As a Michigan native, Butler said the prestigious title along with location of MSU were her biggest selling points in deciding to accept the position.

“I have to try and look and see where the university is going and where the human resources can help the university get to where it’s going,” Butler said. “I know that with coming reform in health care that that’s going to be a big strategic type of item.”

The process of finding Butler started with the university hiring a professional consulting search firm to identify the candidates nationally, Bill Latta, assistant vice president for university administration said.

At the same time, a search committee made up of 12 people from across the university was formed to help with the recruitment process, Latta said. Everyone from the colleges, ASMSU, the Council of Graduate Students, unions and faculty were represented in the search committee.

“Because of the broad impact that this position and the human resources area has on the campus, we wanted to be sure that we had an opportunity for a broad representation of interviewers,” Latta said.

The search committee followed up with the candidates for the position, looking extensively at their qualifications, strengths and weaknesses before choosing the correct person for the job, he said. After reviewing all the candidates, the committee brought in the finalists for interviews on campus, where Butler proved to be the strongest candidate for the job, he said.

“Human resources has many, many issues that are current and long term to deal with for the campus,” Latta said. “We anticipate that she’s going to bring us strength of her leadership and a long-term vision for the human resources area.”

Some of the jobs Butler performs in her position include running the human resources system for the campus, dealing with the benefits applying to all employees and ensuring the hiring process is administered correctly, among other responsibilities.

In her new position, Butler reports to Fred Poston, vice president for finance and operations, who said he is excited about Butler’s previous experience with the new HR system software recently implemented at MSU.

“I think she is going to bring a unique perspective to Michigan State University,” Poston said. “She’s a real consensus builder and she works extremely well with people, that’s
her reputation.”