Registering for classes in Beth Dupuis’ day wasn’t much fun. But being on the other side of the desk sure was, the future director of special libraries at Cal-Berkeley discovered.
“My first semester on campus, I started working at the Henry Administration Building for the department that handled students’ tuition payments. The career staff who worked there, including my boss Rose Franzen, were wonderful and really cared about the students and the university. As an out-of-state undergrad, they helped make the campus feel like home.
“This was back in the late ’80s when registration still happened by standing in lines at the Armory, so it is no surprise that tuition was all paid by checks sent through the mail. Each due date for tuition payments, our department staff would go to a sequestered room in the upper floors of the building with a small corps of local retirees who would work assembly line style to open the envelopes, check to confirm all information was complete, separate out problems and tally up the payments in batches.
“As I recall it, this went on for days and there was great camaraderie. It was an amazing peek into another side of the university that most students don’t see.”
