Briefly indicate your current role and company.

Assistant Director of Development for the Wilson College of Business within UNI's Foundation.

Briefly describe, how your UNI graduate program prepared you for your current role, profession, career, or research?

I think it helped me get connected on a deeper level within UNI's campus community, and provided me the avenue to meet people that helped me get to where I am today. My graduate assistantship was in the Wilson College of Business, and that experience which started in August of 2021 served as the foundation which brought me to where I am today. Those people and those relationships that I built during my time as a GA where really instrumental in allowing me the opportunity to come back and be a fundraiser for the business college.

Name one or two faculty/staff members who positively influenced your graduate experience at UNI. How did they impact you?

David Schmid - our program coordinator. He was such an encouraging person, and I know he truly wanted each student to succeed. He was reasonable and a person that people could turn to. You can tell he has a background in housing because he's a smart person, but also has a dimension to him that invites students to open up and excel within the program. Jenny Connolly would be the other person - my supervisor during my time as a GA. Jenny has been an incredible mentor to me, and in many ways, unlocked the best sides of me in the work world. She did a fantastic job of empowering me and putting me in places where I had real responsibility. By empowering me and giving me REAL work, Jenny set me up to excel in my future career, and I'll always be grateful to her for the opportunity she gave me.

What course, project, activity, conference, or experience at UNI was most intellectually stimulating?

My graduate assistantship. I was able to advise current students, recruit high school students, run reports, and oversee a student organization. I also had autonomy over some larger projects. That experience lumped together so many experiences which really gave me a great foundation to leap into my career.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your time at UNI? Any advice to students from your perspective now since you are on the field?

I met my wife in this graduate program, so if nothing else, I'm thankful to have gotten a degree and a life-partner! :)