By Shira Kipnees II Staff Writer

     After seven years with the College, Kelly Kennedy ’04, the director of College Programs and assistant coach of the Women’s Soccer Team, left F&M for a job at the University of Virginia (UVA).

     Upon her return to campus in 2007, Kennedy’s first role was as College Residential Coordinator, shortly after the College House system was initiated. The position required Kennedy to oversee housing for all of campus, but she primarily focused on developing and managing the lottery system for juniors and seniors and F&M’s relationships with it business partners, like College Row and College Hill, and bringing the James Street Properties portfolio online.

     In 2008, Kennedy was hired as the Director of College Programs. Kennedy explained that at that time and for the six subsequent years, she was charged with providing administrative support for the College House Deans and Dons, in addition to overseeing all student clubs and organizations, which included advising larger groups like Diplomatic Congress, CEC, and Ben’s Underground, among some other responsibilities like the Concert Committee.

     In 2013, Margaret Hazlett, dean of the College, made some adjustments and shifted the support of the College House System to Xay ChongTua, which allowed Kennedy to develop and partake in more student leadership development, primarily the Harwood seminar and being a main creator and collaborator of the #MakeItWork series hoping to improve the funding and function of student clubs and organizations. Kennedy also explained that her office also put more emphasis on policy and procedural support for students through the hard work of Meaghan Kauffman, office coordinator for College Programs.

     Kennedy noted that she has a lot to look forward to at UVA.“I look forward to the further practice of my counseling skill set in the career exploration and job search strategy with individual students [At UVA],” said Kennedy. “I am excited about the opportunity to combine that with my extensive workshop development, community building skills and event management experience.”

     While the exact details of Kennedy’s new job at UVA remain to be fully seen, Kennedy explained that she plans to put her skills to work as a generalist counselor for UVA students, in addition to focusing on developing a career community, including developing partnerships and a network with employer relations, alumni, and students, around a particular industry.

Senior Shira Kipnees is a staff writer. Her email is skipnees@fandm.edu.

By TCR