June 15, 2017 – Clarissa Hutkowski, administrative specialist, is the customers' first and lasting impression of the Exam and Research Data Services Office. Her duties require multi-tasking as a receptionist for the University IT department and taking phone calls for the department's main number while processing exams and assisting more than 250 faculty members and their representatives every month, said JoAnn Luksich, manager, ERDS. She also supports data processing requests from graduate and doctoral research students and assists with scheduling of the Sage Hall Computer-Based Testing Center and the UIT Macintosh computer lab.
Every day is a little different, but on a typical day Clarissa, who has worked in the ERDS office since March 2016, gets the equipment up and running, then checks for service requests and scheduling that need to be done immediately. Recognized as a UNT Soaring Eagle at the April 2017 President's Sack Lunch meeting, Clarissa was cited for providing exemplary service.
Using Scantron's iNSIGHT™ 4ES scanner, Clarissa can be sure the grading is accurate, fast and efficient in an office that serves more than 3,000 customers annually and processes thousands of computer-graded exams. The iNSIGHT™ 4ES provides all the robust capabilities of optical mark recognition, OMR, technology, plus a wealth of expanded functions through document imaging. The scanner accurately scans an OMR form for written pencil and pen marks, such as bubbles, check marks, tick marks, and barcodes, providing customers with the most precise and effective data available. Other technology Clarissa uses in the ERDS office includes VDE+Images software to manually capture dissertation data, research and UNT departmental forms.
"Clarissa works hard to be knowledgeable, accurate and helpful and is well known as an upbeat member of the UIT team. In a fast-paced environment, she has shown the notable ability to provide excellent and efficient service cheerfully and consistently," said Luksich.
Only one semester away from graduation from UNT, Clarissa is pursuing a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences with an occupational specialization in Business Management, and views her work at UNT as a blessing in her life, she said.
"I appreciate the college atmosphere, listening to different opinions, being surrounded by intelligent minds, and UNT has opened doors for me. I am grateful for this. University IT is a wonderful department to work in; we all respect each other and get along," she said.
After work and her studies though, Clarissa says she loves spending time with her five-year-old son and going shopping. "I am also very close to my childhood friends and we try to meet for a vacation every year; our last trip was to Las Vegas," she said. 
"I have a passion for empowering women who are struggling with confidence and body-image issues, to love and accept ourselves, and boost overall self-esteem. I love when women empower women; it is powerful inside and outside the workforce," she said.
Originally from Del Rio, Texas, with a big family that includes many cousins, aunts, uncles and friends, she said her grandmother is the matriarch of the family and always has a positive attitude and is a very devout Catholic who loves her family. To keep in touch with family and friends, Clarissa says one of her favorite apps is Whatsapp Messenger, a cross-platform instant messaging application that allows iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and Nokia smartphone users to exchange text, image, video and audio messages for free. She also says she enjoys using Uber and Dropbox.
While being dedicated to her family, studies and work, Clarissa enjoys reading and said Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" is her favorite book – where Emma Bovary seeks the other side of the banalities and emptiness of provincial life. She also likes to travel, go to concerts – mostly hip hop. The last one she attended was a Drake & Future concert. "I love all music especially hip hop, rhythm and blues, but also country, Rock, and classical music." Clarissa plans to pursue a graduate degree after completing a bachelor's degree in December.
As Clarissa's favorite saying goes "cada cabeza es un mundo" – each mind is a world unto itself. Bursting with personality, enjoying being friends with everyone, and multi-tasking her life, "I think we can say she lives life to the fullest and enjoys every minute of it," Luksich said.