San Francisco Native Enjoys Campus's Diverse Nature

Although Phyllis Enea was born and raised in San Francisco, she has lived in the Atwater-Merced area since 1991 and calls it home.

Enea joined the 10^th campus in the UC system in August 2005, right before opening day. She started as an administrative assistant in the Career Services Center — now the Center for Career & Professional Advancement — and took over the responsibility of student employment in 2007.

While still in San Francisco, Enea worked for several certified public accountants and bond attorneys. After arriving in Merced, she worked for a local CPA firm and then worked for Jacobs Engineering Company at Castle Air Force Base.

Enea has a married daughter, Gena, who lives in Orange County, and two sisters, Diane and Elaine, who live in the Bay Area.

Please describe your job and what it entails.

As student employment coordinator I post campus and federal work-study student positions; meet with new student hires to complete their paperwork; hold trainings for student-hiring managers; complete annual contracts for federal work-study off-campus employers; research new student employment updates; and plan and manage the annual Student Employee of the Year event.

What are some of the most rewarding things about your job?

First and foremost, working with such a diverse group of individuals in the Center for Career & Professional Advancement is very rewarding because I see our students being assisted in so many different areas and then going on to attend graduate school or obtain great jobs.

Being a member of the National Student Employment Association allows me to attend yearly conferences, giving me the ability to meet my peers from other colleges/universities and learn about their methods regarding student employment and federal work-study. 

Planning and managing the Student Employee of the Year nomination process and award ceremony each year is very rewarding. This event recognizes our student workers for their hard work.

What new initiatives/projects/plans are you looking forward to in the upcoming year?

I plan to continue to develop my skills in the area of federal work-study, build new relationships with my peers from other universities and learn new methods of student employment through training with administrators from other states and institutions.

I will also continue to develop training for students who want to work on campus in order to instill the importance of a good work ethic, general knowledge of the workplace and the affect their future career.

Tell us something about you that people on campus might not know.

I am a TV fanatic and I love Redbox and Netflix. I am a huge "Dexter" fan and will stop whatever I am doing to watch any Tyler Perry movie. I also enjoy watching anything that makes me laugh or cry, including TV commercials.

Something people on campus might not know about my job is that we currently have more than 1,100 students working on campus.