Silver City, NM- Few people at WNMU are spoken of more highly than Rhonda McCall. The Executive Assistant for Vice President Isaac Brundage has left quite an impact with the WNMU faculty and staff, but her most important work has been with the students.
Rhonda got her start working in the hospitality industry, working with Fox & Hound English Pub and Grill for ten years, opening up 67 restaurants and bars during her time with the company. Her mentor, Chris Weinberg taught her everything she knows- especially the art of creating “raving fans.”
Raving fans, as Rhonda describes, is the philosophy of making customers love your product and share it with others. In the case of Western, the customers would be the students and the product would be the University itself. Rhonda wants students to love their university and tell others about it, stating that the best form of marketing is word of mouth.
The best way to get happy students of course, is by offering them a great service, which Rhonda provides in abundance. Rhonda is always there students, giving them whatever direction or guidance they may need. In a situation where she may not be able to solve a students problem, she is always prepared to give an alternative solution. For example, if a student can’t get financial aid, Rhonda would direct them toward Earn to Learn Opportunities or another alternative payment option.
One of the reasons that Rhonda is passionate about helping students is that she’s a student herself. Aside from serving as a member of the WNMU staff, Rhonda is taking classes at WNMU as a Business major. She is estimated to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in General Business in Spring 2018, and is also a member of the Business Honor’s Society Delta Mu Delta.
While Rhonda usually only takes a few classes at a time to compensate for her other duties, she often thinks back to something her instructor Dr. Chavez once told her.
“Time will pass regardless,” Rhonda quoted. “So in ten years time, you could either have a degree, or you could have nothing.” She then followed this up by explaining that, “you just have to keep chipping away.”
Rhonda encourages all students of WNMU to keep chipping away at their goals, even if it’s only a little bit at a time. Currently she dedicates her time to ensuring that every student that enters the Student Affairs area of the University with a need has the need met quickly and efficiently, while also training all of the students under her wing to be intelligent and successful leaders and professionals.
