What sorts of career opportunities are there in adult and community education?
Graduates from the Master of Arts in Adult and Community Education have a multitude of career options available to them. Previous students are employed in many different types of organizations and institutions and in many different types of jobs. Career opportunities are the result of a combination of the professional experience students bring with them and the academic training they receive in the program. Listed below are some of the careers that are open to graduates from our program.
Adult Basic and Literacy Education
Instructor or Tutor
Program Coordinator/Director
Volunteer Coordinator
Business and Industry
Human Resource/Training Director
Instructional Designer
Director of Employee Relations
Training Consultant
Public Relations Coordinator
Higher Education
Continuing Education Director
Cooperative Extension Agent
Director of Community Services
Conference Coordinator
Professor
Health
Staff Development Coordinator
Coordinator of Nursing Education
Patient Educator
Dietary Supervisor/Consultant
Director of Community Education Programs
Volunteer Services Coordinator
Social Services
Director/Program Coordinator
Job/Career Counselor
Public Relations Specialist
Volunteer Services Coordinator
Community
Community Development Coordinator
Director of Community Outreach
Community Education Coordinator
Parks and Recreation Program Coordinator
Other Careers
Adult Religious Education Director
Vocational Educator
Military Trainer
Corrections Education Teacher
Consultant
Government
Grant Writer
For more information about careers, visit IUP's Career Development Center.
Where else can I look for a job in ACE and AECT?
Here are some great websites to help you locate a position pertaining to the Adult and Community Education and Adult Education and Communications Technology Programs:
Attention ACE and AECT Graduates!
What do our alumni say?
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Andy Simpson
Organization
Tuscarora Intermediate Unit 11 (TIU 11), Community Education Services Department
Job Title
Training Specialist
Duties
"I work on the Pennsylvania Distance Learning Project, the South Central Professional Development Center, and the Pennsylvania Family Literacy Training Project. All are funded through the Bureau of ABLE (Adult Basic Literacy Education).
“The ACE program has empowered me to take charge of my personal growth and professional development within the field of adult and community education. It was a pleasure to learn from, and with, the best and brightest from the field. The experiences with students and faculty were utterly enjoyable and fantastic!”
.jpg "Eric Chverchko")
Eric Chverchko
Organization
KCRS, Inc.
Job Title
Manager of Training
Duties
"As Manager of Training for KCRS, Inc., I coordinate the design, development, and delivery of training programs to large corporate vendors of our integrated Productivity Improvement Health Management Systems (PIHMS) product.
"As a young person in the field, ACE provided me the ability to win the trust of working professionals with my solid foundation and understanding of the educational process. On a daily basis I work with corporations to ease their transition on new product roll-outs by designing, developing and delivering training to various audiences on a product that is specifically tailored to their needs while incorporating industry best practices."
Jolene Formaini, RN, MA, CT
Organization
VNA Hospice, Western Pennsylvania (Butler, Pa.)
Job Title
Certified in Thanatology: Death, Dying, and Bereavement—Bereavement Coordinator and Grief Educator
Duties
"I coordinate bereavement services for 500 hospice families a year and facilitate community grief education/support programs for three counties. I also hold a current part-time position as the owner of Healing Hearts Grief Education and Support Services. I provide private pay grief support/counseling for individuals and facilitate an educational program for parish bereavement ministries entitled '…For They Shall Be Comforted.'
" I initially struggled with my choice of the ACE program rather than an advanced nursing degree program. I soon realized that, through ACE, I could “recreate” myself within the field of nursing….and that has made all the difference. Thanks Gary and Trenton!"
.jpg "Laura DiMuzio-Jurich")
Laura DiMuzio-Jurich
Organization
Harbor Point Housing, Inc.
Job Title
Director
Duties
"I supervise two supportive housing programs that assist people with mental illness in finding housing in the community and provides case management and support services.
"The program gave me the skills necessary to pursue other opportunities within the realm of my current position to develop a continuing education workshop for human and social service professionals. Through my internship I developed a life skills preparation program for people with mental illness and currently teach those workshops."
.jpg "Patricia L. Kirkpatrick")
Patricia L. Kirkpatrick
Organizaton
Armstrong County, Pennsylvania
Job Title
Chairman, Board of Commissioners
Duties
"I am currently serving my first four-year term as a commissioner for the County of Armstrong.
