Student Achievements
CSAL Graduate Now Serving as the Assistant Director of Student Engagement at U of M
October 03, 2018
Mariana Naddaf, a College of Student Affairs Leadership graduate, is now serving as the Assistant Director of Student Engagement - Student Employment & Advisory at the University of Michigan (U of M) within the College of Literature, Science and the Arts in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She graduated in 2016 with a Masters of Education in Higher Education from GVSU.
Through her current position at U of M’s Opportunity Hub, she focuses on helping students prepare for what comes post-graduation. She is also responsible for “the hiring, training, and development of student positions within [her] unit that includes 10-15 interns and 50-100 Student Advisory Team (SAT) ambassadors”.
Mariana credits her graduate assistantship with the Student Academic Success Center and course practicums with helping her refine her interests which ultimately led her down the professional path she is on today. She also noted that she had “educational and professional support from faculty and staff at GVSU that led to mentorship relationships and networking opportunities”.
Mariana is optimistic about her future looking potentially toward higher positions, but focusing on positions providing personal growth and further exploration of her field. She has a practical understanding of her career as she explained that “[her Master in Education| from GVSU helped [her] think about a variety of roles possible within higher education and also to consider what is best for [her] individual needs”.
During her time at GVSU, Mariana was the recipient of the Graduate Dean’s Citation Award for Outstanding Thesis Award. Her thesis, Coming Home: How Identity Plays a Role in Students who Study Abroad in an Area That is Representative of Their Heritage, is currently under consideration for submission to the Midwestern Association of Graduate School (MAGS) 2019 Distinguished Master’s Thesis Awards as GVSU’s representative in the competition’s Social Sciences category.
Regarding her thesis, Mariana said, “I look back at it now and I can say it was one of my proudest accomplishments in my life. I had the chance to take a real world situation I had personal interest in and conduct research on the topic”.
Congratulations to Mariana on all her success!