Dr. John Leatherman says he finds some of the most rewarding work in educating his student staff. He calls it “Leatherman University”. One former “LU” student, Emily Mollohan, was recruited into the OLG program during her freshman year of college, and believes the workplace experience gave her the majority of her professional acumen she uses today.
Mollohan said, “I learned such a wide variety of skills that I have been able to apply them in multiple facets, such as internships and graduate school.”
Mollohan received a B.S. in agribusiness and animal science, and went onto complete her masters in agricultural economics under the tutelage of Dr. Glynn Tonsor. The biggest take-away from her work experience with the OLG program? Confidence.
“There was always opportunity to work on a variety of projects and to learn more skill with lots of patience from our supervisors. We were also rewarded for doing well, which is a great confidence booster that allows for better performance.”, said Mollohan.
Current students in the program include Alana McLain, a sophomore in Agricultural Economics, and Ryan Nelson, a freshman in Agribusiness. The students work on budgets from 105 counties throughout the state and comparing expenditures in selected categories to compare figures with historical data to measure performance. Those budgets are then resubmitted for revision and approval by OLG professional staff before distribution of the analytical report back to extension agents working within the client counties.
“All of this goes to extension agents that help make programs that benefit people in their counties, and I think this is a really big part of people’s lives on a day-to-day basis, from the sales tax they pay at the grocery store to school education programs,” said McLain.
The Office of Local Government strives to teach their student workers what it is like to work in a professional environment, where being precise and accurate in the work you do is important. “You have to be precise with what you are doing, you have to try to go for zero errors and that can be challenging sometimes because if you have one mistake, you have to go through the whole budget to find where you messed up,” said Nelson.
The students work with sensitive information, which is consolidated into a booklet and placed online for public use and access. The booklet and other information, gives more detailed information about what a budget change means to the general consumer. The information supports local officials make fiscal decisions and educates the citizens of local communities to become more informed as consumers.
“I think it’s important to look and see what the Office of Local Government actually does. They go through all of this data and make charts and you can go back and see how it affects your home county, your friends and family,” said Nelson.
The Office of Local Government is a tightknit group that sets its students up for success after they graduate, not only in their careers, but in life. Students are encouraged to hold themselves to a higher standard, in their work and in their office environment.
McLain said, “I think it is really important, especially for students, to find a job that is going to give them some professional experience even if it is just working in a grocery store, I think putting a level of professionalism into what you do on a day-to-day basis is important, not only in an office like this, but in every student job, and that is something that is really encouraged here.”
