Monroe Community College Admissions Officer Interviewed by ICCD for the AAWCC’s Outstanding Women Leadership Series
Tracy A. Archie: On Being Selfless
Tracy A. Archie, an admissions officer at Monroe Community College, is the first woman to have been selected by the American Association of Women in Community Colleges, Region II, to be interviewed as part of their “Outstanding Women Leadership” series. The series will honor women who have made outstanding contributions to creating and broadening opportunities for women in community colleges.
Archie is honored for her insight and dedication to her college, community and profession. In addition to serving as an admissions officer at Monroe, Archie is an International Student Admissions counselor. She serves as a role model to others both at Monroe and in her community.
Her leadership is a mix of actively listening to those around her, looking at the world through multiple perspectives, faith in the goodness of all, and a warm, inviting personality. She believes that people are the most important resource in her college and that the diversity and resourcefulness of the faculty, administrators and students provide richness to each encounter and bring a great mix to the workplace. “We agree to disagree.” Archie said. “By bringing different things to the table we learn so much from each other.”
Archie finds meaning in her work and her world by being of service to others through a personal philosophy of selflessness. “It’s about finding something that you are going to bring value to,” she said. “It’s doing it in the right spirit, being genuine. Being selfless can make a difference in a life, not just a child’s, but in adults fifty, sixty, seventy years old. It’s about finding what is valuable to them.”
Archie also teaches, interviews, and trains students as a co-advisor to the Global Union Student Club and Model United Nations Program. Each year, thirteen Monroe students become citizens of another country at the national Model United Nations Conference in New York City. “We learn to listen, all of us,” said Archie, “and that we don’t know everything. We learn that we can look at the world from outside our own values, our own judgments, our own beliefs. We are learning to function in this world as neighbors and that we don’t have to change each other.”
Often reflecting on her day, Archie believes that each day is a new opportunity to learn from the previous day’s experiences. “I can change someone’s life by what I do or say, so I want it to be a positive experience for both of us.” She looks to other women on her campus for inspiration, to the work they do and who they choose to be on a daily basis. These women have made lifelong impressions on Archie. She sees them as real, as genuine, as fellow travelers on her journey here on earth.
According to Archie, defining moments, like people, can change the course of our lives. Life stops for a moment and we begin to look at where we are headed, the choices we are making, and how
others are leading their lives. With Archie there were many such moments. “When I was a college student,” she said, “I was academically challenged at one point, and I can remember my grades just going down, down, down. But I had a mentor--the greatest mentor of my life--and she pushed me and told me over and over that I was going to graduate school. One day I received an acceptance letter to the educational administrative program at the University of Buffalo. I was in shock. How did I get here? I didn’t understand, but I knew I needed to do it.”
A mentor herself, Archie’s contributions to her local AAWCC chapter at Monroe Community College are many. She is the program chair, has been on the service committee, is part of the book drive at the elementary school, and coordinates the Working Women’s Wardrobe. Archie said, “When you see a woman smile, who, for many reasons, was not able to provide her own wardrobe for a job interview, and when you see her fully dressed on the way to an interview, then everything else is just not important.”
Archie’s caring for others spills out into her community, which in turn inspires her and brings peace to her life. “My church gives me a refreshed perspective for each new week,” she said. Archie is involved in the music ministry of her church, and as president of the choir she coordinates different outlets for the choir members to express who they are. “We fellowship together and it lets me put work aside and focus on my spiritual growth. It is very important to me because people pour into me and I am not counseling them. I am receiving. It’s nice.”
When asked what advice she would like to give her peers, she said, “Pick and choose your battles, whether in your personal or professional life, very carefully.” She adds, her smile radiating
through the phone, “Something I learned from Brianna, my seven year old niece, is to nourish yourself. Take lots of bubble baths, light candles, and take time, lots of time, to go shopping. Relax.”
Interview by Lee Riddell
For more information contact Lee Riddell, Institute for Community College Development at Cornell, (607) 254-8260, Lee.Riddell@cornell.edu.
