By Erinn Lyden

When Clare Harrison is not in her Williams Building office, carrying out her job responsibilities as the English department business manager, she could be anywhere in Florida camping with her family.

Harrison definitely is an avid and active outdoor enthusiast. Besides camping with her family at Grayton Beach State Park in Santa Rosa, Florida, and Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville, Alabama, she has run two half-marathons and has plans for more races in the future.

“Camping combines my love of nature and the environment with opportunities to be active and to bond as a family and have learning/teaching opportunities for my son,” Harrison says. “We want to teach him about the earth and to respect nature.”

She is passionate about sustainability, conservation, and the environment, values that connect to her love of the outdoors and connecting with nature.

“Being outdoors is a great way to ground yourself and unplug from the busyness of our everyday lives,” she says.

Harrison earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in mass communications from the University of Florida. In addition to that achievement, she has furthered her education by earning a graduate certificate in project management from FSU. A former Gator, Harrison is a current Gator as well, enrolled in UF online courses.

“My passion for the outdoors inspired my pursuit of a second degree in geology,” she says.

Born and raised in Florida, she moved to Tallahassee in 2013. Her background and knowledge in psychology has enriched her responsibilities for the English department.

I love the culture and the environment in the department. It is like a family and a team between the staff, faculty, and students. The English department itself is really tight knit and we’re all a team.

— Clare Harrison

“My experiences have allowed me to see people as people and understand that they are going to go through things sometimes,” she says. “I oversee six different people, six individual people with different personalities, life goals.

“I realize that I have to approach them as individuals and human beings.”

As the department’s business manager, most of her job involves ensuring compliance with university guidelines.

“Since we are a public university, we have to adhere to not only university policies and procedures, but state and federal rules and regulations that we have to follow,” Harrison says. “A big role I play is to know these policies and keep the department chair and associate chairs up to date so they are able to make timely decisions for the department as a whole with these rules in mind.”

Harrison explains that when she took her undergraduate courses, she did not realize that so many people work behind the scenes, making the magic happen. Until she began working at FSU, that is.

Harrison enjoys working at FSU and shows much appreciation for her department.

“I love the culture and the environment in the department,” she says, smiling as she answers. “It is like a family and a team between the staff, faculty, and students. The English department itself is really tight knit and we’re all a team. Everyone looks out for each other, which became very apparent during the pandemic. Everyone helps everyone.”

Harrison feels inspired about furthering her education and being immersed in a highly motivated environment.

“I really value the opportunity for continual education since I’ve been here,” she says, referring specifically to her additional bachelor’s degree and a graduate certificate.

Harrison leaves current FSU students with behind-the-scenes insight.

“Know that there are people working all over the place making your education come to life,” she says.

Erinn Lyden is a junior who is majoring in English-Editing, Writing, and Media, with a minor in Communication and a certificate in Multicultural Marketing Communication.

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