\n\tBy SHANNON O. WELLS<\/p>\n
\n\tJody Federer\u2019s family is inextricably tied to the Pitt community. At various periods, she\u2019s studied or worked on campus at the same time as her sister, mother, father, aunt and cousin.<\/p>\n
\n\tBefore settling in for a long-running career at the University, where she now serves as assistant director of operations in undergraduate programs in the Pitt Business, Federer needed to spread her wings somewhere beyond the confines of Oakland.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThey were all working there, and when it was time to choose a college to attend after high school, of course I was going to Pitt because I loved it. Not because it was free \u2014 and we had free tuition, but that didn\u2019t hurt either \u2014 I started out at Pitt\u2013Greensburg because I wanted to get away from my parents.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI knew they would be hovering over me. I didn\u2019t want to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs it turned out, she couldn\u2019t stay away for long. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing wrong with Pitt\u2013Greensburg, it just wasn\u2019t Pitt to me,\u201d she admitted. \u201cThe main campus, seeing the Cathedral of Learning, that was Pitt to me. So, I transferred and went to school for four years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs expected, Federer\u2019s mom, Joanne Getsy \u2014 who worked her way up from a word processor-inputting role to assistant director of financial aid for the Study Abroad program \u2014 was there for her in a big way.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI started out at the work study in the summer because she managed the work study program in the Office of Financial Aid,\u201d Federer said. \u201cShe made me work that whole summer before I started college, because apparently, you\u2019re allowed to do that. Nobody knows that because they don\u2019t have mothers in the financial aid office, so she made me work the whole summer with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tFast forward to spring 2026, when Federer found herself celebrating her 20-year work anniversary at Pitt. She wasn\u2019t alone in marking a milestone.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI thought it was special that my sister also celebrated her 30-year work anniversary the same year,\u201d Federer said of Robyn Jurczak, who works in the Office of Business, Hospitality and Auxiliary Services, Security & Transportation. \u201cWe have a history of family who have worked with the University, and we are so grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe sisters were recognized, along with several other people, for their decades of individual service to the University in a ceremony on June 11.<\/p>\n
\n\tAs a student, Federer \u2014 the seeming live-wire of the two siblings \u2014 recalled having campus-based support from both parents, as dad, Fred Getsy, worked in the Pitt Bookstore for several years.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat was really nice as a student, when you didn\u2019t have to wait in a long line to get your books,\u201d she noted. \u201cMy dad\u2019s like, “Give me your course list. I got you.\u2019 And he would just have it ready, and I bypass all the 1,000 kids in the line.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018See ya! Bag for Jody Getsy?\u2019 \u201d and they would be paid for. So, it was another bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tTaking care of business<\/p>\n
\n\tAlthough Federer technically has been in the Pitt employment system since 1996, a \u201cmere\u201d 20 of those were as a full-time employee. After work study with her mom, she worked a bit with sister Robyn in the Pitt Panthers football office as a recruiting assistant.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhen I graduated Pitt, I wanted to go to grad school because I wanted to be a teacher. I was waiting to do the fifth-year program, and I didn\u2019t have any work, so my mom\u2019s like, \u2018Sign up for the (temporary employment) pool. They pay pretty well.\u2019 I worked in millions of different departments as a temp while I was in grad school \u2026 (along with) substitute teaching in a whole bunch of different school districts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tTurning down job prospects in Florida and Virginia, Federer, who grew up with Robyn in Swissvale, chose to stick closer to her Pittsburgh roots. She moved around at Pitt through stints as a grants assistant in the School of Nursing and event planner in the Cancer Institute. When she got hired in 2009 at Pitt Business, it started to feel more like home.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cStudents would come into our office, and you would assist them,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I liked about it, just being closer to the student aspect. I liked the environment of where I worked, but I always had my eye on being an academic advisor, so I did a lot of training with academic advisors in the School of Business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAt one point, she moved to an office down the hallway, where she eventually became the school\u2019s assistant director of academic advising.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI started out as academic administrator, manager, and then assistant director of operations in the School of Business, and then moved to the assistant director of academic advising and student records,\u201d she said of her climb toward full-time-with-benefits status. \u201cI just had to get out. \u2026 I was playing a lot of sports and getting injured, and I couldn\u2019t go to the doctor because I didn\u2019t have health insurance.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI think I borrowed Robyn\u2019s crutches at one point and had our mom wrap my leg up. It was like, \u2018OK, that\u2019s it. I gotta be mature now and get a real job.