While some main office staff are unknown to students, they are key contributers to the running and day-to-day performance of school.
Sue Cathell – Registrar
Staring intently at her computer screen, Registrar Sue Cathell checks the final grades in PowerSchool. The third quarter ended three days ago, and she is making one last check before finalizing the quarter reports.
Cathell has worked as the registrar at JC for three years. This requires issuing the quarter reports to students and parents, pulling together the Honor Roll, and organizing the ineligibility lists.
“I make sure the grades from the teachers are downloaded onto permanent records correctly and in a timely manner,” Cathell said.
In fall of 2002, Cathell started working in the Institutional Advancement office, where she handled money that came in as donations and gifts to the school. Three years after that, she moved to be the Parent and Public Relations Coordinator and then the Director of Communications.
Her goal in the public relations and communications area was to ensure that everything that went out of the school was in line with the image and mission of John Carroll. This included examining the school website, the “Connections” alumni magazine, many articles by or about JC, and official letters.
“[Registrar] is my favorite because I get more interaction with students,” Cathell said. She also has an advisory, which is the highlight of her day. Junior Maha Khan is in Cathell’s advisory.
“She is great! She always gets us treats to celebrate our birthdays. If our birthday is in the summer, she celebrates our half-birthdays, which is nice because mine is in the summer,” Khan said.
Vice Principal Gary Scholl gave Cathell high commendations. “The students can be sure that their academic records are correct,” Scholl said.
Dawn Teel – Executive Assistant to the President and Principal
It was September 11, 2001, and Dawn Teel had just heard about the plane crashes in New York. Her first instinct was to leave her work in the neuropathology department at Johns Hopkins and pick up her 2-year-old son. Unfortunately, she was an essential employee and was therefore forbidden to leave the building.
“That’s when I thought, ‘I need a new job closer to home,’ ” Teel said.
Now, Teel works as the assistant to Principal Madelyn Ball and President Richard O’Hara in the main office. Her duties, which have evolved greatly in the 11 years that she’s been here, include taking minutes at meetings, planning faculty professional days, lending a hand in graduation organization, answering parent calls, and writing letters from the school.
“When a parent’s calling you, it’s a valid concern to them,” Teel said. Directing parents and helping them fix their problems are major parts of her contribution to JC.
While working at John Carroll, Teel has seen a large increase in the use of technology.
“When I got here, it was unheard of to have a face-to-face Skype interview. Now, the president and principal use it for interviews,” Teel said. Today, Teel can send mass emails to parents in a matter of minutes, and parents can reach her more conveniently.
The best parts about Teel’s job are her coworkers and the atmosphere at JC. “The community is unlike any I have ever worked in,” Teel said.
Diane Brown – Accounts Payable
A scalpel slowly and precisely slits the rat’s throat, puncturing the skin near the esophagus without a sound. The stiff, furry body is slick but firm, allowing the scalpel to soon probe its tangled organs. The biology dissections have begun.
The annual biology dissections would not be possible without the help of Diane Brown, whose work in the business office includes paying for the animal bodies. Brown’s job, Accounts Payable, centers on financial data entry and assisting Nancy Moxey and Kathy Cullen, the other staff in the business office.
“I always wanted to work in a school. It’s a very positive workplace,” Brown said.
In 2004, she started working at JC in the cafeteria. The next year, she found herself working in the business office. “I was really seeking a full-time office position. The café was more of an in-between job,” Brown said.
Brown takes care of class trip and field trip planning reports, graduation expenses, and teacher purchases in the beginning of the year. She also helps compile reports that go to O’Hara and the Board of Trustees.
“Between the three of us in the business office, it all comes together,” Brown said.
Her contributions extend to the numerous school budgets and to checking that all spending is within proper ranges. It’s a data-driven job, and Brown is happy contributing her talents in the business office.
Nancy Moxey – Tuition Administrator
Since 1999, Nancy Moxey has been an important presence in the business office. Her job encompasses everything pertaining to student billing, cashing checks, payroll, and annual audits.
Though she originally planned on going to law school, Moxey decided to have a family and eventually ended up at JC, first in Accounts Payable and then as the Tuition Administrator in 2003.
Moxey pointed out two major changes that she has observed since 1999. First, there is the influx of international students. Some of them come through agencies that pay full tuition up front, and others use the biannual payment plan that many American students use.
Second, Moxey mentioned the disappearing presence of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Moxey remembers sisters in the attendance office, the copy room, the main office, outreach office, and in teaching positions.
The business office is located next to the main office, through the office hallway, which keeps the business office ladies from most student contact.
According to Moxey, “Not too many people know us, and I’d like to have that changed.”
Kathy Deaver is a Reporter for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.