Just three weeks after her retirement as ASMSU’s longtime business office manager, Jeanne Fancher is returning to the position - in a more part-time capacity.
The ASMSU Student Assembly passed a bill Thursday that reinstates Fancher as an interim business office manger until a full-time replacement is hired. Fancher assumes the temporary appointment today.
Fancher retired on Jan. 1 after nearly 20 years as business office manager for the university’s undergraduate student government. Her initial plans were to leave MSU in May.
“In the beginning, when I said I was retiring in May, I told them I would come back in and work for them until they could find a replacement,” said Fancher, who also agreed to train the new employee.
After Fancher’s departure, ASMSU, which distributes $100 loans to students through its business office, faced troubles in staffing the office during its normal hours, leading to some complaints by students.
“Because there are difficulties in running that office without somebody there, I agreed to come back,” Fancher said. “If I can help in enabling students to get loans, I am willing to (return).
“I realized they were in trouble and needed my help.”
Fancher will conduct a majority of her original managerial responsibilities such as handling paperwork, tax returns and managing the ASMSU payroll.
As a condition of the agreement, Fancher is also working 20-hour weeks with a salary of $25 an hour, $6.67 more than her original hourly wage.
“It wasn’t like we were falling apart, we just want to keep the office together,” said Kendall Sykes, Student Assembly chairperson. “Jeanne said she would come back whenever we needed her.”
But because of her early departure, some ASMSU representatives are objecting to Fancher’s rehiring.
“Jeanne resigned at a time that was bad for us,” said Andrea Faes, Student Assembly’s vice-chairperson for internal affairs. “I think it is kind of lowering ourselves to take her back because we couldn’t operate without her.”
Sykes disagreed.
“I see no problem with her coming back, as a matter of fact I am glad she is back,” he said.
