Snapshot
of UMUC
Janice Reilly '90
When I was first approached about becoming more active in the Alumni Association, I
didn't really see where I had any time to take on additional responsibilities.
At that time I was working on a big project for the FBI, and I was downtown 12 hours a
day, five days a week. But then I realized that I should give something back; if it hadn't
been for UMUC, I would never have had the opportunity to manage that four-year, $5 million
FBI relocation and revitalization project.
Before returning to school to get my master's degree, I had many different careers. I
taught school, worked in social services, was an assistant buyer, and worked at a law
firm. While with the law firm in the 1980s, I decided to go to Georgetown University for a
training certificate program. After graduating, I could diagnose a training-needs
analysis, but I recognized that I needed a master's degree to distinguish between a
management problem and a training problem and to effectively interact with the top-level
people within organizations.
So, after having raised four children (actually, three of them were still in college),
I decided to enroll in graduate school. Considering that I'd been out of college for 25
years, there was a modicum of nervousness about being able to keep up with the work and
actually get through it. I figured I'd be the oldest person in class. But after
investigating several universities, I found a real comfort level with UMUC because there
were a lot of people like me, plus the classes were at night and conveniently located. A
couple of friends had gone to UMUC and recommended it.
I received my master's in human resource management in 1990 and immediately was hired
by Pollack Consulting as on-site manager of the FBI transition project. I rose to be vice
president of the company. Their headquarters are in Detroit, and I'm rooted here in
Maryland, so I eventually left the company. But I would never have had that
career-defining experience were it not for UMUC.
Actually, I almost dropped out after my first course. The law firm where I was working
then was going through an acquisition merger and was in upheaval. One of my UMUC memories
is of my first professor, Gertrude Eaton, who encouraged me to go forward. When she heard
that I might not continue on because of the pressures resulting from the acquisition of
the law firm, she said, "Oh, that would be a terrible mistake. You've had a good
beginning and you need to continue." That was a watershed moment.
At one of our big Alumni Association meetings last year, the question was asked,
"Why is it that most people volunteer?" The answer was, "Because they are
asked." I was asked, I decided to give something back to UMUC, and now I have the
honor of serving as president of the Alumni Association as we move into the new
millennium.
This is a unique year for the university, with its presidency in transition. It's kind
of a coincidence that my field of endeavor—that the industry in which I'm
involved—is transition management. I've spent the last eight years helping
organizations and individuals, in both the private and public sectors, move forward in a
new direction and maintain a positive frame of mind. I would like to be able to have some
influence and be a calming factor during this critical year for UMUC, and to help the
alumni continue to build. We have a lot of unusual challenges. I look forward to meeting
the particular challenges we're going to encounter along the way.
When President Massey called to tell me he would be retiring, he said it was fortuitous
to have someone with my experience as Alumni Association president. It is kind of
interesting that it happened this way.
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