When Jo Morrow was asked how best to describe Terry Nebel, it’s hard to say which came first – the smile or the words.

Before the question was finished, Morrow, a senior administrative secretary in West Virginia University’s College of Business and Economics , said the things that stood out the most about Nebel, her longtime colleague on WVU Staff Council , were his dependability and loyalty to staff.

Nebel, 47, has been a member of Staff Council for 14 years, the last 10 as chair. He’ll step down next month to pursue other interests. A technology specialist in the Office of Information Technology, Nebel isn’t sure if he’ll go back to school or explore career options. One thing he’s certain of, though he’ll have more time on his hands.

“When I first got involved with Staff Council, I had no idea I’d be serving 14 years and serving them all in a row. I never did take a break,” Nebel said. “No one seemed to want to step up and take my place. I finally decided just to step aside and give someone else the opportunity.”

Paul Martinelli, a council member who has known Nebel for more than 25 years, said Nebel’s steadying presence and effective leadership will be sorely missed.

“Terry has set a standard that’s going to be hard to beat,” Martinelli said. “He has set the bar so high its going to be tough to fill his shoes.”

Martinelli, who has been involved with classified staff issues at WVU since the early 1970s, was a mentor for Nebel. The two met when Nebel was a student worker at WVU Extension Service and have spent several decades speaking out on behalf of classified staff.

“I got into Staff Council because of Paul Martinelli,” Nebel said. “When I was a student, it was more helping out, more on committee work or helping count ballots at election time. When I was hired full-time in 1989, he said, ‘You need to run for Staff Council.’ I tease him every once in a while about how he ruined my life.”

Nebel lists his biggest accomplishments as helping to get the classified staff salary schedule funded and successfully challenging the zero-step policy.

Nebel’s best memories, however, are of the people he has met and worked with.

“I really enjoyed the human interaction as a result of being in that position,” he said. “I’m lucky in that I got to meet and work with a mix of people on and off campus classified staff, the president and his cabinet, members of the WVU Board of Governors, local delegates and state senators, City Council and many different politicians and administrators.”

One of Nebel’s regrets is leaving before the arrival of James P. Clements, who takes over as WVU president June 30.

Clements phoned Nebel in April after reading a profile of him in The Daily Athenaeum .

“He told me he regretted that I wouldn’t be part of Staff Council anymore, but he said, ‘Guess what? We’ll be working together somehow,’” Nebel said. “That was very nice of him to call. Totally out of the blue. That shows he’s doing his homework, and it’s nice to see someone of that caliber coming in. It was one of those thoughtful little phone calls that makes your day.”

-WVU-

4/28/09