After 19 years championing the Humanities as their Marketing Advisor, Wendy Adam fondly remembers the 'infectious enthusiasm' of prospective students considering Otago for their studies.
Wendy Adam clearly remembers her job interview for the role of marketing and communications adviser for Te Kete Aronui Division of Humanities as a “disaster” but, as she told her partner afterwards, “I think they liked me”.
However the interview went, the panel was impressed enough to offer Wendy the job – a good decision borne out in the 19 years Wendy has been with Otago.
Wendy retires from her role at the end of May.
“I feel very lucky to have been the adviser for Humanities. I think that for me being in Humanities has done some of what it does for students. It expands the mind and makes us more critical and questioning.
“I'm not sure this questioning has always been appreciated... I seem to have often been asking: Why are we doing this? What do we hope to achieve? What will prospective students think of this? And, importantly, what does this mean for each of the (academic) Divisions?”
Her passion for and championing of Humanities comes through in a memory from the early days.
“One thing that stuck with me from the interview was the emphasis on being a 'Brand Champion' for Humanities. Although I knew from my marketing studies at Otago what a brand champion was, I didn't appreciate the competitiveness between Divisions.
“For example, our annual meeting with the timetables office to allocate rooms for Tertiary Open Day was known as the marketing adviser equivalent of 'The Hunger Games' – there was one marketing and comms adviser for each Division at that time and the strongest voice often came out with the best rooms.”
“Fraternising with the enemy” Auckland Careers Expo 2018, Wendy is on the right with one of the Auckland University Liaison staff heavily in disguise, and her expo teammate at the time Bronwen Stephens.
Wendy says this culture has shifted in the intervening years, with good co-operation established in the marketing team across the Divisions; “we all have each other's needs, and prospective students, at the heart of what we do”.
“A favourite part of the job has been talking to, advising, and recruiting prospective students at careers expos around the country. It is invigorating to see the excitement of prospective students as they contemplate coming to study at Otago. This sort of enthusiasm is infectious, and a great reminder of why we do this job.
“I have loved my time here, and as I move on from this job, it is definitely the people I will miss.”