Working side by side in the Governance Office, Erin Plume and Andrea Patrick bring out the best in each other, and that's why we interviewed them as a duo! So before Andrea makes the temporary move to the Office of the Provost, spend the next few minutes getting to know both of them a little better.
Where is your favourite place on campus?
Erin: My favourite place - it's probably a standard - it's the Harry Potter Room in Rutherford South, second floor - the Reading Room. It's just so peaceful. And I will say that it's my goal to host an event in there. That's like my long term goal. And so far I've been denied, at least four times - all for good reasons, like there's not enough space, there are no facilities, there's no kitchen. And it's a library - you shouldn't have food in there, right? But I swear I will host an event in there in one day.
Andrea: Erin does not give up on her events.
Erin: That's true.
Andrea: So I'm pretty much banned from that area of campus. Ever since my kids basically stormed the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library - I have never seen librarians move so fast. But my favourite place on campus is Founders' Hall at Augustana. I've been there a couple of times and I just find it to be a really beautiful historic landmark. When it was built in 1912 it was the building at Augustana. It was the dorms, the laundry facilities, the classrooms - it was kind of like the Downton Abbey of Camrose. I just think it's a really beautiful building, and it's been renovated now, so check it out if you haven't seen it.
Tablet or paper?
Erin: Okay, if you were to ask me "Smartphone or paper?" that would be a tough question, because I'm kind of addicted to it, sadly. But, definitely paper. I just find I can't think electronically, so it has to be paper.
Andrea: Paper for me as well. I think there's something magical and visceral when you actually put pen to paper.
Name one thing you've brought to work from home.
Andrea: I want to say "artwork from my kids," is the one thing I've brought from home, but the most important thing I've brought from home is actually Tums. I'm getting older now, I'm overly caffeinated, and I got heartburn here once a few months ago - it was the worst, it was terrible. Nobody had any Tums. And how can I go to GFC with heartburn? So now I just have every flavour of Tums in my desk - which is good because Erin brings a lot of snacks to work. And they're delicious snacks. You'll walk past her desk and she'll have this homemade lasagna just sitting there or the most beautiful red grapes.
Erin: So, I guess my answer is snacks. I do like my snacks. But you know what, this was a hard question to answer. I don't bring a lot from home. I collect things here, like mugs. And I have brought shoes.
Andrea: Erin doesn't have to worry about it, because guess what's hanging over Erin's desk? The university charter. And it's framed, and it's signed. Nobody else has the charter over their desk.
Erin: But you get the benefit of seeing it too, because we're so close.
Andrea: True. I can look at it any time I want.
What is the one thing you can't live without?
Andrea: I can't live without music. I was raised with the radio on, and MTV on at all times. I had the big headphones with the big telephone cord - everything.
Erin: My answer is family. I know. My husband and my two boys - I come home at the end of the day, and they're awesome.
If you won airfare to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Andrea: I would go to Hawaii, and I know that's like such a cliché answer; sitting on the beach - and my hair is so bad in Hawaii - it gets so puffy. But, for me, I need that disconnect. I like to be able to wake up, eat a huge American breakfast, lay on the beach, and just tune out, just disconnect from everything.
Erin: Okay there are so many places I want to go -
Andrea: Erin has amazing ideas for places to travel to.
Erin: I've never been to London or Paris, so there obviously. Or, I'd like to go to somewhere in the north - on the summer solstice. Watch the northern lights - no, wait - you wouldn't, because it would just be daylight all day. And my husband has always wanted to go to one of those beach resort places, just plunked into the middle of the ocean, like Tahiti. But you know what, I'd trade that all for a week at Christmas to have the Banff Springs. Because that would be awesome. But Christmas in London would be good too.
You can invite anyone - alive or dead, real or fictional - to dinner. Who would it be?
Erin: For me, it'd be my dad. He's been gone for fourteen years, so it would be nice to just catch-up. And my oldest son was only 6 months old when he died, and I have another son, and a bunch of nieces and nephews that he never got to meet. And I'd like to get his perspective on what's happening in the world today, because I learned that saying about never talking about religion or politics from him, but he always, always broke that rule. [Laughs] So, it would be interesting to see what he thinks.
Andrea: I want to say family, but my first inclination honestly, is to say Prince. I just love him.
Interviewer: Well, Bobbi did say Eminiem.
Andrea: I know right? But, actually, one of my best friends is my Grammie. I don't get to see her very often because she lives far away. So I would love to have dinner with her. We make each other laugh, and she's really wise about things. She lived through the Depression, she put four teenagers through the '60's, and I can throw the worst things I've ever done at her and it doesn't even phase her. She's not judgemental, she always has a solution, and I just love her. And, she makes really good snickerdoodles! We've solved a lot of the world's problems over snickerdoodles. Have you had my Snickerdoodles?
Erin: No.
Andrea: I'll bring some in. They're either terrible - they're either like hockey pucks or they're mind blowing.
Erin: There's like, cream of tartar in them, right?
Andrea: Yeah, and cinnamon - the dough is not good. You would not eat just the dough.
Erin: Oh, Andrea, I would not eat any cookie dough. Raw eggs, hello?
