The Pomerantz Career Center values campus partners who invest in their growth to better support students, and we are proud to highlight Career Connectors who demonstrate leadership and dedication to student career success.

Meet Mary Alice Waite
Visitor Services Coordinator, Pentacrest Museums

What is your role at the Pentacrest Museums, and how do you connect with students through your work? 

A major part of my role as the Visitor Services Coordinator is supervising our student docent team of about 15 students. I am passionate about professional development, and I try to embed it into as much of my students' employment here as I can. It has been really fulfilling to connect with students through their entire employment life cycle at UIPM: Hiring, onboarding and training, supervising, and seeing them graduate. My main touch points for connection are my weekly newsletter, where I share major updates, upcoming events, and museum-related tips and tricks; monthly docent meetings, which always include some type of professional development training/workshop/activity; and performance reviews, which I do with every student 90 days into their employment, and then every 6 months.

How has Career Connectors helped you feel more prepared to turn everyday conversations with students into meaningful career conversations? 

Career Connectors has expanded my toolkit for career-related conversations considerably. Before attending Career Connectors sessions, I was using IOWA GROW as my main framework for career conversations. With Career Connectors, I have been able to expand on that, and I also have so many more resources to share with students that I didn't know about before. It can still be intimidating to have career-conversations with students, but I feel much more confident now.

What skills do you see students develop through museum experiences that they can carry into other careers? 

So many! Customer service, cash handling, verbal and written communication, problem-solving, time management, public speaking, differential education, professionalism, industry knowledge, clerical skills, and more.

What is something about your own career path that might surprise students? 

This is my first professional role, as I just graduated Spring 2025, so I am only in the beginning of my career path. One thing from my academic path that may surprise students, is that I started out as a Marketing major my freshman year and didn't become interested in museums as a potential career path until my last year of school. It took trying a couple of different majors out to find the one that fit, which I have used as an example with some of my students when they express concern about not having everything all figured out.

What inspired you to join Career Connectors, and what do you hope to bring into your work with students through the program? 

I already have so many conversations with my students about their academic and career paths, and I am always looking for ways to grow in my leadership/mentoring skills. Career Connectors has been a great way to grow professionally myself, while also increasing my capacity to help my students grow, too. I hope to bring more value to the UIPM student employment experience by helping students learn how to reflect on their work here and articulate it to future employers.