Tony Warner has served East Tennessee State University for 30 years. Now, Warner has planned his retirement as the assistant vice president for student affairs, university center and campus ID services in the coming fall semester.
As reported by the East Tennessean, Warner started with East Tennessee State in 1985, having already worked for a number of other universities. The initial plan for Warner at East Tennessee was a short-term move, but after falling in love with the university, he ultimately decided to make the stay more permanent.
Warner’s previous positions included a three-year stint as a resident director for housing at Western Illinois University, as well as a position in student activities at the University of Nebraska. After five years with Nebraska, Warner accepted a position as a director of a small student union at a branch campuses in the Indiana University system. Then came East Tennessee State.
At ETSU, Warner manages the university center and ID services, which includes overseeing the building, reservation system and information desk. Warner also helps market the building and serves as the official liaison with Aramark food services.
As with other campus card admins Warner wears many hats, handling everything from student complaints to new meal plan designs. Warner has been at the heart of new dining initiatives on ETSU’s campus, expanding the options from just four locations when he signed on, to more than 13 locations today.
The improvements made in ETSU’s dining are largely the result of effort put forth by Warner and his colleagues, but Warner also had a hand in the initiation and development of ETSU’s campus ID systems.
“In 1995, the food services noticed how campuses were using electronic cards. We set up a committee and began researching the idea of meal plan cards,” Warner says in an interview with the East Tennessean. “As we started looking around the country and talking with firms that supplied the software, we discovered that what we really needed to do was come up with a student ID card that had meal plan and residential building access.”
After years of improvements and advancements in ETSU’s university center and the campus as a whole, Warner has decided to retire so he can spend more time with his family. Warner has set a retirement date of September 11, exactly two days after his 30-year anniversary working for ETSU.
“I’ve made great friends and lots of great memories, but it’s time for me to retire. It’s been so great to work with all of the students and the friends and colleagues that I’ve developed,” says Warner. “Those are the things that I will remember. It’s working with such great people that has made this 30 years well worth it.”
Congratulations on a great career, Tony!
