In her time at UMKC, Project Director Colleen Kelly served as a graduate intern in Admissions and a staff member in Alumni and Constituent and Relations before moving over to the School of Graduate Studies. She describes herself as a “Jill of all trades,” working with international students’ GTA certification, Alumni and development, marketing, fiscal operations and business operations in her role within SGS.
“I think the reason why I enjoy this position is because it actually comprises all of my previous positions at the university,” she said. “I wasn’t planning to leave University Advancement. One of my colleagues told me about the position [in SGS] and had told me that someone had asked if they knew if I would be interested in it. It was actually the person that held the position prior and she was leaving to be a stay-at-home mother. She asked if I was available to apply.”
Kelly says the position has drastically changed in the last 10 years, and her favorite aspect is the variety of duties.
“Even though I have extreme pendulum swings from one kind of duty to the other, because we are such a small department, and I am a person that is the point person for a lot of different areas of responsibility, I actually enjoy that aspect of this job,” she said. “Other people might find that frustrating, but I enjoy the variety and that’s what keeps me interested.”
She said she really enjoys the opportunity to be an adjunct professor and stay engaged with the student population. This semester, she is teaching Anchor 199 – Surfing the Media Matrix – Keeping Your Head Above Water in an Ocean of Information.
“I think it’s important for administrators to have interactions with students, so that when they’re forming policy decisions, they have first-hand interaction with the students those policies will affect,” she said.
Kelly holds an undergraduate degree from KU and three degrees from UMKC, including a Master of Arts, an Education Specialist, and a Master of Public Administration. She says UMKC makes a good choice for graduate studies because the faculty care about the success of their students.
“UMKC faculty have an avid interest in not only your growth, but also in your research and your learning, your understanding of theory, and the application of that theory that can move your area of study forward,” she said.
She said she can’t imagine not working in higher education, but if she weren’t here, she could foresee herself doing “non-profit community action work.” As a kid, Kelly dreamed of being a fashion merchandiser in New York.
“I envisioned the career to be full of travel, people, and culture,” she said. “But in fact, higher education has all of those things. So in reality, I achieved my dream job.”