Katharine Susman has one goal for the computer programs she designs: If it’s not as easy as putting a form into a typewriter, no one will use it.
The lesson, which she heard from a customer years ago, is Susman’s mantra.
For her outstanding performance, the senior programmer/analyst for Information Technology Services has received the Chancellor’s Gold ‘U’ Award for February.
Susman’s true talent — problem solving — initially sparked her career as a high school mathematics teacher. “If someone says ‘this probably can’t be done,’ that is the way to get me interested,” she said. “There’s satisfaction in just getting the answer.”
After teaching high school math in New England and Pennsylvania, Susman moved to Nebraska and decided to pursue a career in computers. In 1984, with no computing experience, she accepted an entry-level job at UNMC.
“Then, you had to talk your way into the job and they had to trust you had the ability to learn the skills,” she said. “They took a chance.”
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Susman was hired to document the material management system, which is the relationship between accounts payable, purchasing, inventory and finance. At that time, there weren’t personal computers so she used mainframe terminals and word processing systems.
In her 20 years at UNMC, Susman has worked with three different material management systems, including the latest, university wide SAP system. Last year, she designed the Logistics Launch Pad, a one-stop shopping screen to simplify SAP business functions.
“Katharine has been a long-term employee who has great respect from her colleagues and has earned the reputation as someone who can help make SAP a better tool…her efforts with SAP have had a very positive impact not only on this campus, but on the UNL campus as well,” said one nominator.
“Katharine provides outstanding customer service, improving the effectiveness or efficiencies of our daily operations,” said another nominator. “The university has benefited by her work with the Launch Pad as it enables users to work more efficiently.”
“I like what I do,” Susman said, citing strong support from colleagues and UNMC administrators. “I’m a keep-it-simple person. I believe if you write a user interface and it requires documentation you’ve done something wrong. I put myself in the driver seat of a brand new employee. The hardest part should be where do I buy a pencil, not how do I do it.”
Susman credits her own mother, an avid bridge player, for her problem-solving ability. “I learned that there’s more than one way to solve a problem or play a hand,” said Susman, who by age 16, had earned the distinction of life master — bridge’s equivalent to a black belt in karate.
That lesson in perseverance is taped to the entrance of her cubicle. “I have not failed,” the yellow sticky note reads. “I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Behind her desk, sit photos of her five children: teen-agers Katie, Dan and Ben, and twins Sarah and Elizabeth. Born prematurely, Elizabeth was 18 months when she died waiting for a small bowel transplant. Sarah died last April at age 6. A yellow, 10-foot tube slide on the Camp Munroe Outdoor Playground was dedicated in her memory of Sarah, who enjoyed spending time at Camp Munroe.
Besides gardening, Susman enjoys being with her children and spends part of her weekends volunteering for Munroe-Meyer Institute’s recreation therapy program.