Staff Spotlight: Rosauna Harris

Rosauna Harris has been part of the Perimeter College team since August 2021 as Administrative Specialist II for Paulos Yohannes, the associate dean of research, innovation and STEM. She works at the Dunwoody Campus. Harris was a military brat growing up but has called Atlanta home since 1993. She describes herself as a Hallmark and Lifetime movie fanatic, and her favorite snacks are Cheetos and butter pecan ice cream.

Below we talked with Rosauna about her role at Perimeter College, her extensive list of creative pursuits and a childhood television appearance. 

Hi Rosauna, tell us about your role here at Perimeter. What are some of the highlights?
My responsibilities focus largely on administrative duties, scheduling and logistical support. I maintain Dr. Yohannes’ calendar, schedule and travel. I organize events like the STEM Awards and Cardboard Boat Regatta. I assist Dr. Janna Blum with the application process for the MESA program. Many of those students have gone on to prestigious schools like MIT, Stanford and Yale. I assist in organizing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Symposium with Candice Bucklen.

I also serve on the committee that plans the Mario A. J. Bennekin Black History Symposium. I assist with planning the details and logistics for that event, including scheduling all the planning meetings for the committee. I work with Kathy Jordan – senior digital designer – to get the poster and program together and I order the printing for them. I am responsible for sending the invitations and printing the programs that we hand out the day of the event and assist in the catering for the reception. I reserve the spaces where each individual event takes place on all five campuses, including the breakfast for the keynote speaker, the Bennekin family and President Blake.

Overall, my role involves pulling together information, coordinating people and spaces, and making sure events and meetings are well organized and run smoothly from planning through execution.

In addition, my involvement with Cradle to College has been a wonderful experience as well. This is a program where elementary and middle school students from area schools come to campus to experience what it’s like to be a college student for a day. It originally started with fifth graders and now includes seventh graders. The students visit Dunwoody, Clarkston and Decatur Campuses. As part of Cradle to College, we also have STEM Day at the Newton Campus.

What is your role in Cradle to College and STEM Day?
I assist with purchasing supplies and other administrative duties as needed. I participated as a group guide, checking in the student volunteers, handing out t-shirts and assisting in maintaining order. I’m also involved with the Collegewide Mentoring Program.

Can you tell me more about that program?
The Collegewide Mentoring Program pairs faculty mentors and mentees. I assist with administrative tasks such as purchasing supplies or books, reserving the space where they meet and helping with logistics. Fernando Rochaix oversees the program, and I assist him with administrative needs.

I also support the Dean’s Summer Writing Program that supports faculty scholarly activities with Associate Deans Paulos Yohannes and Ken Johnson. Once the applications go live, I receive them, organize them by their choice of program and create a spreadsheet so they can be reviewed. After selections are made, I update the spreadsheet accordingly.

What is your favorite thing about your job?
My favorite thing about my job is having the opportunity to meet some wonderful people here at Perimeter. Since I’m involved with so many different programs, I can connect with people from many professional backgrounds and campuses. I enjoy hearing about their roles and day-to-day duties and how they got to where they are.  They are encouraging and are willing to lend a hand to me if I ever need it.

What do you enjoy most about working at Perimeter College overall?
What I love most about Perimeter is the sense of community. No matter which campus I visit, I always feel welcomed and nobody seems stand-off-ish. I believe I have gained some lifelong friendships.

Are you originally from Atlanta?
No, I’m a military brat so we moved around a lot. I got to Atlanta in 1993. I moved here from Minnesota. If I had to dig my car out [of the snow] one more time! I was looking for a change of scenery and weather. My aunt lived here so I decided to give it a try, and it was the best decision I made. I love it here!

What do you like most about living in Atlanta?
Georgia is a great state for outdoor activities. There are so many great parks, trails and waterfalls. Atlanta is also a very creative place with museums, theaters and orchestras. There are a lot of activities that you can participate in and a lot of creative things to do, and that’s what I love about it. So much adventure in the whole state.

Do you have a favorite outdoor spot?
I really enjoy Sweetwater Creek State Park. There are a few smaller parks that I want to check out near my house. You can drive a couple hours and there’s the Blue Ridge Mountain train that I want to go to. They have a train in the fall where you get to see all the leaves changing in the different towns you go through. And then during the holiday season they play Christmas music and give you hot chocolate and candy canes.

Well, that sounds delightful! Which outdoor activities do you enjoy?
There are a lot. When I was growing up, we used to always go camping. We lived in Hawaii for some years, so I was always at the beach. And I used to live in Eugene, OR, and that’s where we used to go hiking. I also loved inner tubing and fishing. Being outdoors has always been part of my life.

What else do you like to do in your free time?
I love to paint, draw, write and make fluid art.

During the pandemic, I got really into fluid art and worked on canvases, coasters and vases. I also make no-sew throws and pillows.

I really love photography, and plan to get a professional camera. I like to take action shots, but when I try to take a photo of a huge bird flying around, my phone doesn’t focus well, and I miss the shot. A professional camera will help with that. I’m also planning on going back to school and pursuing an art program.

My favorite is painting and drawing. That’s my happy place.

Can you tell us a fun fact about you?
When my family lived in Honolulu, I was in the studio audience for a local children’s TV show called “Checkers and Pogo.” I was picked to play a game where contestants had to eat a cracker as fast as they could and then whistle. The first person to succeed won the opportunity to put their hand in a big jar of pennies to grab as many as they could hold. I finished the cracker first but came in second with the whistling part. I got to be on TV though, which was very exciting for a third grader!

Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I have two wonderful daughters. The oldest, currently living in Texas, is a mother of two boys aged 15 and 18. The 18-year-old will be graduating from high school in May. My younger daughter works on the Atlanta Campus in Enrollment Services.

Thank you for sharing your time with us, Rosauna!