Photo: Guy Ackermans They are indispensable on the campus: the cleaners, caretakers, caterers, gardeners, receptionists – the list is long. Resource seeks out these key people. This time, meet Petra Rozema (49), secretary at theCentre for Crop Systems Analysis in Radix-Nova.
‘Because there is so much I have to know, I’ve put it all on paper so I don’t forget anything: I call it my Secrepedia. My colleague and I are the point of contact for support for staff, guests, students and teachers on practical matters, logistics and facilities. We are also the contact persons for various services, such as PhD services, the Expat Centre, Food Valley, HRM and the finance department. We either answer questions ourselves or refer people to someone who can. We also organize meetings and take the minutes at them.
A lot of work goes into these main tasks. That’s why a secretary needs a good overview and to be able to set priorities and switch focus quickly, because a working day is hard to predict. Especially when we still staffed the secretariat, before the pandemic, people were always walking in just when you were working on something. That makes working at home more efficient at times, but I do miss the social side of it, and being able to ask a quick question, brainstorm or just have a chat.
I can’t easily keep an eye on the PhD students from home because you don’t see or hear what’s going on as much as you do in the office. They are often very isolated here, and I like to ask how they are doing. I’ve tried to set up digital coffee breaks, but it didn’t work very well – sometimes nobody turned up. My colleague and I try to stay in contact by sending little gifts, like at Easter and Christmas.
I can’t easily keep an eye on the PhD students from home; they are often very isolated
Although my work is very varied, it does become routine at some point. I love learning new things and that’s why I’m involved in several different projects. We moved offices during the Covid period, for example, which was challenging to do from home. We had digital timetables and lists in Microsoft Teams everywhere, and that helped us learn to use the program from the start. I got a kick out of the fact that we succeeded in that.
I’ve been working here for three years now. Before that I worked as a secretary in education. I like the international aspect of working here and working with young people – that keeps me young. I like seeing students and PhD researchers developing and growing up.’
