The Career Center is your dedicated partner in navigating the world of career exploration and planning.
Connect with us early and often! We offer ongoing support to help current students and alumni develop and implement a successful career plan, both in the short and long term.
Career Advisors
Chris Babbitt (he/him)
Assistant Director and Career Advisor for the STEM Career Community.
Chris works with students, faculty, and employers within engineering, computing, mathematics, statistics, and physics.
Office Address: 101B DeVos
Phone: (616) 331-6708
Email: [email protected]
Rachel Becklin (she/her)
Senior Associate Director & Internship Specialist
Career Advisor for the Human and Public Service Career Community.
Office Address: 101B DeVos
Phone: (616) 331-6708
Email: [email protected]
Katie Cwiakala (she/her)
Assistant Director and Career Advisor for the Business Career Community.
Katie works with students, faculty, and employers in the Seidman College of Business, as well as HTM and Sport Management. Katie leads the Career Center's peer-to-peer Career Connector program.
Office Address: 101B DEV
Phone: (616) 331-6708
Email: [email protected]
Stephanie Jensen (she/her)
Assistant Director and Career Advisor for the STEM and Healthcare Career Communities.
Stephanie works with students, faculty, and employers in the natural and hard sciences and health-related programs.
Office Address: 200 Student Services
Phone: (616) 331-3311
Email: [email protected]
Lisa Knapp (she/her)
Associate Director and Career Advisor for the Education and Communication and the Arts Career Communities.
Lisa works with students, faculty, and employers in the communications, humanities, and education programs. Lisa leads the Career Center's efforts serving first and second year students as they begin exploring the world of work.
Office Address: 200 Student Services
Phone: (616) 331-3311
Email: [email protected]
Dayna Phillips (she/her)
Assistant Director and Career Advisor for the Human and Public Service Career Community.
Dayna works with student in the College of Education and Community Innovation and also specializes in working with exploratory students.
Office Address: 200 Student Services
Phone: (616) 331-3311
Email: [email protected]
Lori Staggs (she/her)
Associate Director and Career Advisor for the Human and Public Service Career Community.
Lori works with students, faculty, and employers in the Seidman College of Business, as well as HTM and Sport Management.
Office Address: 101B DeVos
Phone: (616) 331-6708
Email: [email protected]
Meghan Veltri (she/her)
Assistant Director and Career Advisor for the Healthcare Career Community.
Meghan works with students, faculty, and staff in health and science programs. She also helps students parallel plan as they seek entrance into competitive secondary admittance programs.
Office Address: 200 Student Services
Phone: (616) 331-3311
Email: [email protected]
Graduate Assistants
David Steadman (he/him)
Graduate Assistant
David is a graduate student in the College Student Affairs Leadership program at GVSU. He assists with career events and outreach and advises students in our engineering & computing, mathematics, statistics, and physics professions. David will work with students in the STEM Career Community.
Office Address: 200 Student Services
Phone: (616) 331-3311
Email: [email protected]
Natalee Williams (she/her)
Graduate Assistant
Natalee is a graduate student in the Social Work and Public Administration programs at GVSU. She works with students in the Communications and Arts Career Community.
Office Address: 200 Student Services
Phone: (616) 331-3311
Email: [email protected]
Employer Relations
Cindy Brown (she/her)
Employer Development Manager
Cindy works with our employer partners to connect to GVSU, recruiting students and alumni for full-time jobs and internships.
Office Address: 101B DeVos
Phone: (616) 331-6708
Email: [email protected]
Kristie Scanlon (she/her)
Employer Relations Coordinator
Kristie specializes in helping employers create and enhance internship programs for GVSU students.
Office Address: 101B DeVos
Phone: (616) 331-6708
Email: [email protected]
Operations and Support
Sonya Barrett (she/her)
Office Coordinator (Allendale)
Sonya manages the front desk of our Allendale office, as well as works with the training and development of our Student Assistants.
Office Address: 200 STU
Phone: (616) 331-3311
Email: [email protected]
Troy Farley (he/him)
Director of the Career Center
Office Address: 101B DeVos
Phone: (616) 331-6708
Email: [email protected]
Joy Hecht (she/her)
Office Coordinator (Pew)
Joy manages the front desk of our DeVos office as well as works with the training and development of our Student Assistants.
Office Address: 101B DeVos
Phone: (616) 331-6708
Email: [email protected]
Dani Lauer (she/her)
Assistant Director and Coordinator of Adult and Alumni Career Resources
Dani works collaboratively with the Alumni Relations Office and Office of Adult and Continuing Studies to curate, build and maintain career resources and initiatives for adult learners and GVSU alumni.
Office Address: 101B DeVos
Phone: (616) 331-6708
Email: [email protected]
Grace Joaquin (she/her)
Assistant Director for Technology and Data Analytics
Grace evaluates the technology needs for the Career Center. She also provides transparency and informs the work the Career Center does through data analytics.
Office Address: 101B DeVos
Phone: (616) 331-6708
Email: [email protected]
Megan Riksen (she/her)
Assistant Director for Marketing and Communications
Megan leads the marketing and communication efforts for the Career Center.
Office Address: 101B DeVos
Phone: (616) 331-6708
Email: [email protected]
Student Staff and Interns
You'll find Career Center Student Assistants covering our Allendale and DeVos offices' front desk; scheduling appointments, checking in students, and helping the office run smoothly.
Career Center Career Connectors can be found out and about around campus; marketing our events, and sharing career advice to resident halls and student groups! You'll also find our Career Connectors running our peer-advising space, CareerLab.
Career Center Interns work in the areas of social media, marketing, communications, events, and data analysis.