Brianna
Sprole-Vanderwerken
(she | her | hers)
Empathy, Adaptability, Input, Developer, Intellection
Welcome to my professional e-portfolio!
I am a higher education professional originally from Syracuse, NY and have been working in education for the past 17 years. My passion for students started at an early age. By high school I was tutoring and mentoring students with differing abilities through the Big Brother / Big Sister program and once in college, I sought out new opportunities to work with students every day. I aided in an International High School for an ESOL classroom, interned with the Linguistics Department to help international students with their dissertations, and also served in an administrative role at the large undergraduate research library on my campus. Under the guidance and tutelage of my supervisor, I was inducted into the intriguing world of "behind the scenes" where students so rarely get to tread. This sparked in me an ember that has yet to burn out.
After graduating with my Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics from SUNY at Buffalo in 2005, I was ready for a grand adventure, so I packed my car and traveled across the country to Los Angeles, California, where I landed an amazing job at UCLA. There I was fortunate to work not only with students and books at the Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library, but also with the actual people and staff writing those books. The incredible knowledge that I was privy to, and the guidance that I was afforded during my time there is something that I will never forget. My time there truly paved a path for me in higher education.
Over a decade later, I can safely say that my adventurous spirit has never been sated into submission. I have since lived and worked all over the country. In all of that time, I have always known that my place was in education. Each position that I have excelled in, each joyful smile I see as my students succeed, each correspondence with students telling me how grateful they are that I am in their academic lives, each irreplaceable and unforgettable moment that I have laughed, cried, advocated, and demanded justice or change from an unfair system or practice – all led me to jumping back into school myself.
Now, here I am, a recent Master of Science recipient after 2 years of being an adult learner in the Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration program at SUNY Buffalo State College. In the spring of 2020, with this degree in hand, I aspire to continue my work advocating for students where I have found my skills truly shine - in the Office of the Registrar. My passion for records, policy, assessment, and compliance are well suited for Registrar life, and I'm excited to see where my next chapter starts.
"BE YOURSELF; EVERYONE ELSE IS ALREADY TAKEN."
Oscar Wilde
SUPERVISED PRACTICE
NOVEMBER 2019 - PRESENT
Student Affairs Coordinator
SUNY at Buffalo (UB)
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)
JULY 2019 - NOVEMBER 2019
Project Coordinator; Graduate Student Assistant
SUNY Buffalo State College (BSC)
Office of Events Management
JULY 2019 - SEPTEMBER 2019
Graduate Intern
Hilbert College
Office of Student Records
JANUARY 2019 - JULY 2019
Graduate Intern
SUNY Buffalo State College
Office of Civic & Community Engagement (CCE)
JANUARY 2019 - MAY 2019
Graduate Teaching Assistant
SUNY Buffalo State College
Office of Civic & Community Engagement
AUGUST 2018 - MAY 2019
Campbell Student Union Reservations & Events Manager, Graduate Assistant
SUNY Buffalo State College
Office of Student Leadership & Engagement
● Member of student affairs team creating cocurricular activities for SEAS students
● Lead planning and coordination of SEAS events including Commencement and Pledge to Professionalism
● Maintain SEAS scholarships and oversee scholarship management process through the UB Scholarship portal
● Collaborate with student clubs to support club activities including facilitating and tracking the use of partnership funds, reconciling P-Card, and creating reports for other Dean’s office financial accounts
● Support accreditation and assessment initiatives (for both ABET and Middle States) within the school
● Member of cross-functional team, responsible for campus-wide implementation of 25Live Events and Space Management System in order to provide improved campus safety, data for tracking utilization and resource allocation, and planning
● Served as 25Live Functional Administrator and developed detailed project plans including scope, time, and resources
● Built functionality for all components of 25Live and created security profiles for all users to define access
● Consulted with departments to assess needs, create customized design solutions, and onboard campus stakeholders
● Help to onboard campus stakeholder
• Assisted the Registrar and Coordinator of Academic Advising in developing of FERPA training materials for faculty and staff
• Created graduation cleanup project for student veteran files and processed in VA-ONCE
● Collaborated with the Alternative Break Leadership Team and the Student Civic Leadership Board to implement new initiatives for opportunities for students to engage with their communities
● Collaborated with the CCE Grad Assistant and Director to merge leadership boards to create joint approach to new programming and outreach
● Acted as Staff Advisor to spring Alternative Break trip to Columbus, OH for Youth Justice Reform
● Researched, pitched, and began creating student service-learning manual specific to CCE at BSC
● Co-instructed UNC189: Peer Education and Leadership through presentation and leading intentional group discussion on difficult topics with future peer leaders
● Helped to create, implement and execute grading rubrics for student assessment and evaluation
● Created and maintained classroom slide presentations
● Researched and shared valuable ways for students to get involved with campus community
● Collaborated with Operations Team, Events Management, University Police, and United Students Government to provide information to student organizations, staff, faculty, and outside vendors on union availability, policy, and protocol for events
● Maintained MaxGalaxy scheduling software
● Held Event Planning Meetings and created written agreements with all necessary parties to ensure successful events
● Ran reports for Student Leadership & Engagement to assess space usage, maintain transparency, and ensure proper staffing
INTERESTS
During my two years as a grad student, I lapsed a little on my running! I did get a few good races in, but before grad school for about 7 years it has been a huge part of my life. I've had multiple running groups, but my friends from higher ed and Team RWB are my true running family! Many races for 2020 are canceled, but I recently ran my 16th half marathon! I'm hopeful for 2021's race season!
I admit, I still make mix-tapes for every single occasion! Most recently I made a 2disc mix set for all the guests at our wedding in 2018. I was able to see some really exciting and unique shows in 2019. Although I had a bunch of concerts lined up for 2020, COVID-19 has other plans! Here's to more music in 2021!
CONTACT ME
Feel free to email me directly at
bms.vanderwerken@gmail.com or drop me a note here. I'd love to hear from you!
