By Megan Colloton

Her office is cluttered with papers strewn over tables, desks and bookshelves. Folders and paperwork overflow from boxes spread across the floor, and a large, multicolored tapestry hangs on her wall, bringing some color to an otherwise paper-filled room. She has a small jar on her bookshelf that reads, “extra time,” — something she said she wishes she had more of.

Her name is Kay Onan and her job is special assistant to the man who sits in the center office on the first floor of Churchill Hall — President Richard Freeland.

“Here in the President’s Office is where almost everything happens. The big decisions get made here,” Onan said.

As an employee of the university for the past 25 years, she spends most of her work day in meetings and on the phone. Her agenda last Wednesday included three meetings and two phone conferences before 3 p.m.

The time she spends attending meetings and making phone calls makes up only a fraction of her day. Part of Onan’s responsibilities also include working with student groups the president has scheduled to meet with.

Though she is constantly busy, Onan said she does not let her hectic schedule get to her.

“It’s a very fast-paced office,” she said. “External forces dictate where your day leads. And the time I spend here is not my own.”

But Onan said she loves the variety of the job and that it gives her a deeper appreciation of how the university works.

Onan began her career at Northeastern in 1979 as a chemistry professor. Her move to Boston was quite a change in location from her educational beginning in a one- room schoolhouse in Minnesota. After attending Concordia University, a small liberal arts school, Onan attended Duke University to get her doctorate in chemistry.

Since she began work at the university, Onan said she has seen a lot of change. Onan said she watched the university evolve from a commuting school to a vibrant community.

In 1989, Onan came to Northeastern and moved to the Dean’s Office of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and eventually became the director of graduate schools for the CAS.

In 2000, Onan came to the President’s Office. Throughout her four years as special assistant to the president, Onan said she has fielded a number of unusual inquiries on a daily basis, whether it be from faculty, students, parents or random complaints.

There is a Web site that allows anyone to send President Freeland questions and concerns. These questions first go through Onan and Jean Fleischman, the executive assistant to the president. Onan’s most memorable question still hangs as a quirky reminder on her bulletin board in her office.

The subject line of the e-mail simply reads: “U.S. Trade Embargo in Cuba.” The writer went on in the letter to ask Freeland how long he thought the trade embargo would last and if [Freeland] was reelected, what he planned to do about it.

Apparently the author of the question had his presidents mixed up and thought Freeland was the president of the United States, Onan said.

Onan describes her choice to take the president’s assistant position as a “horizon development.” Since she had an understanding of how academics at Northeastern worked, she came to the President’s Office because of the spectrum of decisions and processes that went through there, she said.

Onan said she thinks they have a “good working relationship.” However, she admitted since Freeland is such a busy person, she tries not to bother him too much.

They discuss advertisements that will promote the university and Freeland also goes to Onan about the content of important speeches he presents, such as the State of the University, Onan said.

Her more than eight hours each day are full to the brim, but Onan said she still enjoys her job to the fullest.

“There aren’t really any negative aspects about this job. But I could always use more storage space,” she said.