Profiles

Cathy Fountain, Business Manager's Office

	Cathy Fountain, program assistant in the University of Iowa business manager's office. Photo by Tom Jorgensen.

When new UI faculty and staff and visiting scholars prepare to come to Iowa City, it’s often Cathy Fountain who welcomes them and helps them find their way through the process of moving and finding housing.

Fountain, an Iowa City native and 26-year University employee, is a program assistant in the business manager’s office, where she coordinates moving arrangements for faculty and staff, and short-term housing for visiting faculty, artists, researchers, and scholars. She also manages the facilities leased to the University’s day care operators and several other University tenant properties.

In some cases, Fountain also finds temporary housing for new employees—and occasionally graduate students—in a University rental unit while they get settled and find their own homes.

For visiting scholars and artists, the University offers housing for as long as a year. For them, Fountain manages ten duplexes, eight apartments, one efficiency, and one house, all fully furnished…right down to the flatware and linens.

Fountain talked with fyi recently about her job at the University, the challenges she finds in her work, and good places for getting away on vacation.

Why does the University provide services such as these to new employees and visiting scholars?

Providing moving and housing assistance for new employees is good business practice. We’d have a hard time recruiting the best employees if we didn’t offer these services. But I like to think we go a little extra distance. At least I always strive to.

As for the visiting scholars and artists, we want to make the very best impression, because we will want them to give a good account of Iowa when they get home. Besides, you never know who these scholars are going to become. They may be the most important scientist or author in their country. But of course the best reason is simply hospitality. It’s Iowa, after all.

What are the greatest challenges of the job?

Finding a way to communicate with people whose first language is not English, and who don’t have the vocabulary, or maybe don’t have the experience with western households, to deal with issues that come up in the home environment. It can be a lot of fun when you finally figure out what someone is trying to tell you, but it can be quite challenging when you can’t.

What’s the greatest satisfaction you find in your work?

I like helping people, and it feels great to see the satisfaction of the people I help. I meet very nice, very interesting people. When they say how much they appreciate something we did for them, or how smoothly the transition went, or how we exceeded their expectations, it pleases me. I’m just doing my job, after all, and the thanks are a bonus.

What’s something about you that would surprise your colleagues?

Probably that I taught elementary school. That was in Washington, Iowa. I did that for two years before taking a position in internal medicine administration at the University. I worked there for 17 years before coming to the business manager’s office.

Tell us a little bit about you and your family.

I grew up in Iowa City—as a kid I sold homecoming corsages on street corners. I lived my high school years in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where my family owned a nursery. I attended The University of Iowa and worked in the UIHC business office while finishing my degree in elementary education. 

My husband, Mike, is also a UI staff member. He supervises the machine shop in physics and astronomy, making scientific instruments including packages for NASA experiments. I have a married son in law school in St. Paul, and a daughter completing a master’s program through St. Ambrose University in Davenport.

What was your first job—besides the corsage sales?

I worked in my parent’s flower shop, then in a ribbon factory in Mount Pleasant, making state fair prize ribbons. That was in high school. I had to stop at the flower shop because of hay fever. My eyes swelled shut one day while working with chrysanthemums.

What’s your best vacation?

I don’t have a favorite, but I enjoy going to Colorado any time of year, and Niagara Falls was amazing. Trips to Hawkeye bowl games are fun—especially when they win—and any vacation with family is great.

by Charles S. Drum

Past Profiles

Pamela Trimpe, Pentacrest Museums

Bob Kirby, University of Iowa Honors Program

Lynn Jahn, Tippie College of Business

Robert Brooks, Facilities Management

Michael Sondergard, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics