Editor’s note: Duck of the Week is a section in Around the O Workplace that highlights UO employees and their work, and to help build community by learning more about our coworkers. Each story features an interview with one employee, in his or her own words, with light editing for clarity and length.

How long have you worked at the UO?

Six years as of Feb. 8.

Tell us about your work:

I manage a shared services office for a number of academic units on campus. We provide business services including accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchasing, contracting, payroll, and travel. My office currently has five personnel including myself, but we’re in the middle of an expansion as we speak.

Right now, we provide services for the College of Design, School of Journalism and Communication, Clark Honors College, Undergraduate Education and Student Success, the Division of Graduate Studies, and the Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

What does your typical day look like?

I start my day by checking email on my computer to see what urgent requests are on the table. I then tackle known projects, communicate to my team and verify our ticketing system to make sure that all requests are being handled correctly. The majority of my day is spent answering emails and fielding questions regarding matters around finances or the transactions that our unit provides.

Over the last two years since the pandemic started, it’s really been just building out processes and procedures that align more with remote work and processing electronic transactions. Maintaining all our documentation electronically is a big change because pre-pandemic, we were so heavily reliant on paper and physical processes. As of today, we are now about 95 percent electronic on all our processes, and I’ve been working in close contact with the records retention team to make sure that we are now aligning processes in our new business venture with this expanded shared services.

What do you like about working at the UO?

Coming from private industry, one of the biggest things I enjoy about working at the UO is the level of professionalism everyone has here. There’s a level of organization here that I haven’t seen in some of the other jobs I’ve had before. The other aspect I really like about working here is the university is really employee-centered. In prior jobs, if I was having family issues, it was like pulling teeth to try to get any time off. I have been very flexible with my employees at the UO whenever they’ve had needs that arise in their life.

What keeps you motivated?

I really love to serve, and I want the best outcome for everybody. I want to make sure that our office is providing the best services that our customers can come to expect. For me, it’s all about building out the processes and maintaining those relationships.

If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Everything in my life centers around finances, so if I could go back and change one thing about my life it would be how I managed money as a younger person. Being a finance person, that’s just where my mind goes.                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Shaymond Michelson is part of the Central Business Services Office in the College of Design.

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