Friday, April 8, 2016

Behind the Scenes: Sarah Harms

Beyond the Field sat down with the Administrative Assistant to the Athletic Director, Sarah Harms, to get a behind the scenes look at UNI Athletics.

Sarah Harms came to work in athletics by accident. She started at UNI as a special events planner for academic events. This included guest speakers, conferences, seminars, etc. A position then opened within the athletic department for event management/game day operations. Sarah decided to take this position. She worked on the facilities side of athletics for six years before becoming the Assistant to the Athletic Director for the past four years.

Sarah has many things that she accomplishes on a day-to-day basis. To summarize her day-to-day duties, Sarah assists the Athletic Director, David Harris, with managing and prioritizing his calendar and coordinating staff meetings and track outcomes for Senior Staff. Sarah responds to all Open Records Requests that are sent to the department. Another duty is managing game contracts, game guarantees, the payment of game officials. Lastly, Sarah is the Event Manager for the annual Hall of Fame Ceremony.

Sarah noted that the favorite part of her job is that there is a great deal of variety. She gets the opportunity to do different things each day and gets to talk and work with several different people within the athletic department. Her job touches every smaller department within athletics so she isn't constricted to just one area, which she enjoys. She enjoys being behind the scenes helping the athletic director and others succeed in the department. Sarah said that the hardest part of her job is feeling that she is a "jack of all trades, master of none."

Her favorite memory of working in athletics is when she completed her first Hall of Fame Ceremony. The Hall of Fame Ceremony is a large-scale event and when she took it over there wasn't a lot of background on the event. It is an event where people are celebrated, and Sarah said it's fun to bring people together for a fun reason and that everyone is so thankful and it's a humbling experience, especially for Sarah.

Finally, Sarah offered some advice for those looking for a job, not just a job in athletics. "Remember that you have to start somewhere. Your first job-especially in athletics-will not be the job you expected. It's going to pay less and require more hours than you expected. Also, it is important to stay positive. People may not always remember how well you did a tasks, but they'll always remember your attitude."

Sarah is a key part of what makes UNI Athletics successful and without her dedication to the athletic department, we would be lost. Sarah has been a key part of what makes working at UNI such a great experience for everyone involved.    


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