Katelyn Bye has served as the Honors College’s executive assistant for a little over a year, playing an essential role in supporting the day-to-day operations of the college. She manages scheduling and coordination for meetings, oversees catering arrangements for events and serves as a key point of contact with campus and community partners. Through her behind-the-scenes work, Katelyn helps ensure the Honors College runs smoothly while fostering strong relationships that support students, faculty and collaborators. In this Q&A, Katelyn shares insights into her role, her experience with the Honors College and what motivates her work.
Q: What is your role in the Honors College?
My role is to keep the Honors College running smoothly. Whether that be making sure our spaces are kept in order, scheduling meetings, setting up catering, or our external partners are thanked for their kind gifts to the college - it is all important work. I do a lot of behind the scenes work with the operations of the college.
Q: What's one project or initiative you've worked on that you're especially proud of?
I recently lead a team of Honors College staff through the process of rewriting all our our student employee job descriptions to include NACE Competencies, which is now going to be a requirement on all our job posts. We looked at all the job descriptions, refined the duties and requirements, and then identified the skills that students would gain when doing that job. I think this is going to be incredibly helpful for students to better understand the skills that they will learn how to do in each position.
Q: What kind of questions can you answer from honors community members?
I can answer a variety of questions related to the operations of the Honors College, resources that are available to students, and reserve rooms for students and clubs. If I don't know the answer to something, I can definitely point you in the right direction!
Q: What's something you enjoy doing outside of work?
I love spending time with my friends and family outside of work!
Q: What's a book, podcast or movie that's inspired you or made you think recently?
I recently read a book called "1,000 Years of Annoying the French" and it covered 1,000 years of French and English history. I love all things history related, so this was a good read. Whenever I read about people from the past, I try to imagine what their lives would have been like living in such a different world. There's so much we can learn from the past.
Q: If you had the opportunity to work on an HC thesis today, what do you think the theme or title would be?
I would want to do something with research around autoimmune diseases. There is so much more research that needs to happen in relation to those diseases. I would love to explore that area.
Q: What's one of your favorite memories or moments from working in the Honors College?
Some of my favorite memories are from running different events that the Honors College puts on. They are always so fun and I love being able to connect with the other Honors College staff and student workers!
Q: What's something you've learned from the HC community that's influenced you?
Something that I've learned from the Honors College community to not doubt your abilities. I have seen many students overcome struggles with their theses and graduate. It's much better to be persistent and to keep going when things are hard, than it is to give up because you are doubting your abilities.
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