Katie Erickson received her MAE in Postsecondary Education: Student Affairs from UNI in 2007. She is currently the Exchange Program and Study Abroad Advisor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She recruits students to participate in study abroad programs and assists incoming international students. Fifty percent of her time is spent speaking with students in meetings and information sessions. Her additional responsibilities include marketing, event planning, and the paperwork required for exchange programs.
Erickson is from Des Moines and has a BA in Advertising and a minor in Sociology from Iowa State University. Her own study abroad experience as an undergraduate influenced her decision to work in International Education. She received advice from academic advisors and mentors to help create a path that would allow her to advise students to study abroad and change their lives. She pursued experiences at UNI that would help her achieve that goal. She had assistantships with the Center for Multicultural Education and the Graduate College. She was also a student worker in the Study Abroad Office, International Services Office, and Academic Support Services. She also had a practicum experience in Student Athlete Advising. Although she knew her ultimate goal, she chose this variety of experiences to ensure she was well rounded in student affairs and would have options after graduation.
At UNI, Erickson found the staff and faculty were always supportive of her goals. She says Dr. Mike Waggoner and Dr. Jan Hanish had “great ideas, wonderful teaching styles, and were always honest with their students.” She received support from Susie Schwieger, her supervisor at the Graduate College, related to job searching and interviewing. She advises current graduate students to really get to know your professors and staff. She says UNI is unique in offering students that opportunity. |
Katie Erickson |
