January 2007

Spotlight on Staff: Clint Williams

By Zak M. Salih

Before coming to D.C. to work at GW in 1975, Clint Williams lived on an Ohio farm, growing up through winters that make D.C.’s seem mild. After a brief stint in the late 1980s working for a flower company, he returned to GW where, in 1999, he assumed his current position as assistant director of graduate student enrollment management. Williams never takes the bus or the Metro to work; instead, he walks every morning from his home near 15th and U streets to his office in Rice Hall.

Q: What do you usually eat for breakfast during the work week?

A: Well, here’s the sad part: I don’t eat breakfast. I drink coffee when I get here, maybe three cups throughout the day.

Q: What’s a typical day like in your position?

A: I come in early, go through our online application system, and run reports so I can waive application fees for certain applicants. I pull all of the decisions made on graduate applicants and upload those into admissions software, which makes the decision available to the applicants so they don’t have to call the school. Then I get to my e-mail— everything from working with the budget office to resolving duplicate records in Banner. Knowing about the different policies and requirements for over 200 graduate programs is a challenge, but I like dealing with the students.

Q: What do graduate students tend to forget the most when it comes to the application process?

A: I think that sometimes applicants focus too much on GRE scores when they are only one tool used to make a decision. What faculty and admission offices really pay attention to is the statement of purpose. It’s very critical—it really is the one tool that brings it all home.

Q: Tell me about a favorite hobby of yours.

A: I’ve been into genealogy since 1980. I made a couple books about my family history and thought that I would let it go, but I couldn’t. I’m very lucky in that
my family kept journals, so I transcribed those records. Recently, I did a little book on the military history of my family.

Q: What’s one interesting story you’ve learned about your family?

A: I guess it would be my great-grandfather five generations back, who was from Virginia. His family was killed by native Americans in the Shenandoah Valley in August 1764 and he was taken captive. He escaped after one or two years and came back to build a house called Hope Farm, fight in the American Revolution, and become a very successful man. There are bad things too. [Laughs]
I found a court record of a relative arrested for assault and battery, so you have to be prepared for what you’re going to find.

Q: If someone made a movie of your life, what would it be like?

A: I think it would have to be a comedy. I come from a very fun-loving family. We still get together when I go home, and laugh the whole time. Probably Woody Allen would play me.

Q: Speaking of fun, what’s your favorite ice cream flavor?

A: Boy, that’s an easy one. [Williams points to a sign on his desk that reads, “Save the Earth. It’s the Only Planet with Chocolate.”]

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