Academy of Fellows, 2005
Sue Hansen
In
the early 1990s, Sue Hansen worked in HR for a large national retailer.
While attending a WACE conference, she invited 11 career center directors
from some of her employer’s target schools to dinner to discuss college
recruiting and how they could enhance their relationships. But before
the dinner, Hansen received a startling phone call.
"It came at 5 p.m. as I was getting ready to take these important people out to dinner," says Hansen, now the director of recruiting for Deloitte & Touche. "It was my boss letting me know that at 9 a.m. the next day, our company would be filing Chapter 11 [bankruptcy]. I was floored."
Realizing that they were going to need allies if they were going to get through this and with her boss’s blessing, Hansen told the directors about the situation. The directors appreciated Hansen’s honesty and pledge to keep the lines of communication open.
"I told them that we would come to campus and keep them in the loop," Hansen recalls. "We also made sure they knew we would take care of the students we hired that year."
Realizing bad news travels far more quickly and far wider than good news, Hansen’s quick decision to apprise the directors of the situation helped foster trust and good will.
The potentially devastating situation didn’t have any long-term negative effects. That common sense approach Hansen demonstrated then has served her well throughout her career. She is well known nationally and regionally for her 20-plus years of leadership in the college relations and staffing profession and served as NACE’s President-Elect (2000-01), President (2001-02), and Past President (2002-03).
Hansen says of her term as NACE President—which included much of the foundation for NACElink® and addressing other issues—"Serving as NACE President was exhilarating and scary at the same time. Ultimately, it was a very rewarding experience." During her term, Hansen would tack this to the end of her introduction: "Deloitte by day, NACE by night."
Hansen has shared her expertise with numerous national and regional boards, committees, and task forces, and served as the president of the Western Association of Colleges and Employers. The opportunity to serve NACE and the profession has been a component of Hansen’s career that she has relished.
"I have been allowed and encouraged to play a major role in initiatives affecting the profession," Hansen says of her decade-plus involvement in NACE that was punctuated this year with her induction into the NACE Academy of Fellows. "I have done things through the association that I never would have experienced in my ‘paid’ position."
