IUPUI

From Custodian To Professor: A Work in Progress

Building Services Supervisor and IUPUI student, Nathaniel Spaulding

INDIANAPOLIS - In every building on campus, at all hours of the day, there are employees on campus working. These people help shape the campus for all who work and learn here. Sometimes though, the campus helps shape the employee. This is the case for Nathaniel Spaulding.

Spaulding began his career at IUPUI in 1999 as a custodian with Campus Facility Services. In 2003 Spaulding was promoted to the position of Group Leader in Building Services. This is also the year that he began attending classes at IUPUI. Since his promotion to Group Leader, he has further been promoted to the position of Building Services Supervisor.

While Spaulding was working in the Education/Social Work building, he met Mike Patchner, dean of the IU School of Social Work, who encouraged Spaulding to enroll in classes. Patchner also helped him to apply for, and ultimately be awarded, the IU Foundation Scholarship. Spaulding plans to receive his Associates degree in Organizational Leadership and Supervision in 2007, and his Bachelors degree in 2009.

"Going to school has shown me that I can make a difference here. I've learned so many leadership styles and skills [in school] and I'm putting them into practice," said Spaulding. Beyond the concepts that are taught in his classes, the experience of being a student on campus has also impacted his job.

"Sometimes I walk [into a building] as a student and sometimes as a supervisor. As a student I look at buildings differently. I look at things from a student's perspective and it helps greatly to determine if things are clean enough for a student."

"After I get my Bachelors I'll start working on my Masters, and then my PhD. My goal is to go from an SM07 custodian to a professor at IUPUI. I can't imagine working and not taking classes.

"I love the University. It's so exciting to walk around and learn something new every day. Taking classes enlightens me to the things going on in the world. I see people learning all these things and I want more and more and more. I look forward to each new semester to see what new things I'm going to learn."