Shunk Retires After 29 Years of Service

20 September 2004 -- Nancy Shunk, staff assistant VIII, has retired after 29 years of service to the University. For the past 20 years she has been in the Eberly College of Science Academic Advising Center, where she has worked with the premedicine and general science programs. She was responsible for reviewing and maintaining budget information; conducting graduation audits for students in premedicine and general-science majors; monitoring the application process for the Health Sciences Preprofessional Evaluation program; advising first-year students during the summer First-Year Testing, Counseling, and Advising Program (FTCAP); and consulting with prospective students and their parents about admission requirements. As office manager, Shunk supervised two full-time staff members, and had seen virtually no turnover among the staff in her office in more than seventeen years. She says, “It was a pleasure to be part of such an effective and efficient office environment for so many years, working in a relaxed and congenial atmosphere.”

Shunk previously had been a clerk typist in the Department of Microbiology from 1983 to 1985 and in the Department of Psychology from 1982 to 1983. She was head secretary in the Department of Political Science from 1964 to 1966, and was a clerk typist in the Department of English from 1961 to 1964.

Shunk witnessed amazing transitions in technology during her time at Penn State. “In my early years I used electric typewriters to type stencils, ditto mats, and letters with many layers of carbon paper,” she says. “I very much prefer today’s computers, copy machines, laser printers, scanners, fax machines, email, and electronic calendars.”

Her plans for retirement include the restoration of an old family farmhouse, browsing antique and craft shops, spending time with her grandchildren, and traveling—especially to a timeshare property in Saint Thomas.

[ L A K ]