Arlice Banks retires

At Arlice Banks’ retirement celebration, one overarching characteristic was repeatedly mentioned: Arlice is a genuinely nice person. Sure, other adjectives adequately describe Arlice: “smart, competent, organized, caring, sincere,” to offer a few — but she is known as much for being the person who brightens the day of everyone she encounters.

“It comes from my parents. They taught us not to see color and to treat everyone equally,” says Arlice, who grew up in Washington, D.C., in a home with parents who might not have had monetary wealth but had love, wisdom, and common sense in abundance. In her formative years, she learned gratitude and inclusion.

The retrospective of nearly 40 years as an executive assistant within Cheatham Hall starts in fisheries and wildlife, as the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation was known at the time, which predated the creation of the College of Natural Resources and Environment. The job required knowledge of mainframe computers, which she did not have. Arlice promised Larry Neilson, the department head, that she would learn the processes in her own time if he hired her, and he agreed. To this day, there is a copy of the mainframe operator’s manual in her office – not that she needs it decades after the obsolescence and the removal of the mainframe. “I keep it as a reminder that even though there might not always be smooth sailing, I need to advocate for myself, even if the result doesn’t work in my favor,” she said. “Despite the early challenges of getting acclimated to a new job, the people in Fisheries and Wildlife were great. I still consider them my first home.”

After 10 years, Arlice was not looking for a change, but the change was looking for her. The dean’s office, created when CNRE was established as a college in 1993, came calling. At first, she worked primarily with two associate deans, Jim Johnson, and Wolfgang Glasser. Eventually, she became the executive assistant for Paul Winistorfer, the current dean, who will retire in August.

Arlice has been part of CNRE’s growth as new departments, majors, and a larger group of students, faculty, and staff were added. Winistorfer said. “Arlice is 120 percent vested in the success, culture, and trajectory of the college and she has contributed so much to the college over these decades. She has been my right hand for so many years, and I will miss her.”

At Arlice’s retirement celebration, Winistorfer joked about a conversation where Arlice insisted, she would retire first because “I don’t want to train another dean.” Winistorfer also said tongue-in-cheek “that when Arlice leaves, it will become apparent who the real dean has been all these years!”