MU graduate fills UM system position

By John Henry

Published April 15, 2008

MU graduate Betsy Rodriguez has been appointed as vice president of human resources for the UM system.

Rodriguez works for the University of Colorado System as its interim associate vice president for human resources. She will begin her work with the UM system in July.

Associate Vice President for Human Resources Blake Danuser currently serves as the interim vice president for human resources for the UM system. He took over the job in January following the retirement of former Vice President Kenneth Hutchinson.

Danuser said Rodriguez would oversee a number of labor-related tasks when she takes over his position.

“It (the vice president for human resources position) has responsibility for employee benefits, employee relations, compensation, human resource information systems, policy and wellness,” Danuser said.

Rodriguez has worked for the state of Colorado as a manager of benefits and risk management and the University of Colorado Denver as a benefits manager. She has also previously worked for the UM system as a staff associate for labor relations.

She said her experience with state legislature from earlier positions will likely help her when she begins to work for the UM system.

“The University of Missouri is a large public institution that needs to have a great relationship with the legislature,” Rodriguez said. “I expect to have opportunities to work with the state legislature and my experience here in Colorado helps me understand how state government works.”

Rodriguez said she has not gotten to know new UM system President Gary Forsee well, but said she would like to align her goals with him in order to help the system’s employees.

“Obviously one of the best resources the University of Missouri has is its employees who work there, and so I want to make sure that those people feel valued and that it’s a great place to work, and then that help makes it a great institution for students,” Rodriguez said.

UC system Vice President for Administration and Chief of Staff Leonard Dinegar originally brought Rodriguez to the UC system from its Denver campus. He said she impacted the system in a relatively short amount of time, causing it to reorganize the president’s office and put some significant areas of work under her responsibility.

Dinegar said Rodriguez would likely fit in well to her new role for the UM system.

“They are very similar institutions in terms of size, background and the types of issues that they are dealing with, as far as I understand,” Dinegar said. “So I think it (her time at Colorado) will prepare her very well.”

He also said the UC system would miss her work.

“I think she’s probably one of the university’s most prized employees,” Dinegar said. “It is a terrible loss for the university but I know personally it is going to be a great opportunity for her.”

Rodriguez graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1980. She went to MU in 1983 to receive her master’s degree in psychology.

She said she will miss the students and staff of the UC system, but is excited to come back to the UM system.

“I am thrilled, I could not be more excited,” Rodriguez said. “My husband and I met there, we talked about going back to Columbia for years, and this is kind of a dream come true for us.”