A day in the life of an administrator: Susan Szpyrka

Jan. 25, 2016

Kyle Guthrie
[email protected]

When your school days start to seem lengthy, remember that Susan Szpyrka has work days that can last up to 15 hours.

Szpyrka, senior vice chancellor of Administration and Finance, oversees several departments on campus such as Public Safety and the Resident Assistant training program as well as holding her position as chief financial officer for UCCS.

Szpyrka said she spends most of a workday in 8-12 meetings with staff and student employees.

“I start at seven in the morning and sometimes go until nine or ten at night,” she said.

The first six months of the year are busy for determining the budget.

While Szpyrka’s time with students is limited, she said she still interacts with and helps students under her supervision.

“My student contact is not as robust as I would like simply because of the overwhelming responsibilities and my obligation to meet with other staff members,” she said.

The vice chancellor added that most of her contact with students is with employees.

“There are hundreds of student employees in these different groups. I will often go in when they are having their team meetings to address them and talk to them,” she said.

“Last week I spent about 45 minutes with the residential assistants and their training,” Szpyrka said. “I like to go over when they have their training in August and January.”

Szpyrka also helps student ideas become implemented on campus.

“We had a student group that was very interested in the opportunity to have a different type of parking permit.”

The students wanted a parking permit for specific days during the week.

“They did this through a class, and did a whole proposal around it, and today you now have the opportunity to buy (one of) these passes,” Szpyrka said.

Szpyrka said that while they may not always be visible to students, campus resources are there for their benefit.

“I think it’s important for students to know that all our resources on campus are there for them,” Szpyrka said. “They are developed for them. We don’t work in higher education unless we truly believe in the mission.”