Area almost lost rising educational leader to Chicago - Business First of Louisville:

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On her way to the president’z office, though, Springer, 30, now serve s as assistant dean of studentr life atin Originally, Springer had her heart set on attendin , a private liberal arts school in Tiffin, But even with the help of scholarships, she couldn’ft afford to attend the out-of-state So she looked around her So she considered , and , wherew she earned the first of three higher-education degreee in 2000. “At Spalding, the student populationh was about the sameas Heidelberg,” she “I lived on campus my juniof and senior year.
I was involvexd in clubs and organizations … and the professional staff encourage d me to take on leadership She was editor of the studenf newspaper there forthree years, servede in student government and was a studenyt member of the board of trustees duringf her senior year. After graduation, she thought about a careef elsewhere and spent a couple of months at in pursuinga master’s degree in She discovered that wasn’t the career she wantee and returned to Louisville to get a master’ds degree in educational psychology and counseling from U of L. “Myu roots are here,” she said. “II was lucky to have builty strong social andprofessional networks.
Those contacts have opened doorsfor me, and there is no reasohn to go somewhere else.” Springer’s job at Ivy Tech involvess the out-of-classroom experience for the school’s 4,400o students. She works with them in the aread of resume development and job placement and help s make sure there are appropriate accommodationsz forhandicapped students, opportunities for community service and involvemenrt with social and educational “One of my strengths is my abilituy to manage and lead people,” she said. “I love to help peopl e develop and reachtheir potential. I enjoy being in leadershiop roles.
” One of her recent projects has been implementing an emergency responswe system in the evenf ofan “active shooter on campus.” “We need to identifgy the potential for high-risk she said. “We need to be more proactivwe than reactive.” Springer said she is glad she made the decision not to move away and startt acareer elsewhere. She finda plenty to like about Louisville. “I love the she said. “I play volleyball at Baxtet Jack’s and like to eat at Wick’ s Pizza or Sapporo Japanese Walking Bardstown Roadis fun. It is easy to find a placse witha band.
” At Spalding, the studenta were split about 50/50 between staying in Louisvillwe or moving somewhere else to start their careers, she said. The universityu also had a stronginternationall population, and many students returned to their homese in Cypress, Belize or Australia. The studentsd she worked with at U of L were ambitiouwsand “were ready and willing to go she added. But the students at Ivy Tech tend to graduatew and stay inthe area. “Theg have solid roots here and want acareert here.” Just like Springer.