50th anniversary retrospect: Linda Cleek

Rarely can a person say they've spent 40 years employed at the same place, but Linda Cleek, executive director of Lifelong Learning in Outreach and Engagement, can. Not only has she been at USI for four decades, she has spent them in the same department. Although the department has undergone a few name changes: Continuing Education, Extended Services and now Outreach and Engagement, Cleek has remained a familiar face.

Before coming to USI, Cleek worked in a field she didn't enjoy in order to pay the bills while her husband was on strike. When her husband went back to work, and the company she worked for began to lay off employees, she volunteered herself. Her boss asked her what she would do and she replied that she might take a few classes at Indiana State University Evansville (ISUE). In the meantime, she visited the unemployment office to check out job prospects and one sounded especially intriguing: "secretary for the director of Continuing Education at ISUE." Little did she know this would evolve into a lifelong career. "I got the job in 1974 and went to the library and checked out a big book on how to be a secretary, read it and came to work," she said.

Cleek recalls her first day on the job. "Ed Jones, (vice provost emeritus for Outreach and Engagement,) happened to be in Terre Haute, so there I was with no boss. It was the day before the original University Center offices were going to be opened and I had no office." She spent day one in the Wright Administration Building where the Registrar, Admissions and Career Placement offices were all located at the time. The newbie was stationed at the information desk, which actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. "It actually worked really well because someone would ask me a question that I didn't know; I'd turn around and ask someone, and then I'd know for next time," she said. "I learned a tremendous amount about the University that way."

As the department has grown, changed and transitioned, so has Cleek. Her title has gone from secretary to executive director and she's held every position in between. During her first year, Continuing Education consisted of six classes and had a total enrollment of 202 people. They now generate an annual enrollment of more than 15,000. In addition to the classes offered through Outreach and Engagement, it is also the home to an array of programs, such as Veterans, Military and Family Resources, Historic Southern Indiana, Historic New Harmony and the College Achievement Program (CAP), to name only a few. Cleek says she's often been asked what they don't do and "welding" has been her go to response. "But guess what? We may teach a little bit of welding over in the Applied Engineering Center," she said. Defined simply, Outreach and Engagement "extends the resources of the University throughout the community."

Cleek says the best advice she's ever been given was "Make the choice that gives you the most future choices. Make the choice that gives you the most possible paths going forward." She has shared this advice with many who have sought her opinion through the years.

Looking back over her 40 years, Cleek says that everyday has been something different. "I've had all kinds of fabulous experiences with wildlife: "I've removed two snakes and escorted various small critters like mice out of the building. I've caught a pig, chased a cow and helped rescue a feral cat." When asked what she'll miss most when she retires, she says along with the personal interactions, she'll miss the gorgeous view out her window. "This view is my reward for all my hard work in basements and cubicles." Even after retiring, Cleek expects that she will remain involved with Outreach and Engagement in some capacity. "I was a 22-year-old kid when I started. I grew up in this department."