Becky White, an alumna of SCAD-Savannah where she majored in performing arts, is now an administrative assistant in the student services department at SCAD-Atlanta. She serves as a liaison with various SCAD departments, including the, residence life and housing, student life, career services, counseling and student support services, international student services and recreation and health. She can most often be found on the first floor, near the offices of academic advising, bursar and Dean of Student Services, Art Malloy. She is there to offer students support when needed. White shares her experiences as a staffer and a student.
What are your duties as a student services administrative assistant?
I assist several departments within student services. I basically assist all of the departments with anything they need help with. That can range from helping with career services such as career fair. I helped organize the career fair to go to Savannah. I’m assisting the dean with whatever he needs. I’m helping Marcus Mister with events for students, like handling financial aspects of it, such as purchase requests and vendor contracts. My day is different everyday as far as what I do. I assist all of these departments. So it can range from whatever is going on here.
Do you feel overwhelmed by having the responsibilities of all the departments?
There are parts that are certainly busier than the other. I take one step at a time, and I try not to get overwhelmed.
What is your most interesting task or part of your job?
Helping out with career services. I can do a lot of interesting events like being in the forefront of all the events and it’s fun to see from start to finish. I’ve been able to go to DragonCon for career services to see what the latest trends were. It goes with the student life in such as helping Marcus Mister with events. I attend a lot of events and try to help out at a lot of them. Just being around the students to help them out.
Have students come to you for help, and how?
People come to me a lot and joke about it because I’m the go-to person a lot. So, if anyone like a student who has a situation, I’m the one for go-to a lot. Being the assistance for Art Malloy and so, I get a lot of students who come to me to set up appointments with Art and I try to help them if I can. I make sure that they are going to the right place.
Do you help students relate to your experiences as a student at SCAD?
Definitely. I use it a lot when I go up to the front desk to relieve the receptionist. I find that being at the front desk, I assist a lot of students by guiding them, by being an alumni as I can relate to my experiences. A lot of time I give them advice as far as if they have questions about classes. A lot of it is academic advising and personal problems that I can help them.
What are some examples of how you shared your experiences as a student?
I can relate to the students about the financial aspect of the college, and a lot of students come down to see the bursar. They usually show distress about money and I tell them that as an alumni, you know that it is possible to afford the tuition and make it through the whole four years. I came from a single family, and I worked quite a bit when I was a student. So, I usually say that if I can do it, anyone can do it.
What jobs did you have to make your ends meet?
I worked in the Trustees Theater in Savannah. I have worked part time at one of the local carriage companies. In the summer time, I worked full-time and took part time classes. I was also part of the performance ensemble, which you get a scholarship and you had to work for the scholarship. So you have rehearsals four times a week in the mornings.
Since you were a performing arts major, did you feel that the performance ensemble benefited you?
Oh, yes. It definitely did. It helped me financially. It paid for one class per quarter. But also it helped me learn a lot about music.
When you did the carriage tour, what kind of tours did you do?
With the company I worked with, you had to be a licensed tour guide for the city of Savannah. So, I gave fifty-minute tours of the city, and I did occasional ghost tours. I got to the point where I did it for so long that I could go anywhere in the historic district of Savannah and be able to talk about anything.
How is being a staff member different from being a student at SCAD?
It’s big a difference. I’m not doing artwork anymore or performing arts. I’m working in an office setting. But being an alumni really gives me an advantage when carrying a work that I do because I have a student perspective as a staff member and bring that into some projects that we do and knowing from both sides. Being alumni and having been a student helps my having the knowledge of the college in general. A lot of people come to me with a lot of random questions.
Since you studied at the Savannah campus, and you’re now working at the Atlanta campus, do you feel that your giving a perspective at the Atlanta campus based on your experiences in Savannah is different from if you were a student at the Atlanta campus?
They’re generally the same. Even though we have two different campuses, when it comes down to it, a lot of core questions are the same. I don’t think there is that much difference from what I encountered in Savannah and in Atlanta.
Are you still doing any art projects or performing art projects these days?
I am apprenticing at the Horizon Theater in Little Five Points. It’s a ten-month program. I wrapped a short film in September and it will be premiering at Landmark Theater in March. I was an actor. My apprenticeship really keeps me busy and it’s at nights and weekends. So, I usually leave from here and go straight to the theater.
