Unidentified Employee of University Residences:

This testimonial was written and submitted by a professional staff member at Western Washington University.

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For reasons of privacy and to protect the identity of certain individuals, names have been redacted from this testimonial.

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"On 11/17/2016 [Western recruiter] recruited me at a job fair for an Administrative position that was in her words, “a wonderful opportunity.”

My first day of employment was 11/30, as Administrative Assistant to [Assistant Director]. I was told to start at Kappa House, in the former office of [a Resident Director]. I was told that I was a Professional staff member, although temp.

Little did I know that I was coming into the middle of a very negative and emotional situation between [Assistant Director], RA #1 and the RAs of Kappa. I also did not know that no one at the main office of ResLife in Edens Hall, knew of my employment until the day that I started, 11/30/16

I was not given any instruction as to what my duties would be, job expectations or daily tasks, and there was no training provided by [Assistant Director], nor was she in contact with me after the end of Fall quarter. In her defense I do know that she was sick and also had some family obligations. However, she sent out an email that said she would be available either by email or her cell phone during that time, and she did not respond. Nor did I know when she had returned as she did not make contact with me.

For the last two months, I sat in the RD office doing nothing. [Assistant Director] stopped communicating with me, almost completely after the end of the quarter, 12/9/16, except for a handful of emails. There was no response to my inquiries as to what tasks I should be working on, in fact at one time she said “just enjoy the peace and quiet because once winter quarter starts it will get very busy.”

[Assistant Director] told me that RA #1 was not allowed in the RD Office of Kappa, that all student and/or parent questions and concerns were to go thru me. I was given a notebook with information that would help respond to some questions, and told to contact Suzanne Baker, whom had it not been her on the spot assistance, I would not know how to respond to any situation that I had, very few, however I still received questions that I was not able to answer had it not been for Suzanne.

[Assistant Director] told me to let her know if/when RA #1 came into the office, as she would instruct RA #1 to go to the office that had been set up for her at Beta House. This put a lot of tension between RA #1 and I, because honestly, RA #1 knew how to respond to student inquiries, she had a relationship with the students and RAs and a real understanding of the job of RD, which I did not. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. The RAs, despite the fact that RA #1 was not supposed to be in the RD office of Kappa, where I was daily, still emailed RA #1 with all of their concerns and questions. They resented my presence in Kappa, although it was not personal, they felt I shouldn’t be there.

At the beginning of Winter Quarter after In-Service, at the meeting with the RAs of Kappa and [Assistant Director] and myself, the hostility of this whole situation, of who should be at the RD desk and the tension between [Assistant Director] the RAs and RA #1 really came to light, in a negative and bad way. Emotions were high, RAs were crying, leaving in anger and frustration at [Assistant Director]. Their concerns were just not being heard by [Assistant Director]. It was stated that they didn’t understand my presence in Kappa, when RA #1 knew the job and was part of their team, why was I even at Kappa. They let me know that it wasn’t anything personal, yet they just felt I shouldn’t be there nor did they want me there. I went home that day in tears. Had I not needed the job I would have quit sooner. It was an extremely bad situation to be caught in.

I was told a few days later, by one of the RAs, that she felt sorry for me, that I had been brought into an intense battle between them, RA #1 and [Assistant Director], that had started back in October. I was told that I was caught in the crossfire and it was too bad that I was for there was no need for me to be in the situation I was in it was unfortunate and extremely unprofessional by [Assistant Director] to put me in that situation. This did not make me feel very good about the employment I had. So I started looking for other employment. I was still not getting any response back from [Assistant Director], and still had no idea why I was in the position of Administrative Assistant, as it seemed like it was an unnecessary position, unwanted and unwelcome one as well. I spent all of holiday break until last Friday, 01/21/17, doing nothing, extremely bored. I was grateful for when I was sick, right after New Year’s for 4 days, as I could be home and do nothing in my Pajamas with my cats.

I was not informed about any of the transitions that happened regarding [Central staff member] taking over at Kappa, until I heard it from RA #1 a week before the transition was to take place. When I contacted [Assistant Director] to see what was my next step was and how long I was going to be needed, she said that she wasn’t quite sure, but that I would be going to [Central staff member's] desk for now.  I knew that I had been hired as a temp, but I also needed to know where my future was as far as employment. I wanted some sort of security, end date anything, As I need to survive too.  [Assistant Director] wouldn’t give me any information. No one Else at Edens knew what was going with me and my future either, as they weren’t getting information from [Assistant Director] any more than I was. I wasn’t given any answers. [Assistant Director] avoided all contact with me. She also told me things about the previous [Resident Director] and her relationship [status]. She felt it important to tell me why [Resident Director] wasn’t there anymore.

I do not feel that [Assistant Director] was being professional at all about disclosing such information. It was not work related. I feel this whole temp job, and the situation around it was unprofessional, uncomfortable for to me to be in and completely unnecessary. No one knew about this job, so that tells me it was a made up position. There was no work for me to do, again I feel as if this was a made up position, a way to relieve tension from [Assistant Director], maybe. A way for her to avoid RA #1, I can only speculate based on what I have seen and heard regarding [Assistant Director] and the staff at Kappa House.

