Everyone knows Hammons Hall, or at least they know it as what used to be the LifeWay store. But even though the Christian bookstore is gone, the building isn’t empty. The second floor houses several offices of the university, like institutional advancement, alumni relations and university communications. It’s a quiet and calm place, just slightly removed from the other buildings on campus with years’ worth of photos of Union’s graduations, student life and famous speakers lining the hallways.
Few parents and prospective students stop to look carefully at the photographs on the pamphlets they are handed, and rarely do we think about photos on the school’s website or social networks. But someone has to do the background work to gather photographs throughout the year for things like press releases, media and institutional marketing. And that’s where Kristi Woody comes in. You’ve undoubtedly seen her in passing or walking quietly through the aisles during chapel. A Jackson native, Union alum and now photographer and social media coordinator, Woody works in the office of university communications and tirelessly covers multiple events per week at the school while also managing the student photo staff team.
“I grew up in Jackson,” Woody said. “And I started here at Union as a student in Fall of 2006. I always wanted to move away for college, but there were some Union grads at my church who spoke really highly of the school and the art department, so I ended up coming here. I didn’t even apply anywhere else.”
Although she was originally attracted to art, Woody graduated in 2010 with a degree in digital media studies.
“I wanted to be an artist, but I’m just not really,” she laughed. “I like being creative though, so DMS was a good fit for me. But, I was interested in photography. That was the main thing I wanted to do. I started gaining interest for it when I was on yearbook staff in high school. I had to go out and gather photos for it, and I just really enjoyed that.”
Now, Woody does something quite similar by managing Union’s social media. She gathers and posts photos of students studying, hanging out or participating in ResLife events. The beginning of the school year keeps her busy as she runs from event to event trying to get the best shots. It’s certainly a little different for her now as an employee than a student, but she looks back on her time at Union fondly.
“I enjoyed college. The first year was really stressful, just not knowing how to manage my time. And I worked a lot. I was a manager in the mall at the time, so I was working at least 20 hours a week with a full course load. But once I figured that out, it got much better. I loved my photography classes. I liked doing the film work in the old photo house we had.”
I asked her what kept her around Jackson after graduating. She sat back in her chair and laughed. “A boy.”
Woody ended up marrying her high school sweetheart, Rhett, who also later attended Union and earned a degree in engineering.
“I had no intention of moving away from Rhett. I wish I had done a study abroad or something more before I settled down, but I don’t regret staying around here. It worked out well for me because I was in a web development class with Cam Tracy, and he was looking for someone to help him in OUC, basically working on the website. So, I interviewed for that job, and it was part time at first because I was still a student. And then when I graduated, I became full time. It just happened that I was graduating at the right time and was able to walk into that position.”
It was a perfect scenario for Woody, as she could begin a full-time job right after graduation and still be with Rhett. But it got even better for her when she was given the role of photographer for the university in 2014. Although things aligned for her, the transition from student to staff was different than Woody expected.
“It was kind of a long process. The first three years after graduation were just weird being around all my professors and having to learn to call them by their first names. It wasn’t really that weird to work in OUC because I had been a student photographer, so I was already part of the office. But everyone that has worked here since I’ve come in has been really great and professional. They’ve always treated me like a colleague, not a student, which made the transition less difficult,” Woody said.
For Woody, it was harder to move on from her previous role as a student because even though she had graduated, she was still on the campus constantly and was friends with many students.
“It’s weird to graduate college and move on from that point in your life, but still be on campus around the people you were in school with. It kind of felt like an extension of college, but once all those people I was in school with had graduated, I started to feel less weird about it.”
Since a major reason that Woody chose to attend Union were the alums in her church group, and now that she is an alum herself, there is a feeling of responsibility to encourage students to look at Union.
“I definitely feel a need to recruit. And now my actual job is telling the Union story, and telling the Union story is supposed to get people to want to come to Union. So, I’m not an enrollment counselor or anything, but recruiting is a part of my job in a way. But, even in my day to day life I’ll tell high school seniors that are looking at colleges to consider Union and hope that they come here,” Woody said.
But even though Woody loves the energy of always running around campus, engaging with students and editing the never-ending stream of photos, she still sits back at the end of the day and says that the people are her favorite part of the job.
“Tim Ellsworth (associate vice president for university communications and another Union alum) is supportive and respectful. He is a really bold and opinionated person, but he very much has our backs in this office. He will absolutely go to bat for us. Scott Heit (assistant vice president for university communications) is great to work with too. Cam Tracy (web development agent and Union alum) was the same way. Ultimately, we have a really good team, and I’m glad to be a part of it,” Woody said.
To see Kristi’s work with Union, visit: https://www.uu.edu/photos/.
To see Kristi’s wedding photography and personal work, visit: https://www.woodyandpearl.com.
Photo courtesy of Kristi Woody
