Day in the life of...Bob Fitzgerald, OPS director
Sarah Zeeck
Issue date: 3/28/07 Section: News
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"It's not an 8 to 4:30 job," the OPS director said. "That's the majority of time on the job, but there are always other things going on."
When Fitzgerald arrives at work every day, he first reviews the events of the prior evening in order to stay abreast of current issues on campus.
"If there's something serious, something going on, I make sure that I am briefed on (the situation) so that I'll already have a little bit of information on it and be able to respond to the phone calls," he said.
The violations that Fitzgerald would have to respond to could range from minor alcohol violations to domestic battery charges.
Most of the tasks Fitzgerald accomplishes through the day, however, are secretarial in nature.
"This job is an administrative position," Fitzgerald said. "I'm a certified police officer, but it's an administrative job - I don't go out there and chase bad guys or anything."
Part of Fitzgerald's job is to compile statistics concerning campus crime, violations and other trends, which entails a great deal of paperwork.
"The paperwork and stuff ... consumes a major part of my time," Fitzgerald said. "The other really time-consuming part is all of the meetings I have to go to.
"It sounds boring, since I don't really go out in a squad car and chase bad guys, but most of my time is spent in here."
Fitzgerald may be confined to his desk these days, but he has quite an interesting past.
"Before I came to Macomb, I was a police officer in Bushnell and was in the military even before that," Fitzgerald said, adding that he had even served in Vietnam for a year.
Fitzgerald acknowledged that his job is fairly mild, but he still serves the community in other ways.
"There's other stuff I do (at night) after hours," he added. "There are a couple of committees and stuff that I'm on."
Some committees Fitzgerald participates in include the Americans with Disabilities Act Committee, an Anti-Harassment Committee and the Parking and Traffic Committee, for which he is an overseer.
"There's a whole host of different things I serve on and give whatever knowledge I have concerning those areas, and I try to share it with (the members of the committee)," he said.
Fitzgerald oversees campus parking and deals primarily with the public in regard to that.
"(Dealing with parking) is mainly just answering questions about parking when people call and they're not happy about getting parking tickets," Fitzgerald said. "If the ladies who answer the phone and deal with the incoming public can't answer their questions or if the people are persistent, it'll get back to me, and I'll try to see what we can do for those people."
After 10 years of dedication to Western, Fitzgerald's favorite part of his job is speaking to Western students and parents at summer orientation.
"I enjoy seeing the fresh faces and being able to talk to the parents," Fitzgerald said. "You usually get a lot of good questions from students and parents, and I think that part is fun."
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