Kathy VonDolteren

There are few people on campus who know more history about UNF than Kathy VonDolteren does. As a student assistant from FCCJ, VonDolteren was the 13th employee hired by the University in 1970 when it was still located at the Florida National Bank Building.

Over the years VonDolteren has left the University to relocate and to raise a family, but has returned each time. Nearly all of her service has been in the Purchasing Department where she has worked for almost every purchasing director since the University opened its doors. She has filled jobs from purchasing agent to associate director and in the process collected honors such as being a runner-up for A&P Employee of the Year and getting a lifetime certification by the National Association of Purchasing Managers. That's why it is especially gratifying for her to be named the latest director of purchasing. VonDolteren succeeds Steve Peacock who was forced to step down due to illness.

In her career at UNF VonDolteren has seen many changes in the department including the increased use of computerization to handle requisitions. But the most dramatic change for the department is on the horizon. Because of the abolition of the Board of Regents, the State University System is evolving into a new structure in which individual boards of trustees may assume much of the responsibility for policy-making decisions on each campus.

"Having our own Board of Trustees provides the university an opportunity to become more effective and flexible in its purchasing operation," she says. This will be especially important as the university implements a new financial management system. "I'm hoping the process will be much more efficient and customer-service oriented than we experience now," she adds.

Whatever happens, VonDolteren is confident her 13-member department will be ready. She is very proud of her staff and brags about the number of times her staff members have been selected as USPS employee of the year. "The staff works very hard and is very supportive of the department."

As for VonDolteren, she looks at her new position as being the culmination of her service at UNF. She is quick to praise those who have helped her along the way especially Charles Bear, the current director of Physical Facilities. When he was the director of Purchasing, he encouraged VonDolteren to complete her degree. She graduated from UNF in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in business administration and was selected as one of the outstanding graduates of COBA for that year.

"I would not be sitting in this chair today if it had not been for his support and encouragement. He believed in me when I may not have believed in myself," she says.