I feel that I was let down by [Western recruiter] , who hired me, made a point of seeking me out at the job fair, and then once I was hired she stopped all communication with me and in fact blocked me from contacting her. I feel that [Assistant Director], my supposed Supervisor let me down and put me in the middle of her battle a position that I had no business being in at all.  I feel that the position at Kappa, was just a place holder until someone else was hired.  I feel that I was not needed at all, obviously, because there was no work to be done. RA #1 should have been in that position she is the one who knew everything about Kappa house. I was told by [Assistant Director] that she was overwhelmed with her responsibilities at Kappa and had requested that she not have to work so many hours at Kappa house. That is why she was moved from Kappa into another office I believe at Beta. When in actuality that was not true at all.  There was just a conflict of interest between [Assistant Director] and RA #1 that started long before I got there. A very tense, emotional situation. I felt extremely let down by those involved. I have more integrity and work ethic, than to sit around and do nothing. I sought out work to do, and never received feedback from my supervisor. Later to learn that she had been taken out of Kappa House because of this tense situation, again after the fact and from an RA at Kappa. I feel I should have been kept in the loop about some of this stuff, or not hired at all. Her responsibilities to Kappa House, left me even more alone. I found this out over 3 weeks ago, from RA #1, and confirmed by other staff members. As [Assistant Director]’s employee, at the time she was pulled from Kappa, I should have been sent an email with some sort of information as to what I would be doing, there wasn’t any communication. I just coming to work, with no work to do and no one responding to my emails regarding my so called job.

No one at Edens, ResLife Main Office had any idea of the situation, didn’t understand why I was here, had no idea what [Assistant Director] was doing. That tells me that there was no communication regarding my employment, which is also very unprofessional and left me with no support what so ever. I don’t like not working. I got hired to do an 8-hour job, a job that wasn’t even a real job. I was put in a position of sitting idle for 8 hours a day, being bored and doing personal stuff, which is NOT who I am as an employee. But getting no feedback from my supervisor regarding her expectations or requirements for the job that I was to do. I had no idea what else to do each day. I did not look forward to coming to work every day, because there wasn’t any work to do and someone should have thought about me and that position during all of this turmoil and no one did. I feel that somewhere along the line between Lawless the recruiter, [Assistant Director] and HR, the communication ball was dropped. Especially since no one here at Edens knew anything about me, until 8 a.m. 11/30/16 the day that I started.

Although grateful for the employment, it got me through a very tough time financially, if I hadn’t have needed the job, I would have quit sooner. I was not happily employed. I was let down by Western in every way possible. I feel this whole situation was unprofessional, handled poorly and from a temporary staff person’s perspective who is looking for FT work and at the time thought working at Western was a great opportunity and was excited to be recruited, for what I thought was my skills and experience; to be put in a position that isn’t even a job, no one knows about me being there until my first day, there is no communication from my supervisor, no work to be done; Western failed me as an employee. I feel that I was used and placed in a very uncomfortable situation that I should not have been put in at all. Again, had I not have needed the employment, I would have quit. At this time, even though I am in a new office and there is work to be done, this whole experience has left me with a bad feeling about being employed with Western. I never should have been hired. RA #1 should have been there available to students. She, in my opinion, was qualified for the position, knew the students and had a great relationship with the RAs. I was never accepted by any of the staff in Kappa house, which made coming to work daily, hard to do.

I certainly hope, that in the future, that the HR Office at WWU really investigate any new temp positions that are submitted to you. Take the time to find out what is going on so that another outside employee, seriously looking for a good place to work, does not get put in a similar situation that brought sadness, discontent, undue stress and unhappiness about their employment.  Make sure that the position is real, so that any future temp employees have work to do, a supervisor who will be in contact with them, training will be provided. As a temp employee, I can only speak for myself, but not having a quality experience and not being put to work to utilize my skills and experience, to not have a supervisor who takes a vested interest in me or my employment or the job I was supposed to have; is a huge blow to one’s self esteem. Especially since a WWU Recruiter sought me out. It is hard enough to be unemployed, but to get excited about being recruited to someplace like Western, to have my hopes built hope for “a wonderful opportunity,” only to find out, it was nothing; paycheck or not, I do not feel good about the experience I had here. I gained nothing from it. I take away no new experience, and I leave feeling excited to be moving on. When I had hoped for something more from Western as a temp employee. I do not feel valued by Western at all, and that is a sad statement to make. I may have only had a temp position, but I still should have been treated with some sort of respect and value, I was not even made to feel needed or worthwhile by [Assistant Director] or the staff at Kappa.

[Reslife Office] has said that she will keep me busy here in my Program Coordinator position for the next two weeks that I will be here, before starting my new journey. For that I am grateful to her for after the horrible experience that I have had over the last two months. I have given my two weeks’ notice.  I was offered a permanent job, that is closer to home, a better salary, benefits, growth opportunities, pay incentives, a supportive supervisor, and closer to home."