Andrea: What's wrong with you? I feel like I don't even know you.
Erin: No, you know me and my food needs.
Andrea: Well, I'd eat the cookie dough. I take the risk of the salmonella.
Erin: [Sigh] Everyone knows about my food safety thing.
Andrea: Erin's been known to bring her own meat thermometer to Thanksgiving dinners. That's a fact.
Erin: I got caught at an airport once with a meat thermometer in my carry-on. They're like "do you have something sharp in here" and I said "no "because I totally forgot that it was in there.
Both: [Laugh]
If you could switch jobs with someone else on campus for a week, what would you do?
Andrea: I would like to shadow someone in Facilities & Operations. Someone maybe who works with the vehicle fleet. Someone that's maybe in an engine, getting their hands dirty - learning how to change spark plugs and fan belts. I want to do those things. Because I realize that I'm basically useless when it comes to skills like that. I would love to do that.
Erin: Okay, I might be breaking the mascot code by talking about this… but, I recently got to be Guba, and that would have been my answer. And if I had that chance again, I would do it again.
Andrea: She was so cute as Guba.
Erin: It was only for about 20 minutes. Once your Guba, you can't not commit.
Andrea: You've got to go full Guba.
Erin: Yeah, so we walked over to take a picture for the United Way plasma car picture. Oh my god, that was like the funnest 20 minutes of my life. If you ever want to feel good - like see people smile - just put on that head -
Andrea: [Laughs] - and the giant paws -
Erin: Yeah - and just wave at people. Give them the thumbs up. You don't have to talk. And people just smile, and the people who don't smile are just smiling on the inside and trying to squirrel past. So that was like, the best feeling ever.
Andrea: I really wanted to hug you when you were Guba. I wanted to embrace you.
Erin: I know, right? I'm very huggable, especially in that Guba costume.
Andrea: He just makes everyone happy.
What does "uplifting the whole people" mean to you?
Andrea: For me, it boils down to the research that's being done at the U of A. If you need a little inspiration during your day, all you need to do is to ask a faculty member about the research that they're doing. Their whole demeanour will just light up. The things that are being done here are incredibly relevant and important for everyone. They touch on almost every subject that you could imagine. And it can only be done at a research intensive university like ours.
Erin: Lately when I hear this phrase, I think of good old Henry Marshall.
Andrea: She's on a first name basis…
Erin: Yeah. But do you think that he ever imagined that the U of A would be what it is?
Andrea: That's why he's called "the visionary." He really was visionary.
Erin: I just think of how many people have been touched by this place. "Uplifting the whole people" isn't just making university education available to anyone who wants it - but it's also that anyone who is lucky enough to go here, work here, or to just be involved with the university in some way - think of all the people that they then can help from their experience here.
Andrea: When I think about the U of A - because I've been here for almost two decades - it's almost a city inside of another city. And it's my home. My kids went to daycare here. I've - this is ridiculous, but I met my spouse here. We went on our first date to Sugar Bowl, and then we ended up at a little bench outside of Administration. I made him walk me back to my car because it was late. And we sat outside on the bench in front of Administration and we talked about the date. This is where people live their lives. Real connections are made here. It's just a special place. I love it.
If you could solve any problem in the world, what would it be?
Andrea: Honestly, I feel like the world is just going to explode right now. Like, Twitter use to be fun, but now it's just about the next catastrophe. Hence the Tums - now you know why I need the Tums and the snacks - because I like to feed my pain. So it's hard to narrow it down. I will say that living in such a water rich country as Canada, I worry about water stewardship. And my worry is that there are going to be water wars some day or resource wars and that it will eventually just all turn into like a Mad Max-survivalist situation where I'm one of the first ones out of the game because I'm not very tough and I just couldn't survive that. I really do worry about it. I'm so glad that David Schindler is on water. Every time I see his name mentioned in "Community Congrats!" or "UAlberta in The News," I'm like, "yes! Go get 'em David, we need clean water!" I don't even know him, but I would love to.
Erin: I think my one problem is intolerance. I think that if you could solve that, you could solve so many other problems. I f we could all just get along, we could just solve stuff.
Andrea: And we work in governance so Erin on the board side, and I'm her counterpart on the GFC side, so we get to see these groups of stakeholders getting together to discuss big items - very important items, and they do it collegially. And that's one of the things that's very special about the University of Alberta, is that emphasis on collegial shared governance. It's nice to see students, administration, faculty, and our support staff all come together to reach consensus on the direction of the university. We get to sit in the corner and watch that unfold. It's amazing.
What 3 words best describe your U of A experience?
Andrea: Engaging. Edifying. Interesting.
Erin: Challenging. Enriching. Fun.
Andrea Patrick spent the first 12 years of her career at the University of Alberta in the Department of Pediatrics. In 2012, she joined the team in University Governance, where she currently serves as the Assistant Secretary to General Faculties Council (GFC). She'll be filling in as the Portfolio Initiatives Manager in the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) through 2018.
Erin holds a BA in Anthropology and has worked on campus for 14 years: currently as the Assistant Secretary to the Board of Governors in University Governance; previously in the Faculty of Arts and the Department of Anthropology.