Rolla “Rollie” Merriman has worked in almost every building and held at least four different jobs during his 30 years at Ohio University.
In a matter of days, Merriman will pack up his belongings and leave OU for the final time. He is one of 150 employees who, as of yesterday, had confirmed their retirement or voluntary separation from OU.
Upon signing a retirement or voluntary separation agreement, employees have a seven-day clemency period before it is finalized.
Years of experience
Merriman, a lifelong resident of Athens, has spent the last 15 years as the chemistry department’s storekeeper but also worked in housekeeping and food service.
“It’s the lower-level jobs, the supporting staff … Those people are going to be local and going to be here forever,” said Merriman, who expressed some qualms about retiring.
“Retirement is kind of like a scary, exciting, stressful situation because you never really know you’ve made the right decision until six months later.”
About five years before Merriman began working at OU, Brenda Nelson joined the Registrar staff, using a 28-button switchboard to input and access student information.
“I know it is going to take me a while to get used to not coming in here after 35 years, so I will probably still wake up at 5:30 every morning, but other than that I want to go to Utah,” she said. “My nephew’s a doctor out there.”
Nelson said she also plans to get a part-time job, take walks with her new puppy, focus more on fundraising for the Humane Society and join the local crime watch.
“I’m going to miss the people because when you work in an office this long, they’re like family, so it’s going to be a big adjustment. But I’ll keep in touch with them,” she said.
Sandra Mathews also said it will be strange not to see her co-workers regularly.
“You know, after you have been with a certain group of people for however long I’ve been here now — seven-plus years here — then it will be different not to see them every day,” said Mathews, an administrative associate in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology. “I am sure we’ll keep in touch to some degree.”
When she started at OU 16 years ago, Mathews worked in Parks Hall. She moved to Russ College, however, when Parks Hall’s medical clinic was privatized.
“You can’t actually say that your day-to-day working is such a great experience,” Mathews said.
OU alumnus Bill Mullins spent 17 years at the university before he retired May 1.
He has worked in computer services, the Office of Institutional Research, the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, the Registrar’s Office and the College of Osteopathic Medicine, where he met his wife, who also retired this year.
Once their son graduates from Athens High School this year, Mullins and his wife plan to move to a family farm in Logan and do some traveling.
Of the employees leaving OU, 87 are staff members, 44 are Group I faculty members and 19 are Group II or Group IV faculty.
Paula Popovich, an associate professor of psychology, has gone to school every fall since 1960 and estimates that she has taught more than 15,000 students during her 29 years at OU.
“I feel like I have provided a service,” she said, adding that one of the best parts of her job is “seeing what has become of some of my students.”
Popovich said teaching nearly 400 students in an introduction to psychology course was a “burnout factor” for her.
Natalie Chieffe, an associate professor of finance, plans to give herself a party before she packs up her office June 13.
Chieffe, who has worked at OU for 17 years, was a financial advisor and high school math teacher before becoming a professor.
“I am going to miss the students,” Chieffe said. “I really like the enthusiasm they have.
“What I am not going to miss is bureaucracy, and you know, that’s true at any kind of a large institution, as this is. And, I think just being able to direct my own day is something I am looking forward to.”
“Ready to retire”
On a metal cabinet in Popovich’s Porter Hall office, a white piece of paper reads
“June 30, 2012,” with a mark through the 12 and 11 written underneath.
“I am ready to retire, as you can see,” she said.
Popovich said she plans to “bum around” for a year after retiring next month, but does not know what she will do after that.
While Popovich said she might look at possible future career opportunities, Chieffe said she does not plan to work.
“There is all the time I spend emailing with students; I can take long walks,” Chieffe said. “There is all the time I have spent preparing for class, and I can read all the books in the Fairfield County District Library.”
Chieffe said she will also look into volunteering locally — something Merriman hopes to continue doing.
Merriman plans on working more with Donate Life — an organization that promotes organ donation — and try not to brag about his retirement to his wife, who still has about eight years until she can retire.
Many of the employees taking a buyout, including Nelson, Mathews, Chieffe and Merriman, said they were already thinking about retiring or accepting another job before the option was offered.
“I was planning on retiring Oct. 1, but when they offered the early buyout it was icing on the cake,” Nelson said.
“I’ve got a couple short trips planned. I am going to take up sewing and quilting tote bags.”
Mathews said she plans to “just do what I want to do,” including visiting her family’s cabin in Canada and helping plan her daughter’s wedding.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I just want to have more time to spend with family and grandchildren,” she said.
“I’d like to tell you that there is something exciting I am going to do, but it’s just family stuff and fun stuff that I put off for a long time, probably not so fun stuff like cleaning out closets.”
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