Name: June Coleman
Title: PBX operator
Department: Telecommunications

How long have you worked here, and what did you do before joining UNTHSC?
In the summer of 1999, I was not working. My house was spotless. Even the outside of the house, windows and the yard were well groomed. My kids were grown and on their own, my husband was gainfully employed and the green backs were calling me. I had worked too many years not to continue.

I started in June of 1999 as a temp in facilities and watched the job postings to see what I might apply for full time. The PBX job was posted, so I applied and was hired full time in August 1999. I have done phone work at various places and was an actual operator for Southwestern Bell when the operator answered, “Number please." Oops, lid off the age thing.

Of the many jobs I have held, including various types of office jobs, the ONE that meant the most to me and gave me the most job and personal satisfaction was being an LVN. I went to school as a single mom, with five kids in school. If it had not been for my kids helping me, picking up the slack, I would never have made it. So when I went job hunting I searched out places that let me get as close to being in the medical profession as I could, seeing as how my nursing skills and knowledge were a little out of date. My Grandmother raised me and her motto was, "It is better to wear out from use, than to rust out from disuse." I have tried to always hold a job, carry my weight and instill that in my children.

What are your duties as PBX operator?
My job is to answer all incoming calls as promptly as I can, answer and field in-house calls and questions, give directions on how to find us, direct folks seeking various locations within the university, and keep the directory as current as I can. I try to be as helpful and patient as I can be. That could be me calling, and I know how I would hope to be answered. I do enjoy my job.

I would like for the university at large to know how many things the telecommunications department takes care of and how hard they work at keeping everyone's phone connected so everyone can stay ‘connected’. When you reach for you phone, cell phone or pager, and it works as it should, you never give us a thought.  But when it doesn't, you can rest assured we are there and will get the job done in a timely manner. Knowing that will help you and us to keep things running smoothly.

What's the best part about working at the Health Science Center?
The best part of working at UNTHSC is the feeling of being where things are going on. Being a little part of all those that come through here, knowing the students will leave here and go into small towns, cities and other places in the world to treat the sick, do research, and discover new theories and cures.

The physicians I personally see are the physicians here at the university. I mean, why not?  We are teaching the doctors of tomorrow. My proudest moments at UNTHSC are not mine alone: they are the school's responses to 9/11, to the hurricane that devastated New Orleans, and the many things that are done by student groups that gather things needed by those in the community. And, I enjoy the cohesive feeling of the people who work here every day handling what needs to be done to make the University of North Texas Health Science Center a great place. My personal proudest achievements are my children and my grandchildren.

What do you like to do when you aren't at the Health Science Center?
I like to work in my yard, though it seems to conspire against me, and 'we' repeat the same work every year (dang black gumbo soil). I like to walk, try to work in some exercise, and I am presently looking for a bike. You know, just a simple bike that moves at my speed with the old coaster brakes. I keep in touch with my family, take care of my husband and, as everyone knows, I like to read.