By Cole Strzelecki
Since 2004, Eddie Ortiz has been a part of Western New England University’s staff. He’s held many positions at our University, doing everything he could to help the community. Recently, Ortiz moved up to the position of Assistant Director of University Events Planning.
“It feels good to be back,” Ortiz stated about his return to a university event-centered position. He plans to stay in this department and work at events with our University’s students, staff, and faculty.
Ortiz originally joined our University’s staff as summer help and worked in the housekeeping department. “At the time, I was going to STCC right down the road, and one of my friends got me in here,” he explained. After that summer, Frank Lango, the Manager of Housekeeping Services, asked Ortiz to continue working at Western New England University due to his great work.
Ortiz stayed in the housekeeping department for a few years after that first summer. Then, an opportunity opened up in the facilities department to become a member of our University’s event set-up crew. In this position, he set up for every event on campus with jobs ranging from a quick table drop-off to setting up commencement.
After a while, a position opened up in the campus events department in the office Ortiz is currently situated in. He ended up getting the position and held it for over three years before another opportunity came his way: the chance to become a locksmith.
Joining the public safety department, Ortiz spent almost three years as our University’s locksmith. When he first got the position, he was sent to locksmith school by our University. “It was a really neat experience,” Ortiz stated, “I even ended up actually making the dean’s list while I was there.”
Then, just recently, another opportunity came up for Ortiz. “I saw that the University was looking for an Assistant Director of University Events, so I applied, and right back I came,” he explained.
In his current position, Ortiz helps with all of the day-to-day events and meetings held at our University, making sure they go through his office’s approval and scheduling. Besides that, he supervises seven student employees working with the campus events department. He must also work with enrollment management to put together Western New England University’s open house events and academic preview days.
Ortiz had missed working with the students on their events during his time away from the campus events department. He would help students brainstorm ideas, make sure their events were booked in our University’s system, and follow up with them afterward to ensure their events went well. “It’s something I really enjoy doing,” added Ortiz.
There were more reasons why Ortiz came back to this position, though. He feels that the marketing department is a strong, powerful, and growing team, and he wants to do his part in supporting it and making the team even stronger. “This team is driving and hungry for success. They’re making the University a better place and I wanted to add my experience and knowledge to the mix,” he explained.
While in this position, Ortiz hopes to continue to build a relationship between Western New England University and the outside world. He plans to achieve this by bringing in more revenue from support outside our University to finance it better.
Returning to this position on campus was a rewarding choice for Eddie Ortiz. He now gets to work in the place that he enjoys the most while also making aspects of Western New England University even better than they were. “I feel right at home in this position,” he mentioned, “I love working on campus and with students and staff.” The position of Assistant Director of University Events is undoubtedly in good hands with Ortiz.
