Susan Townsley would really rather not be doing this interview.

"It's embarrassing," she said modestly. "I prefer to be behind the scenes."

Yet Townsley's "behind-the-scenes" activities are so numerous and influence so many lives that a backstage status hardly befits her.

She is president of UCLA Staff Assembly, a campus organization dedicated to promoting the interests and welfare of 17,000 staff members.

Townsley also serves on the California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education Planning Committee and numerous other committees.

And then there's her real job in the office of Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, vice chancellor of graduate studies and dean of the Graduate Division, for whom she manages postdoctoral research awards along with special events such as the doctoral hooding ceremony at commencement.

Outside of UCLA, she volunteers with a string of community organizations.

"I'm just one of those people who like to be involved," she said, recalling her elementary school years in Los Angeles when she "was always class president or vice president. I liked that."

At the top of Townsley's agenda these days is Staff Assembly's Casino Night. The April 4 event will raise funds for a scholarship program that enables many UCLA staff members to take career-advancing classes they otherwise couldn't afford. She also oversees the Excellence in Service Award, given to one outstanding staff member each year.

"I'm proud to say that I was a co-creator of this award," she said. "Before we proposed this in 1997, UC had distinguished teaching awards and distinguished TA awards, but now we have an award for the staff."

She also presides over Staff Assembly's monthly meetings, which educate staff on relevant bread-and-butter topics such as how the UC budget is funded and how to manage one's retirement investments. Townsley also regularly heads to Oakland and UC campuses to attend the regents' meetings.

Townsley has been at UCLA for 22 years, since her first job as a clerk in the School of Dentistry. She knew instinctively, she said, that "I was going to be here for a long time." Vacations with her family during those early years "revolved around where the different UCs were."

She encourages other staff members to involve themselves in the larger life of the campus via Staff Assembly.

"Everyone is a member. You don't have to join," she said. "It's so good for finding resources. You learn whom to call for what. It makes the campus work better."

For more information on Staff Assembly, check out www.chr.ucla.edu/assembly.