Closet Full of Hats

Kathy Felker gets tired of people oohing and aahing over her husband’s job as a flight controller at NASA’s mission control.

She’s got a pretty good job of her own. She’s a recruiter, an external relations professional, a counselor, and more—all rolled into one. Felker does a little bit of everything as the assistant director of the MBA for Executives program at Rice’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management. And she’s so good at what she does that she recently was recognized with the university’s Distinguished Employee Award. The honor is presented to employees who go above and beyond their job descriptions.

Felker was praised for her ability to work with students and faculty as well as with other university staff to make the MBA for Executives program run seamlessly. She started working in the field as an undergraduate at the University of New Mexico, and she was the only Jones School staff member who had experience working in executive education when the program was initiated at Rice.

“Kathy has succeeded in winning respect and friendly cooperation from both faculty and students,” stated Wil Uecker, associate dean for executive education, and Kay Henry, director of MBA for Executives, in a letter nominating Felker for the award. “She handles all her tasks with a spirit of excellence as well as with considerable tact, diplomacy, and concern for the feelings of co-workers and customers alike.”

“My diplomacy skills have been fine-tuned in this job,” explains Felker. “These are often top-level managers, so I have to deal with them on their level.” Her diplomacy likewise extends to faculty.

Felker is charged with handling the registration of students and administrative responsibilities, such as ordering books and producing grade reports. But she notes, “My job changes depending on what time of year it is. During the admissions season, I’m a recruiter. During graduation, I’m almost like a public relations/external relations staff person. But all year round, I interface between the students and the rest of the university.”

She counts working with the executive education students as her favorite part of the job. Students attend the program only on weekends, and they must have at least 10 years of work experience, meaning most of them are middle- and upper-level managers. Felker describes the students as “incredibly demanding, but not in a negative way. They have high standards; they challenge rules that don’t make sense because they work in the real world. They certainly challenge our faculty, but the faculty love to work with them.”

Felker adds that the environment in the MBA for Executives program is like a family. “I’m here whenever the students are here, and it’s a small-enough program that it really is like a family. We don’t just know the students, we know their spouses and kids too.” She admires the fact that the executive students have very challenging schedules—going to school full time, working full-time jobs, and fulfilling their family responsibilities. And there have been times when students have told her that they have to quit the program, revealing that they’re facing problems at work or home, which means Felker sometimes serves as a counselor of sorts.

Despite wearing multiple hats, Felker enjoys her work. “It’s something that I really believe in, and I need that component where I help people.” She feels the highlight of her four years in her job was the graduation of the first class of MBA executive students in May 2000. Says Felker, “To see someone start something they really wanted to do and then struggle and then carry through to graduation is very rewarding.”

—Dana Benson