"The ACE program played a pivotal role in both my personal and professional development at a critical time in my life. At the age of 37 I decided a career change was appropriate and that I would need to expand my skills and abilities to reenter the job market. Little did I know then that my career path would lead me to be the first woman elected as a commissioner in the 204-year-old history of Armstrong County.
"The ACE program has helped me to better understand critical issues regarding the people who work and live in the communities I serve. I believe I am well equipped to serve the residents of my county because the ACE program helped to broaden my knowledge base."
Susan Stumpp
Organization
Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio
Job Title
Director of Grants
Duties
She assists faculty and staff in developing proposals and managing funded awards that benefit teaching and learning.
"I bring a program planning approach to my work. I think in terms of goals, desired outcomes, and how to get there. It works in developing grant proposals as well as many other projects. Working with lifelong learners in any setting is interesting and challenging. I value all that I understand because of the ACE program."
.jpg "Nancy J. Lake")
Nancy J. Lake
Organizaton
Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, Pa.
Job Title
Clinical Coordinator of the School of Radiologic Technology
Duties
Correlates clinical education with didactic education in a hospital-based two-year radiologic technology program. Executes a competency-based clinical education system while conducting routine assesment of the program. Facilitates didactic learning in areas such as pathology, medical ethics, radiographic procedures and positioning. Supervises students' clinical experiences and evaluate students' clinical progress.
"As the clinical coordinator, I am responsible for the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of the program's entire clinical component.
"The ACE Program provided me with the skill and knowledge needed to enhance and improve my performance in my present position. In addition, this continuance of my education enabled me to foster through example "lifelong learning" in all the students I have touched." Thank you Drs. Dean, Ferro, and Ritchey!"
Tom Dyniec
Organizaton
ARIN Intermediate Unit, Armstrong and Indiana Counties
Job Title
ARIN Adult Programs Assistant Coordinator
Duties
"At ARIN, the Adult Education and Family Literacy programs are called Adult Programs. The office for these programs is located at the ARIN Center for Education here in Indiana. My responsibilities include managing the building, coordinating programs, writing the grants, managing the budgets, and all other aspects of coordinating certain programs.
"I first started out as a History teacher in the business, but was drawn to Adult Education. Enrolling in ACE and meeting Gary Dean reinforced my love of Adult Education. ACE and Drs. Dean and Ritchey have taught both quality theory and practice that has made me a better teacher and coordinator, and hopefully a better person."
Kathleen Cowles Paul
Organizaton
Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education (PCEE)
Job Title
Director
Duties
"My job is to develop the PCEE as a resource to help all Pennsylvanians find whatever environmental information or resources they need for their personal or professional lives. Our website (www.pcee.org) receives over three million hits per year and provides users with information about environmental facilities, events, resources, and educational materials relevant to many professions.
"I had been 'doing' community education for years before Gary Dean helped me give it a name! ACE gave me new tools and insights to improve my delivery of community education as well as exposure to research and exciting innovations in the field. Thanks for a great career!"
Ilene Greenstone
Organizaton
Jewish Community Center
Job Title
Division Director, Early Childhood Development Center
Duties
"I am the Division Director of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s Early Childhood Development Program, which serves 200 children as young as six weeks old. In this capacity, I am responsible for the overall operation of Family Place, childcare, preschool and Kindergarten programs, as well as staff development and parental support.
"Adult and Community Education and Early Childhood Education are educational backgrounds that appear to be different, but really aren’t. As the director of an early childhood program with firty-five staff members, working with adults is as important as working with children. Who adults are, how they think and learn, and their ways of professionally interacting strongly impact their colleagues and their children. My ACE studies enhanced my ability to effectively influence teachers."
James Kinneer
Organizaton
Indiana Regional Medical Center, Indiana, Pa.
Job Title
Director, People and Organizational Development
Duties
"I am responsible for leading a number of organizational development initiatives that contribute to a culture of performance excellence. This includes orientation, leadership development, teambuilding, and customized training programs.
" I was attracted to the ACE program because I aspired to be a training and development professional. The ACE experience fueled my enthusiasm and passion for adult learning. During the process, I discovered a great deal about myself as a lifelong learner, and today I still use what I gained from the ACE program on a daily basis, supporting the education and training needs of a community medical center. I am fortunate to be doing my dream work, and it is due in a large part to the ACE program."
