Alumni

Degree/major/minor: Bachelor of Science in Sociology/Criminology 

Employment: Non-Profit Executive Director, St. Croix Valley Restorative Services

UWRF's role in your career preparation/Advice to students: My advice to current students - network with your peers and professors, seek internships, and don’t be afraid to explore different paths. Your education is just the beginning; the connections you make now can shape your future!

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Sociology

Employment: Assistant Professor, Florida A&M University

UWRF's role in your career preparation/Advice to Students: Enjoy your time as an undergraduate. Also, make sure to use office hours. Professors set this time aside for students and it is there to help you.

Degree/major/minor: Bachelor of Science in Sociology

Employment: Human Resource Specialist, Pierce County, Wis.

UWRF's role in your career preparation/Advice to students: After receiving my degree I worked in a few different roles until landing my current position. I have come to learn that your work life is a very important and driving factor that plays into one’s normal day to day life. With my role now I get to meet and walk people through a very important step of your career and that is building the foundation to a great one. I interview, recruit and maintain communication with our current staff. I learn something new everyday and love what I do. I talk about my time and degree from UWRF often and enjoy sharing the impact that the institution left on me!

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Sociology and Criminology 

Employment: Corrections Officer, Minnesota Department of Corrections

UWRF's role in your career preparation: Working in a prison has its ups and downs. Obtaining a degree in criminology helped me to understand why some of the people I work with may act the way they do. It really helped me become more patient with people I work with. There are so many opportunities within the DOC, as well as advancement opportunities. Good luck in your college journey!

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Criminology 

Employment: Administrative Assistant, UWRF

UWRF's role in your career preparation/Advice to Students: Don’t be afraid to go into a job that has nothing to do with your major at first.

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Sociology

Employment: Substitute Teacher, School Districts of Hudson and River Falls

UWRF's Role in Your Career Preparation: UWRF helped me to understand what it means to be a well rounded individual. It has opened doors that were not available prior to my receiving my degree. I am also involved in a non-profit that focuses on mental health in our community.

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Sociology

Employment: Customer Account Manager, 3M, Rosemount, Minn.

UWRF's role in your career preparation: The UWRF Sociology Department helped my career readiness by teaching me the value of thoughtful communication and research. My ability to apply research principles and statistics to Lean Six Sigma training and projects in my career has helped me tremendously.

Employment: Community Development Coordinator, Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County, Champaign, Ill.

Comments: After graduating from UWRF, I moved to Champaign, Ill., where my wife is completing veterinary school at the University of Illinois. Here, I gained employment with Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County as a ReStore sales associate. I later transitioned into community development and construction. My broad range of responsibilities include writing environmental clearance reports for new property acquisitions, organizing construction files for audits, leading exterior repair projects, administering checks to subcontractors/vendors, processing grant reimbursement requests and supervising volunteer groups during weekend build days.

Employment: Compliance and Risk Management, U.S. Bank Home Mortgage

Comment: After graduation I found a job in Post-Closing at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in May 2011. I kept searching for the next step and found a job as a mortgage processor with U.S Bank Home Mortgage in September 2011. After a year and a half, I applied for a new job within the company for compliance and risk management. I am now managing the complaints received from multiple avenues including Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and other government regulatory agencies. We also utilize social media to help track customer complaints. My main responsibilities are to track and assist in the response process. All the data I collect is use for audits within the company and by government agencies. I help those who feel they have been discriminated against or wrongfully denied on a loan based on criteria we discussed within sociology. The Fair Lending rules and regulations, along with white collar crimes, apply to my sociology and criminal justice degree even more than I could imagine. Lately, I have been reviewing my options and possibly might pursue my education further by attending law school. I just wanted to give a big thanks to Dr. Davis, Dr. Wallace, Dr. Nissen and Dr. Miller for all your help! 

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Sociology

Employment: As of May 2021, I have full-time employment as a chiropractor in the Madison area at "The Joint Chiropractic".

UWRF's role in your career preparation: I graduated from UWRF in 2008 with a bachelor's in sociology, a doctor of chiropractic from National University of Health Sciences in 2013, and a master of arts in sociology from Sam Houston State University in 2018.

I would like to send a "shout-out" to UWRF's sociology faculty for teaching me sociology, challenging me with complex material, and providing me skills that helped with both my DC and MA degrees. In short, thanks.

Advice to students: A great academic adviser, which I had, tremendously helped me with my classes.

Employment: I work as a psychometrist administering neuropsychological exams to help assess patients for a variety of different cognitive concerns and problems.

Comment: The most valuable things, for my job, that I obtained from my undergraduate degree in sociology, have been the background I got in statistics and research methods. Ethics and any of the courses I took on diversity have been helpful too. 

A psychometrist needs to have a degree in the social sciences because you need that background in statistics and research in order to do the job. The other psychometrists I work with all have degrees in either sociology, psychology or social work.

Employment: Corporate Trainer, Securus Technologies, Washington County Sherriff's Office Jail Management System Division.

Comments: I recently made a career change from working eight years at the Washington County Sheriff's Office in the Jail Division as an Adult and Juvenile Correctional Officer. Now I work as a corporate trainer for Securus Technologies in their Jail Management System division.

During this transition I'm reminded of my time in college and how River Falls helped me to become well rounded and adaptable. Before college I wouldn't have considered a career in Corrections, but with my experience I'm now able to help change how technology works within corrections, which leads to better management in facilities. Couldn't have done it without my degree.

Employment:  Self-employed writer, author of The Crying Tree Diary, and Licensed Social Worker

Comments: As a student at UWRF, I was known as Lorrie Paquin. I graduated with a degree in social work in 1993. I was in a car accident in 1994, so I wrote this book while recovering from a back and neck injury. I propped my key board on my lap and completed the novel over the next six months. It was something that I felt was important to persons in the field of social work as well as to families and children. As I wrote, I began to feel more centered. I have never lost that feeling over the years and it has carried me far away from my humble beginnings.

I have worked for many years in areas of social work that deal with domestic violence and child abuse. I have been very fulfilled as a writer and a social worker. Despite the challenges of a very difficult childhood, I have come to view myself as a fully actuated adult.

I credit UWRF with offering professors with great skills and curriculums that give more than an education. I am most grateful to Dr. Nissen for helping me to learn and facilitating a healing that allowed me to grow beyond the classroom.

I have managed to pay all of my loans and grants and feel that my education was an amazing experience, and money well spent.

Employment: I have been working for Lac du Flambeau Public School for the past 18 years.

Comment:  I got my master's degree in school counseling in 2000. I am now a Family/Student Advocate at Lac du Flambeau and I coach both middle school and high school girls basketball and high school track at the Mercer School District.