Malinda Keidel

Malinda Keidel.

Published May 2, 2022

This month's featured Professional Staff Senate member is Malinda Keidel, senior associate director of admissions in the School of Management.

How long have you worked at UB?

Over nine years.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

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Improving process efficiency. I really enjoy it, especially while collaborating with peers and teammates. Taking a great idea from the initial states to implementation is extremely rewarding.

What’s the most difficult part about your job?

I manage an amazing team of graduate students. As they complete their degrees and begin exciting careers, I must fill their spots with new employees every year or two.

What would you say is your biggest achievement at UB?

I don’t think I could mention one single event. But, successfully making it through each admission cycle is an achievement in itself. It is beyond satisfying to successfully close an admission cycle and start a new one fresh. 

Tell us something about your department that isn’t well known.

To accommodate the needs of several academic departments, we have overlapping admissions cycles—opening as early as April or July, and closing in April or August of the following year.  

If you were to share some advice for other professional staff, what would it be?

Develop relationships within your department, but also in other parts of the university. Sometimes it may feel like work, but it is important to schedule coffee chats, and lunch dates with peers on campus. Even with our current challenges, a virtual event with a coworker can help revitalize your spirit.

Do you have any hobbies? What do you do for fun?

I enjoy baking, particularly cookies. If I find extra time in the day, I am always up for a leisurely walk.

Do you have a favorite meal you like to prepare?

Pizza. I like that you can always make something different, no pizza is the same.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

British Columbia, Canada. How could you go wrong with travels that offer the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains?