While ASUO presidents, student senators and board members come and go, ASUO Accounting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton-Neiwert holds the ASUO together, providing a key element of continuity from year to year and helping many students who are new to the ASUO adjust to their positions.
Since starting with the ASUO as an intern in 1997, Creighton-Neiwert, 27, has become the go-to person for students seeking advice on ASUO processes.
“She goes out of her way to make sure that everybody in the office does the best job that they can do,” Sen. Mena Ravassipour said. “She helps me be the best senator that I can be.”
Creighton-Neiwert, who has semi-officially taken on the title of ASUO Coordinator, is a familiar face at meetings of the ASUO Student Senate and Programs Finance Committee, where she occasionally pipes in to shed light on precedent or ASUO rules.
“My role in a lot of boards and groups differ(s) every year depending on their needs,” Creighton-Neiwert said, adding that while groups such as PFC and the senate are completely student-run, she is happy to give them advice.
“It’s just to help them make their own answers,” she said.
Creighton-Neiwert said her role can be demanding.
“I think (students) expect a lot as far as me always having the answer and having it in a very timely manner,” she said. “We’re fast paced, we’re motivated and we’re always on the move, and it’s not always easy to be moving and shaking.”
Creighton-Neiwert said she believes passionately in the power of involvement.
“My philosophy and why I do my job is that anybody can make a difference,” Creighton-Neiwert said. To that end, she has an “open-chair policy,” which emphasizes that anyone can stop by and get involved in ASUO.
Creighton-Neiwert, a self-described “West Coast girl,” grew up mostly in Eugene and around Oregon, but also spent summers on Southern California beaches and winters skiing at Mt. Bachelor.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University in 2001, Creighton-Neiwert, who ASUO Spokeswoman Taraneh Foster likened to a “human file cabinet,” began graduate studies in Public Policy and Management. She said she works 50 to 60 hours a week at ASUO during the school year, in addition to her graduate studies.
“Budget season is probably not the best time to ask me how many hours a week I work,” Creighton-Neiwert said. “I get here before the sun comes up and I don’t get to go home until the sun goes down.”
“I wish I could split myself up into 20,000 little pieces so each student could have a bit of my time,” Creighton-Neiwert said. “It’s frustrating at times to be in the office and not be able to give 100 percent devotion to every student that’s in here.”
Creighton-Neiwert ran into some controversy earlier this year when student senators expressed frustration at a typographical mistake made in last year’s ASUO elections packet that cost them $5,400 in lost wages. Creighton-Neiwert’s name was included in a resolution that sought to censure those responsible for the error, but as her official duties did not include the elections packet her name was dropped.
One student senator, however, felt that Creighton-Neiwert bore some responsibility for the mistake.
“She overlooks a lot of things, whether they’re in her job description or not,” Sen. Colin Andries said in early January. “She was definitely asked about the elections process.”
The measure was later dropped. Student senators said at the time that they had made their point and a formal resolution was unnecessary.
Despite that minor bump in the road, students and co-workers praised Creighton-Neiwert’s style and dedication.
“I feel like I can ask her a question any time of the day,” ASUO Administrative Assistant Shawn Rubino said. “She’s by far the best boss I’ve ever had just as far as communication and how she treats us.”
Andries said Creighton-Neiwert helped him adjust to working for the ASUO.
“Obviously, when you’re new, you have a lot of questions and she always had no problem answering my questions,” he said.
Creighton-Neiwert said she isn’t sure whether she’ll continue to work for the ASUO after she finishes her graduate studies.
“I always joke that I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up,” Creighton-Neiwert said.