Meet the CRC Staff
Melissa Ruggiero
Assistant Dean and Director
Melissa leads the Career Resource Center and manages strategic planning for career development, internships and full-time employment for the school’s graduate and undergraduate populations. She directs a team that provides students with individual and group advising, required career courses, educational and networking events, employer information sessions and interview training. She also uses her extensive career services experience in building and maintaining relationships with all stakeholders, including students, employers, alumni, faculty and staff while remaining active in local, regional and national professional career development organizations.
Her team includes:
Undergraduate Services
Michael A. Paolini
Senior Associate Director
Mike oversees the undergraduate career services team. He also serves as the lead instructor for Part II of our undergraduate Career Connections course, which helps students learn how to take a more thoughtful and proactive approach to career planning, leverage effective career correspondence, interviewing communication, online image branding, networking skills and job/internship search techniques to be successful in achieving their career goals. He works with students, employers and alumni in the areas of Accounting and Internal Audit.
Christopher Salem
Undergraduate Advisement Associate
Chris works with undergraduate students and employers in the areas of finance, management information systems, human resources, marketing and operations and supply chain management. Chris also assists undecided School of Management undergraduates with concentration decisions. In addition, he is the School of Management student club liaison and works closely with all the student leaders.
Caitlin Rush
Associate Director
Caitlin contributes to both the internship and undergraduate services teams. She serves as lead instructor for Part I of our undergraduate Career Connections course, which is designed to assist students in developing a career plan that aligns with their strengths and career interests. In addition, she coordinates experiential learning opportunities focused on career exploration and professional development for our undergraduate students. These opportunities are available through our Career Passport program, which includes our career courses, as well as myriad networking events, conferences, workshops and case competitions. Caitlin also founded our highly successful Management Volunteer Program, which connects students to service learning opportunities throughout Western New York.
Graduate Services
Pamela Krakowiak
Senior Associate Director
Pam leads marketing communications for the office. She also develops and delivers workshops and programming for graduate students and is the lead instructor for the first-semester MBA class discussion course, MGG600. She works most closely with students, employers and alumni in the areas of marketing, health care management and human resources, along with undecided and collaborative degree MBA students.
Katie Rusek
Assistant Director
Katie provides career advisement to finance students in both the MBA and MS programs. She works most closely with students, employers and alumni in the areas of finance and operations and supply chain management. She is also the lead on international student career services, providing specialized resources, career programming and education at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Kevin Thomas
Senior Career Planning and Development Associate
Kevin provides career advisement to MS students in business analytics and management information systems (MIS). He also works with MBA students interested in information technology, cybersecurity and information assurance . He works most closely with students, employers and alumni in the areas of analytics MIS, technology, product management, cybersecurity and risk. Kevin also contributes to the CRC technology team and is the lead on the website.
Employer Relations and Operations
Amy Johnson
Employer Relations Manager
Amy leads employer engagement by developing and strengthening recruiting relationships to maximize full-time job, internship and professional development opportunities for all School of Management graduate and undergraduate students. She fosters long-term partnerships connecting the school and its students with the business community.
Mikayla Walton
Recruitment Coordinator
Mikayla manages the logistics associated with on-campus interviewing, résumé collections and job posting activities for the School of Management. In addition, she coordinates the daily operations of the Career Resource Center, manages the student staff and practice interview program, as well as serves as the primary point of contact for students, employers and faculty.
Andrew Swanson
Assistant Director of Technology and Assessment
Andrew leads assessment for the office, which includes measuring, analyzing, and reporting key performance indicators related to graduate employment outcomes, engagement in experiential learning, customer satisfaction, career readiness and relationship management. He manages student and employer databases and technology platforms to foster innovation and streamlined service for the CRC and the school.
Internships and Experiential Learning
Carrie Gardner
Director
Carrie guides the development and delivery of student and employer services for Internships and Experiential Learning within the School of Management. She assists employers across industries in creating and promoting internships, and advises students at the MBA and MS class levels. She is a co-facilitator of the interdisciplinary Social Impact Fellows program and also the Nonprofit Board Fellowship in collaboration with our Center for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (CLOE) program. She has built a personal brand as a highly dedicated knowledge expert and problem solver. Carrie's prior experience includes serving as director of internships at a big ten university as well as serving as a senior consultant with a global organizational development and outplacement firm.
Lee Bemiller
Assistant Director
Lee focuses on our undergraduate student population. She assists students with defining their goals related to experiential learning and internships, and is available to answer questions regarding BizLink, academic registrations for internship participation, and the work authorization process (for international students). Lee connects with employers to develop substantial and meaningful internship opportunities for undergraduate students. She is also a member of the Career Resource Center’s undergraduate programming team to plan and implement events related to experiential learning. Lee is a higher education and student affairs administration and recruiting professional, with experience recruiting, mentoring, and coordinating programs and internships in an effort to support key initiatives designed to enhance student engagement and college success skills.