30 good years
Maggie Patterson
Maggie Patterson retired on June 30, after 32 years of full-time service
as a cleaner at the Whyalla campus. While recently enjoying some well
deserved long service leave for the past few months, Maggie decided it was
time.
“The little bit of long service I had was enjoyable, so if this is what retirement is like… it’s for me,” says Maggie.
“I’m happy to be retiring… but I’m sad to be leaving as I’ve seen a lot of people come and go here, but for me it’s time for a change, a rest, and to meet new people.”
And she has definitely seen a lot of people over the years, including seven principals (there have only been eight) and three deans, as well as countless staff and students.
However campus manager Sue Armes provided some additional insights into some of Maggie’s other accomplishments at a recent farewell morning tea held in her honour.
“I’ve made a few calculations… and guessed that she has probably wiped down a half a million student tables, vacuumed 400,000km of carpet and cleaned 21,000 toilets,” says Armes.
Maggie and her husband Jack have bought a block of land and a transportable home, and will retire to Clare on their two and a half acres of paradise.
– Cathy Hughes
Dorothy Burrell
Dorothy Burrell retired at the end of July after a career spanning more
than 30 years at UniSA and its antecedent institution, the South Australian
Institute of Technology (SAIT).
Dorothy began working as a planning research officer at SAIT in 1974 and moved to various faculties and divisions throughout her career, from central registry through to accounting, then humanities and social sciences.
She says that although there are many wonderful memories of UniSA, one that stands out the most is working in the old registry, where she always had interesting and different projects to manage.
“And the use of computers is the biggest change I’ve noticed. The old admission and enrolment systems were paper based – now students can do a lot online,” Dorothy says.
Dorothy plans to spend her first years of retirement travelling around Australia. She also plans to spend a lot of quality time with her grandchildren.