Your Fellow APAs

Interview with APA member Shawn Mahorney

How long have you been at MSU?
I will have been at MSU for 14 years this November.

Have you been a member of APA the whole time?
No, only since 2009, right around the time when the school of music became a college they reclassified me to APA.  I’ve been at the College of Music for ten years, most of the time I was a CT 9.  Before I came to the College of Music I was at Arts and Letters in the Dean’s office for three years and before that at the Department of Art for a year.

Can you tell me a little bit about what you do?
I am the executive staff assistant to the dean.  I act as the liaison between the dean and the faculty, provost, president and other university administrators.  I typically handle all travel, correspondence, and scheduling the for the Dean.  I also over see a lot of the promotion, tenure, faculty review and merit pay in the college.

What brought you to your job at MSU?
I actually was a student at MSU.  I was studying to be secondary education English teacher.  At a certain point I decided that I didn’t want to teach.  During this time I was a student worker in Arts and Letters.  When I graduated in 1997 I didn’t really  know what I wanted to do.  My old boss at Arts and Letters asked me to consider a three month temp job for someone who was on maternity leave.  I took the temp position and when she came back they promoted her.  So they ended up hiring me full time.  I am really glad I was at the right place at the right time.

What do you love about working at MSU?
I really like that all the places I’ve worked have been in the arts.  MSU has great benefits and I really appreciate being able to take advantage of the educational assistance to pursue a photography degree.  The other thing that is so unique about MSU is the diversity on campus.  I grew up in a place with not as much diversity so it is great to be exposed to and interact with people from all over the world.

You recently organized a very successful APA picnic, can you talk a little about that experience?
I had a great time.  It was really fun and it wasn’t a lot of work.  I think it would be great to do more family events like the picnic and the tailgate that is being planned for the fall.  It was great to see so many families come out and if we had more member engagement activities that are casual, fun family type of events it would help our members network naturally.

What do you like to do when you are not at work?
I spend time with my husband and my two cats.  We like to go camping and spend time with friends.  We go to movies, concerts and travel.  With my photography degree, I also love taking pictures.