After spending nearly eight years working in Washington D.C. for the National Education Association, Linda Campos and her husband decided it was time for a change.
“I always wanted to go back to a higher ed environment that was a small town, really close campus community,” Campos said.
The University of Idaho fit the bill.
Campos started her job as UI”s new controller earlier this month. As controller, most of her responsibilities involve financial management and reporting. Campos said she expected to have a lot of catch-up work since her position hasn”t been filled at the university for a while, but said she was pleasantly surprised – everything seemed to be running smoothly from her first day on the job. She said it helps that she and UI Vice President for Finance Brian Foisy have a shared vision.
“We seem to be in really close alignment with where we want to go and what my role needs to be,” she said. “And what”s really great right now is that the controller”s office and all the departments underneath are running really well.”
Campos said she plans to spend a few weeks learning more about the university and its financial state. She said she hopes after she has learned enough she will be able to bring a fresh outlook based on her previous experience in finance.
Yishan Chen | Argonaut
Campos started her job as UI”s new controller earlier this month. As controller, most of her responsibilities involve financial management and reporting.
Campos graduated from Washington State University with a degree in Business and Administration. After graduating, she worked in Pullman for a few years before moving to financial management for nonprofit organizations. Then, she moved to Boise, where she spent 12 years and started her career at the Idaho Education Association.
“That was the longest I”ve ever been in one place,” Campos said. “So Idaho kind of became my new home.”
Eventually, Campos moved from Boise to Washington D.C to work for the National Education Association. She said she and her husband loved living on the east coast, but she always wanted to work in higher education. When she finally decided to pursue it, she was instantly impressed with the culture and atmosphere of Moscow and UI when she arrived for her interview.
“Everyone was so nice and so welcoming and just seemed to have the right culture,” she said. “Like welcoming, and “we want to work together.” I really appreciate the teamwork environment here and atmosphere.”
Campos said she is loving life in Moscow”s small-town environment, so much so that she said she doesn”t want to spend the majority of her time as controller behind a desk.
“I”m a numbers person, obviously – I”m an accountant,” she said. “But my last years of my career have been working with non-accountants to really help them understand how to get the information they need to be able to make decisions. So I really enjoy that part of my work, really working with people outside of my department.”
As a people person, Campos said she wants to interact with the campus and show the university community that she is a resource. She said students, faculty and staff should not hesitate to reach out to her if they have a problem.
“That”s how I”ll know I”ve been successful,” Campos said. “If I really can say I”ve met a vast majority of the people on campus that I need to meet and work with.”
Erin Bamer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ErinBamer