Tucked in the office of the President, Bobbi and Sheila share a space and a comradery that made it way more fun to interview the two of them together. Spend the next two minutes getting to know them a little better.
Where is your favourite place on campus?
Bobbi: I have a few favourite spots on campus — for different reasons…
Sheila: [Giggles] I can’t listen, because I might have the same!
Bobbi: One of them you totally won’t have as the same answer. I like the water feature outside of Convocation Hall. I think that it’s lovely, has lots of picnic tables, and so people can sit. But on a sentimental personal level, I met my husband Glen in the Dentistry Pharmacy Building in a class, so I like that particular building, for sentimental reasons. Sheila clearly has a water feature too…
Sheila: Actually, I just thought of my answer. So, SUB. I walk through it every day and it’s become a regular part of my routine. But, my mum told my dad that she was having a baby in that building — and I was that baby!
Bobbi: Okay, Sheila wins.
Sheila: And SUB is like totally different now of course, from what it was then.
Bobbi: And to add on to that, SUB’s kind of like the life blood of campus. It has the most energy — whereas mine I like because the water feature is soothing.
Sheila: And when they’re on, you know it’s summer time.
Tablet or paper?
Bobbi: Totally tablet. I like the feel of it — the tactile feel of the tablet, the glass. [To Sheila] I know what you’re going to say…
Sheila: Paper.
Bobbi: And why? I think I know why. I think I know what you’re going to say.
Sheila: I don’t know what I’m going to say [laughs].
Bobbi: You’d say “the satisfaction of checking something off your ‘to do’ list.”
Sheila: Oh, that actually is part of my reason for using paper.
Name one thing you’ve brought to work from home.
Bobbi: Beyond peanut butter?
Sheila: [Laughs] I have my framed picture with Lois Hole from when I graduated.
Bobbi: That is a good one.
Sheila: Yeah. She touched my face.
Bobbi: I have lots of photos of my family — my furry family — I mean, there’s a Glen too.
What is the one thing you can’t live without?
Bobbi: Dr. Pepper. That’s my “can’t live without.” I don’t drink coffee, so it’s the caffeine boost that I need to get through the hectic days. You can tell the pace of the office by the number of Dr. Pepper’s I’ve consumed. And that’s why I go to the Gym! That’s why I can hold a ten minute plank — I have to burn off my Dr. Pepper addiction.
Sheila: Wine?
Bobbi: But you do have some pretty sweet smelling coffee.
Sheila: Yeah, but everyone says coffee. So, mascara.
If you won airfare to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Bobbi: I’d want to go to Easter Island and see the moai. I want to see them in person.
Sheila: I know this doesn’t sound exotic, but the first place that pops to mind is Maui. I’ve been there four times. And I love it. I’ve been to lots of places in the world, and that’s where I’d want to go back.
You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be?
Bobbi: I know my real answer, but I don’t want to say.
[After some gentle coaxing…]
Bobbi: I’m going to go way out into left field because I’d totally invite Eminem. I want to sit with him and just talk about his lyrics.
Sheila: My mum, who passed away seventeen years ago. Because I miss her. [Tears up.]
Bobbi: And then you could share parenting advice and talk to her. And she could meet her grandchildren.
Bobbi: [Following a teary eyed pause.] Okay, but who would I really invite?
Sheila: Oprah. Or Ellen!
Bobbi: So Shelia’s non-serious one is Ellen.
Sheila: [Laughs.]
Bobbi: The only other person I can think of — and I don’t think this is my real answer either — is Margaret Atwood. I would want to talk to her about The Handmaid’s Tale. I want to break it down and analyse the book and the mini-series, but I don’t know. Going back to my first choice — I’d go with Eminem because it’s more that I find him a conundrum. I just want to understand. He confounds me.
If you could switch jobs with someone else on campus for a week, what would you do?
Sheila: The president. [Laughs] But, not really.
Bobbi: Since we experience the presidential role all the time, we have no desire to do that. Instead, I would like to be outside and away from my desk, since I spend so much time sitting. And I would like to work on the grounds crew.
Sheila: Mmmhmm. I’d like to cut the grass.
Bobbi: Absolutely. We have the same answer. Tom McLean [Manager of Landscape Services], we’re coming for your job.
What does “uplifting the whole people” mean to you?
Sheila: For the public good. It’s generally just making the world a better place.
Bobbi: And I’ve always taken the community engagement spin to it; engaging all stakeholders internal and external and all of our communities in the pursuit of knowledge.
Sheila: The university as a gathering point for people and their ideas — it makes so much sense.
If you could solve any problem in the world, what would it be?
If you could solve any problem in the world, what would it be?
Bobbi: Totally, homelessness. It’s a problem of epidemic proportions. So I stand behind the city’s coalition to end homelessness. Everyone deserves a home.
Sheila: Anything against children. Like sick kids, kids in poverty, abuse against kids, it’s too heart breaking for me. Since having kids, harm against children is especially upsetting.
What 3 words best describe your U of A experience?
Sheila: Fulfilling. Purposeful. And, eventful — because I plan events!
Bobbi: Diverse. Rewarding. And, like the Energizer Bunny, still going.
Sheila: That’s too many words.
Bobbi: Then, diverse, rewarding, and non-stop. Boom — three words!
About Bobbi Schiestel and Sheila Stosky
As the Director of the Office of the President, Bobbi Schiestel is responsible for project and issues management, administrative leadership and supervision of the Office of the President. Bobbi provides oversight of senior advisory and administrative management services to both the office and the university.
In her role as the Events and Project Co-ordinator, Sheila Stosky manages all functions and events hosted by the President, schedules the President’s calendar in relation to invitations, and manages the President’s residence.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.