An Office With a Face

On the University of Nevada Campus, an office can say a lot about the person within. Director of the Academic Advising Center Nancy Markee said that although her office might look messy on the surface, with papers and books scattered about her desk and floors, she said she is actually quite organized.

Director of the Academic Advising Center Nancy Markee's office may look messy. However, if ever cleaned by anyone else, she wouldn't be able to find anything.

“On the surface it probably looks like I’m very disorganized,” Markee said. “In reality, believe it or not, I do tend to know where most things are in my office. Clearly having a neat, organized office isn’t terribly important to me and that I prefer to spend my time doing other things rather than cleaning my office.”

Not all share Markee’s opinion of office space. Jenny Mortimer, 18-year-old art major, thinks a bit differently about messier offices.

“If I walked into a professor’s office and it was messy I would kind of be like ‘what the heck,’” Mortimer said. “But if it were like, I don’t know, an art teacher, I would understand if things were all over the place.”

Academic adviser Brandis Bernard said she believes that her office says a lot about her taste and cleaning habits, with her many desk lamps and multiple organic ornaments.

Academic adviser Brandis Bernard prefers the warm lighting from her multiple desk lamps than from the florescent lights that reside overhead. She also enjoys a fairly clean office more than one that is cluttered.

“I think it says I have eclectic taste,” Bernard said. “I have different styles in here, just ethnic artifacts in general. I think it says I’m probably fairly organized. I don’t have things just scattered all over.”

Offices not only give visitors thoughts about the person who resides within, but they can even have a toll on a person’s mood or feelings when they walk in. For UNR student Alexander Noble, 22-year-old English and art major, a clean and prepped office can impact him more than a messy one.

“If a professor’s office is neat, I’m more likely to be intimidated because this person is well put together,” Noble said. “I do not feel that I myself am well put together because I’m seeking this person for advice. There’s that element of power.

However UNR faculty and staff are content with their offices because it says a bit about who they are and how they operate. Howard Rosenberg, chair in the department of art and student adviser, is proud of his office and couldn’t care less of what others believe.

“Normally it’s one of these ‘oh my God!’” Rosenberg said. “I’m a pack rat. I never throw anything away. There’s always something I will want if I throw it away, so I keep it.”

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