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Jonathan Williams | The Appalachian
Jane P. Helm has filled the role of vice chancellor for business affairs for more than 10 years. |
Helm: Business Affairs' go-to head
by Amanda Fowler
Staff Writer
Running the campus is complicated, as departments within departments and other departments below them must come together to create a smooth-running university.
The woman who oversees all of these department heads and tackles whatever problems may arise within the university is Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs Jane P. Helm.
Things that come under Helm’s umbrella of coverage can include university financials, construction or even food services. Her areas of expertise are broad.
“The hard part about doing this is that no two days are the same,” Helm said.
Helm usually arrives at her office around 7:30 or 8 a.m. Much of her days are spent in meetings. Each person who directly reports to Helm meets with her twice a month for about an hour each time.
Helm typically leaves her office at 5 p.m., but her work does not end there. She uses evening hours to keep up with emails, which help her decide the next day what issues are first to be addressed.
Helm’s job may consist of traveling out of town to work on things Appalachian has going on around the country or something as local as dealing with New River Light and Power. Helm said that Appalachian is the only school she is aware of that owns their own power company and sells power to the community.
Helm said that what many people may not realize is that she spends a lot of her time dealing with staff issues.
“I try to make certain that whether it’s a housekeeper or a director that they’re being treated right and are getting fair and proper treatment,” Helm said.
Even though being the vice chancellor for business affairs comes with a lot of long days, hard work and stress, Helm thrives off these difficult aspects of the job. She said she really enjoys the way the job tests her abilities.
“It’s always different and it’s always a challenge,” Helm said. “I really like to work on problems and try to solve problems. I’ve never been bored [in this job] and I look forward to coming to work even though the job has a lot of stress. That’s a downside, but I don’t know how I’d live without the stress.”
Helm has disliked other jobs she had in the past because she was forced to do the same things over and over. Now, she never knows what is coming next, and that makes every day new and exciting for her.
Before Helm came to Appalachian, she held two similar positions at other universities. After completing graduate school, she became a vice president at Radford University. Later, she moved to a comparable position in New York City.
Even though Helm wanted to work in a traditional university setting, she had always wanted to live in New York City. She knew that living in the city would only be a temporary move.
When the vice chancellor for business affairs position came open at Appalachian, Helm had not yet thought about leaving New York City.
However, she thought the area was so beautiful so she accepted the job. She has now been at Appalachian for over 10 years.
Helm believes Appalachian is a unique university thanks to its heritage. Helm said that Appalachian was created in order to give poor mountain kids an opportunity to get an education.
However, Appalachian has changed dramatically over the years. Now the largest numbers of students come from Mecklenburg County, Helm said. The students are no longer all coming from the mountains.
“I think that the challenge for us is make sure we hold onto all these good things about our history,” Helm said. “But at the same time, we have to adapt to the fact that we’ve changed and that we’re a very different institution.”
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