As assistant director of Academic and Career Success, Jeremy Risinger guides students through the transition to college life, helping them navigate academic challenges and career planning to ensure a successful journey at IUP.
In this Faces of IUP feature, learn about Risinger’s rewarding work of helping students find their path.
In a nutshell, what is your role in serving students at IUP?
As the assistant director of academic and career success in the Career and Professional Development Center, my role is to help students connect with events, programs, and resources that support their success at IUP and in their professional roles.
I coordinate career fairs and other programming to support students as they develop professional skills. I also connect with employers and other campus stakeholders to create as many opportunities for our students as possible. Additionally, I support orientation programming for new students and help them build positive connections as they join the IUP community.
For you, what’s the most rewarding part of working with students?
Seeing how they grow into who they are as a person. Seeing someone become comfortable and develop skills that will benefit them in the future is awesome. It’s also great to see all the amazing things they do on campus and what they do after graduation.
What advice would you give students about how to succeed in college?
The biggest piece of advice I could offer is to lean on those around you and ask for help. Most campus employees have probably been in a situation where they should have asked for help and didn’t. Taking a few moments to connect with someone might be all it takes to keep you on the path to reaching your goals.
Tell us something most people may not know about you.
People might be surprised to know that I studied software engineering at IUP before landing where I am now. It’s a pretty fun story to tell students and a great example of how degrees can be used, no matter what line of work you go into.