Arkedia Raines isn’t only an administrative assistant in Workforce Education, Leadership and Social Foundations. She’s also a mother and college student who keeps herself busy.
Raines’ job at UGA is varied. She processes travel paperwork for faculty and handles inventory. One day she might be fixing a paper jam, making copies minutes before a class begins or helping a colleagues load or unload their cars.
“It’s never been the same day twice—ever,” she said.
Raines also is vice chair of the Staff Representative Group for the College of Education and represents the college at the university-wide Staff Council. She serves on the Needs and Concerns Committee, where she said the big issues are furloughs, parking and child care.
She began work at UGA as a data entry clerk in the accounting department in 1999. She answered the phones, distributed status reports and entered data for personnel activity reports and journal vouchers.
She also has worked at the Upward Bound Program, the Center for Family Research and both the business office and food science and technology department in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Originally, she had planned on becoming an accountant in the private sector, but after some job experience and a few accounting classes, she decided that she needed a job that is more interactive.
“I love to talk. I talk all the time. And typical accounting jobs in the private sector are just you, your computer and the paper,” she said.
So after taking classes at Athens Technical College and Piedmont College, her new focus is business administration and human resources. She received her associate’s degree in May and is working on a bachelor’s degree in business administration and human resources management from Strayer University. She said she likes the idea of a career in her major.
“You get to talk to a lot of people doing that,” she said.
When Raines isn’t working on check requests and travel receipts in her River’s Crossing office, she might be taking classes or spending time with her family.
As for balancing her many responsibilities, Raines said, “I’m juggling all the time.”
She said that she has her children help with chores and devotes at least two hours every night to school work.
A master of time management, Raines is also known for her savvy shopping.
She has gotten a crockpot for $3 and a blender for 19 cents. The secret to her success is all about strategy: knowing what stores honor competitor’s prices, double coupons or even take expired coupons. For grocery store deals, she knows what days the sale flyers come out and uses Web sites to find the best deals. She buys in bulk when items are on sale. And on Saturday night, she puts together her coupons for the week. Raines loves to shop and jokes that her dream job would be personal shopping.
“I’m good at finding the deals,” she said.
