Diane DePretto, Employee of the Year

Diane Depretto was named GWC 2012-2013 Employee of the Year at the Staff Appreciation Breakfast on May 22, 2013. The Employee of the Year is selected from the Employees of the Month by a campus-wide ballot.

If you trace your paycheck back far enough, you’ll find our August 2012 Employee of the Month, Diane DePretto.  Part of her job as Campus Human Resources Analyst is to get load sheets with budget numbers and hours and then turn that into the language that Payroll needs to pay us.  Three cheers for Diane!  She can also reset GWC passwords for employees and works with all contracted employees, overseeing things like time cards and absence forms.

If you have a question like, “What is the definition of tenure?”, then Diane is the one to see.  She loves working with so many people, on so many different aspects of our employment.  She laughs, remembering how, in junior high, she hated math and now thoroughly enjoys doing math calculations all day long.  And she’ll proudly tell you she knows her 18’s times tables by heart!  (Why 18?  That’s an LHE.)  What’s an LHE?  Ask Diane…

Back in 1980, you would have found Diane working as a Student Assistant in the Personnel/Business Office.  Alma Wyant announced the position in a business class, and Diane responded immediately.  Because she shortly landed a full time position, her degree stretched out, but she persevered and graduated from GWC in 1994.  Now, she gets excited about following the lives of the student assistants that have worked with her over the years and has pictures in a beautiful scrapbook in her office to review those memories at will.  Deeper GWC connections came as daughter Amy and son Maverick registered as GWC students.

She loves so many things about GWC, including her nice corner office with a view of the Bookstore and old library, and meeting so many employees and students.  She is one of those people who knows who you need to call on campus when you have a particular need or problem, saying we have experts on everything here on campus.

A real people person, Diane loved camping with her family as a child.  She walks the track here on campus with friends some mornings, helps with the Halloween party, and has participated in the Flash Mob and Preview Day activities.  She is an avid scrapbooker and, to her credit, she has been named Employee of the Month twice. Danny, her husband, lived across from Diane’s sister before they were married, and one day when Diane came to visit her sister, he struck up a conversation with her at the pool.  Now they have been married 26 years and have 3 children and one 11 month old grandson.

Congratulations, Diane – you definitely haven’t slacked in your dedication to the campus and are to be commended for your cheerful, ready, competent assistance to all!