Melanie Parker was named executive director of the MIT Careers Office in July 2007. Prior to coming to MIT, she served as the executive director of career services and experiential learning at the University of Central Florida. She has worked in university career services for nearly 20 years, including progressively responsible positions at Mississippi State University and the University of Florida. She is the 2005 recipient of the national NACE/Chevron award for groundbreaking and innovative career programming. Melanie received her Master of Education from Mississippi State University and her Bachelor of Sciences in business administration from the University of Maryland.
"We have already begun a strategic planning process to take career services and study abroad programs to the next level at MIT," Parker said, explaining her vision for the Careers Office.
She said areas of focus include supporting the strategic initiative to increase global education at MIT; incorporating a holistic, competency-based career development model to prepare students to effectively plan and manage their careers; and developing innovative techniques to incorporate educational technology into the delivery of career services. Â
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 3, 2007 (download PDF).
