never expecting recognition, McKean’s many admirable qualities haven’t gone unnoticed. 她曾两次被评为月度最佳员工，并收到了无数学生的感谢信, parents, faculty and staff over the years.
As she enters her 40th year with Oakland, 麦基恩被授予2024年莎朗·威廉优秀奖. 该奖项每年颁发给表现积极的文职/技术员工, can-do spirit of Sharon Wilhelm, 她在45年的职业生涯中为公开大学社区提供了卓越的服务.
Colleagues nominated McKean for the Wilhelm Award, 形容她是个心地善良的人际关系建设者, calm demeanor and strong work ethic. In her current role, as office assistant in the SECS Advising Office, 她通常是人们拜访时遇到的第一张脸，或者是他们打电话时友好的声音.
Sarah Konrad, SECS advising director, calls McKean “a friendly smile, a welcoming voice and a listening ear,他在记住学生的名字和面孔方面有着非凡的本领, even those who've been away from campus for a while.
“我记得有个中途退学的学生给我们办公室打过电话，当时他正在考虑回到公开大学. 玛琳立刻想起了这个学生，并高兴地欢迎他回来。. 这名学生表示，这次交流让他回国时更放心了, knowing he was remembered and cared about. 玛琳只是让每个人都觉得自己是开放大学大家庭的一员."
When another returning student recently called the office, McKean thought the last name sounded familiar. 事实证明，他的母亲去了俄勒冈州立大学，经常给麦基恩带来烘焙食品.
那个学生说，他妈妈很想和他一起去看医生，只是为了再见到我,” McKean laughed, “and she’ll bake something for me!”
While being a great ambassador for SECS and OU, McKean juggles a constantly evolving list of job duties.
She said: “I enjoy all facets of my job, whether it be working with students, staff, faculty, 家长或任何来我们办公室或打电话的人. I assist them in whatever their needs or questions may be. 我告诉学生开放大学提供什么，提供有关校园资源的信息，并鼓励他们参与自己感兴趣的课外活动. 我试着让每个人都感到受欢迎，并为成为灰熊队的一员感到兴奋. I also tell them that their runaround is over. 无论他们在哪里，如果他们有问题，不知道去哪里，打电话给我. I will tell them exactly where to go and who to see.”
前瞻性的思维方式仍然是麦基恩的最佳属性，因为她倾向于流程改进，以更好地服务于公开大学社区. “在过去的五年里，我们的办公室已经变成了一个几乎没有纸张的空间. 我们所有的表格现在都是电子提交的，我们所有的学生记录都是电子的,” said Kurtis Kirkpatrick, SECS senior academic adviser. "Marlene was able to adapt to this change with ease. 这些变化使我们的办公室更快、更有效率."
除了平衡繁忙的咨询办公室的需求, McKean reflects her can-do spirit onto others. Offering wise words of encouragement, 她说服了一个朋友回到学校，在公开大学获得学士学位.
这位朋友说，她在毕业前将会是45岁左右. She had three children. 我告诉她从一次上一门课开始，”麦基恩回忆道. “不管怎么说，她都是40多岁的人了——她还不如40岁有个学位. 她现在是一名高中数学教师，拥有硕士学位，目前仍在工作. Her children are also OU grads."
麦基恩还鼓励一名工科学生接受一份需要到海外工作的工作.
“He was very apprehensive,” she recalled, "but after several discussions, decided to accept the offer. He loved it and stayed for several years. 他现在在一所大学教那个国家的语言.”
Despite her achievements and the impact she’s made at OU, McKean doesn’t seek accolades, but instead takes pride in simply doing her job well.
“我很惊讶也很荣幸有这么多人花时间代表我发表评论,” said McKean, referring to her Wilhelm Award nominators. "Thank you all so much. 能得到这样的认可，我真的很谦卑，因为我只是在做我的工作.”