Who's Who From SU
Dianne Sprock, Office of the Provost
In November of 1990, Dianne Sprock joined Southwestern's staff as the secretary for the vice president of fiscal affairs, Dan Bryant. Sprock was involved in each step of getting the building projects off the ground, which included campus master planning, site drawings, architectural drawings that were needed to apply for grant money, program planning and coordination between the architect and the University.
"While the previous decade at Southwestern had been dedicated to academic excellence through the recruitment of top-notch faculty, the 1990s brought state-of-the-art facilities and technology in which to teach and learn," she recalls. "This was a very exciting time at Southwestern, and I was privileged to be directly involved in the facility expansion decade."
During her tenure with the fiscal affairs department, Sprock was involved with the planning, funding and construction of the academic mall, the F. W. Olin Building, the Lord Residential Center and the Brown-Cody Hall, additions to the Robertson Center, Fondren Jones Science Building and Alma Thomas Fine Arts Center. She notes, "As each project was completed, it was rewarding to know that I had 'sweat equity' in making our campus the beautiful and welcoming place it is today by providing offices for faculty and staff, classrooms, leisure spaces and improved technology for the students, performance venues and recreational facilities for the campus and Georgetown community."
Sprock transferred to the Office of the Provost in June of 2000 where she began working as the program assistant. Her primary responsibility is to assist the Provost in all possible ways to help Southwestern's faculty be able to focus on teaching and providing our students with the best possible education. Sprock's job begins with facilitating the transition of new faculty into the campus community, to reminding them of the procedures necessary to obtain internally-funded research, faculty development and travel grants, and to assisting faculty through the tenure and sabbatical processes.
"As program assistant, my job has continually evolved, but always remains challenging and rewarding," notes Sprock. Highlights of her time in the Provost Office included being involved with the establishment of Southwestern's core values and purposes, preparing and coordinating the initial guidelines for the King Creativity Scholars program, and facilitating the logistics for the technology workshop held at Southwestern to assist Dillard University faculty retrieve and restore computer files destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. "I particularly enjoyed having the opportunity to work directly with some of the University's best and brightest students and faculty, as well as individuals from other universities."
In the 16 years that Sprock has spent at Southwestern, she has thoroughly enjoyed the positive working environment and the people she has met. She notes, "I work with the greatest three people on this campus: Jim Hunt, Julie Cowley and Barbara Jean. Although our office is a hub of activity all the time, the spirit is always considerate and genuinely enjoyable--we laugh, tease and have fun everyday!" It was these aspects of her job that made Sprock's decision to retire at the end of this year so difficult. "Following my retirement, I will truly miss the camaraderie with all my co-workers and friends; however, I know that I will remain close with many of the people I have met here at Southwestern," she says. "By the same token, I'm sure many interesting, productive and fun things will continue to come my way that will keep me busy. At the head of this list, is having unrestricted time to spend with the two most precious grandchildren in the world, Ethan and Elizabeth."
—Amanda Lott '07