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShe describes her current advising role, which connects her with 160 students, as \u201ca little bit of both words.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI get to stay within the University of Pittsburgh, which I love, and then I get to work very closely with our Pitt business students. I have tons of meetings all the time with them,\u201d she said. \u201cI love helping them every day, but then I still get to do the administrative piece as well \u2026 like managing the student records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDespite what she called a \u201clot of leadership change,\u201d Federer said she \u201ccan\u2019t complain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI think just being student-focused for me is really wonderful, because I see the students when they come in as freshmen, and then grow into mature seniors. Eventually they\u2019re getting these great jobs and getting paid, like, twice as much as (me),\u201d she quipped. \u201cI help guide them there, and that makes it very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tMaking it work<\/p>\n
\n\tFederer\u2019s sister Robyn Jurczak said going to Pitt Panthers football games \u2014 sometimes with her mom \u2014 planted the seed for her 30-years-and-counting career at Pitt.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI believe she started when I graduated high school, and I\u2019ve always gone to the football games and enjoyed all that when she had her foot in the door with Pitt,\u201d Jurczak said. \u201cMy aunt was also there, and there was an opening that came up and they said, \u2018Hey, why don\u2019t you try \u2014 you always liked football \u2014 and see what can come up out of it?\u2019<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI actually applied and got hired in athletics in the football office in \u201895. So, that\u2019s how that started.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tStarting out working for Johnny Majors in his second stint as the Panthers\u2019 head football coach in 1993-96, Jurczak called her various adventures and changes, a \u201cjourney.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere were a lot of changes throughout. There was some longevity with some coaches, some short-term coaches. \u2026 Johnny Majors was the first coach that I worked for, and they progress from there,\u201d she said. \u201cI can\u2019t really tell you how many I had, but there was a handful of changes as far as head coaches and assistants. \u2026 It was very interesting dealing with all the coaches throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShe also relishes her experiences meeting players, including many who went on to national success.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cLooking back and seeing how they progressed \u2026 some of the players that I started out with went to the NFL, and now they are retired. And I\u2019m not, you know?\u201d she said with a chuckle.<\/p>\n
\n\tFrom there, Jurczak moved to Printing Services and eventually landed in Parking, Transportation & Services about 10 years ago.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m on the transportation side, more or less,\u201d she noted. \u201cI deal with all the Pitt shuttles services for the departments that need help getting to their venues \u2014 whether it\u2019s going to park, games, whatever the departments need. I (coordinate) that transportation for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShe said it\u2019s rewarding \u201cto see everything come together and know you played a big part in it,\u201d adding that the start of a new academic year is \u201calways a challenge \u2026 especially with (the number of students) growing every year. \u2026 Things are picking up, and a lot more kids are coming \u2026 and there\u2019s more construction always going on around here.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re trying to accommodate a lot, but in the end, we make it work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\tAs far as the two sisters crossing paths on campus, since the older days of birthday lunches, sometimes with their mom, it doesn\u2019t happen as much as they\u2019d like.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe hardly ever, honestly, because her office moved around a lot,\u201d Federer said of Jurczak. \u201cI think now we\u2019re closer than ever, because she\u2019s up in the University Club, and I\u2019m in Sennott Square (on Bouquet Street), so maybe I\u2019m hoping we\u2019ll have more lunch dates or something. I know our schedules are off with working from home and stuff like that.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe used to meet for lunch, and then sometimes they would do our birthday lunches (or we\u2019d) go down to (Schenley Park) and hang out and walk. Hopefully we\u2019ll do that more that (Robyn\u2019s) a little closer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tLogistical barriers aside, the sisters \u2014 carrying the family employment legacy at Pitt ever-forward \u2014 remain as emotionally close as ever.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI didn\u2019t even bring a date to the (anniversary recognition) ceremony that they had for us, because I was like, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re coming with me, you\u2019re my date,\u2019\u201d Federer said to sister Robyn. \u201cI didn\u2019t even bring my husband. I\u2019m like, \u2018He\u2019s no fun. I\u2019m gonna bring my sistah.\u2019 We always say, \u2018Sistah!\u2019 to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShannon Wells is a University Times reporter. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tHave a story idea or news to share? Share<\/a> it with the University Times.<\/p>\n