Manuela Alongi has been working at CSI for over seventeen years, she shares what she wishes people knew about Human Resources.
By: A. J. Olsson
When Manuela Alongi was a young girl she always thought she’d become a teacher, she remembers playing school frequently with her younger brother.
“I had a little brother,” she said. “I would sit him down and teach him things.”
Alongi is not a professor on campus. She is the Director of Human Resources (HR) for CSI and if she could tell you two things about her job it would be that first, no one ever dreamt about becoming a HR Director when they were a kid.
Second, HR has little to no leeway with most things when it comes to hiring, especially for the positions that fall within the Civil Service system. In these cases, you must meet the exact requirements of the job, especially the education and experience requirements. It can be really challenging. If it’s a position that has a Civil Service List, it doesn’t matter how qualified you are if you aren’t on that list, you aren’t getting hired.
Even with all the restraints, Alongi, who colleagues described as straightforward, transactional, and detail oriented managed to get the job done. In 2024, Alongi and her HR staff managed to bring in between 50-100 new staff.
“For last year it’s probably 50, less than 100,” Tasheemah Johnson, CSI’s Recruiting Manager said. “Attrition, it could be new positions, program expansions, or various fundings for new openings.”
However, these numbers did not include the faculty or any of the teaching staff. All academic departments have recruiters in their offices, the HR Department only does the posting. These numbers included positions such as Registrars, Bursars, and Admin Staff.
Alongi hasn’t noticed any trends in the CSI job market. Once a job had funding it was filled. According to Data.com the most common positions for non-instructional staff at CSI in 2024 were Management positions (112), followed by Service (92) then Office and Administrative Support (83).
Alongi was also not concerned about the potential for funding cuts under the Trump Administration based on DEI. She stated that the bottom line is enrollment. As long as the enrollment is there, she feels the funding for the required positions will be there.
Alongi worked in HR at CSI for over seventeen years, starting as a Benefits Coordinator in 2008. She earned her most recent promotion to Director in 2023, she sees the value in working her way up through the ranks.
“I’ve done all the jobs, so I can help when my employees have a challenge,” Alongi said. “I understand what they’re going through.”
Last year she consciously gave her staff of ten the space to function, careful not to micromanage, but she ensured that her crew knew that her door was always open should they encounter issues. She works to keep that professional boundary. At the end of the day working in HR is about serving your customers and at CSI that’s the students, when asked what her favorite day was she answered instantly:
“Commencement,” she said. “Seeing graduation, that’s what it’s all about.”
