and Alumni Relations Position
For more information contact sppnews@gmu.edu.
Heather Gaillard began her new position as Associate Director of Career Services and Alumni Relations for the School of Public Policy March 18. She is responsible for the management of all aspects of career services and alumni relations for masters and Ph.D. students in the school.
Among her many goals for the job, Gaillard hopes to create a solid program to assist students with job search efforts and build relationships with key employers in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Also in her plan: formalizing the internship program and coordinating the effort to develop a School of Public Policy chapter recognized by the GMU alumni affairs office.
"We think our alumni will serve as great resources for job and internship development," she said, "and I hope to formalize many relationships with employers and build on professors' contacts."
Gaillard, who earned her masters in counseling and development in higher education from George Mason University, received support from Nancy Wallace of University Career Services during the transition.
Gaillard comes to the school from a position with the GMU's School of Management. While there she worked in orientation planning and advising within the Office of Student Services. Prior to that, she worked for the University of Maryland College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, the university's largest college, as the coordinator of programming and training. She served as the liaison with the university's main career services center, and provided student and career services. One of her responsibilities was to develop the curriculum for a course helping economics students transition from the undergraduate experience to the professional. Previously she worked for the government of Kuwait as an international student advisor and was the coordinator of marketing and communications for the National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship. Gaillard received her bachelors degree in education from James Madison University in 1992.
"It's very exciting to
create something from the beginning," Gaillard said of her new post.
"I look forward to working with faculty and staff to support the
students."