Auxiliary and Activities Business Center responsible for student employment, event contracts, other administrative endeavors

If it involves hiring students, planning or budgeting, the Auxiliary Activities and Business Center likely assists.

Functioning throughout various units and subunits on campus, the AABC communicates with members of the Student & Incidental Fees Committee, the Memorial Union and other major organizations throughout campus in an effort to maintain budgets and operations.

“Each of the seven business centers is assigned units they support,” said Lori Wolcott, AABC human resources manager.

The seven business centers include Agricultural & Marine Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Auxiliaries & Activities, Business and Engineering, Forestry, Oceanic & Atmospheric, Health Sciences and University Administrative.

Each primary business unit on campus, including University Housing & Dining and Recreational Sports, makes decisions on who to hire and then refers student employees to AABC.

Though most primary resources come from job search resources such as the Beaver JobNet, Wolcott said students then communicate with AABC after being hired.

“We support the largest amount of student jobs (on campus),” Wolcott said.

In addition to assisting in the final stages of the hiring process, the AABC has provided students with internal employment opportunities.

“The AABC provides great opportunities in that regard,” said Mitchell Barrington, an accounting tech for AABC who works with students to outline event contracts and agreement terms.

Barrington is currently a graduate student and full-time employee with the AABC in the Memorial Union. He received his undergraduate degree in economics and pursued the employment opportunity when he noticed the listing.

Beforehand, Barrington served on the SIFC.

One example Barrington mentioned was an agreement with Wildlife Safari near Roseburg when they visited campus for an event involving a live cheetah. Barrington worked with students to define parameters for the agreement that would work best for the event.

“I was the individual basically writing the contract for Wildlife Safari telling them (what they could do),” Barrington said.

The general premise of the contracts included clauses to assure Wildlife Safari was responsible for the cheetah and that nothing would happen to the crowd.

Overall, the AABC has 52 employees and two vacant positions. Out of these positions, 19 are listed as students and four are managers.

AABC manager Brad Dennis said the business center provides consultation to each of the different units. Assistance offered includes human resources support, assuring employees receive proper compensation and helping with budget plans.

In regards to assisting SIFC and other campus organizations, Dennis said they examine various pools of money.

“It’s not all student fees,” Dennis said.

Before AABC, all departments across OSU entered their own invoices to pay external vendors.

“We had hundreds of people entering things into the system,” Dennis said. “We’ve dramatically reduced the number of people who have access.”

Dennis said the AABC has allowed for more expertise and efficient processing. In addition, there’s a much lower turnover rate and reduction in needed trainings.

According to Dennis, OSU’s Vice President of Finance and Administration Glenn Ford wants to assemble a comprehensive list of specific activities each of the seven business centers provides.

“We have about two weeks until that project’s due,” Dennis said.

Sean Bassinger

Higher education reporter

managing@dailybarometer.com