Shauna Crowley '18
Current job title and employer and briefly describe what it is you do: I am currently a HR business partner at Welch’s. Welch’s is a manufacturing organization in the food and beverage industry. In my role, I partner with employees and leaders across the business in various ways relating to employee experience: engagement, hiring and onboarding, compensation, performance management and feedback, compliance, and employee relations.
Academic experience at Saint Michael's College help prepare you for your career: Several of my sociology and anthropology courses helped me prepare by taking a deeper dive and understanding more about societal behaviors and norms. For instance, I have been able to apply concepts like conflict resolution to conversations between employees. I also took an HR course when I was first exploring a career after SMC in HR, which helped supplement my learning by providing real-world examples of employee relations issues that you could see in any workplace. Lastly, many of the courses I took allowed for open dialogue and sharing of diverse perspectives.
Favorite memory or class from your time studying at St. Mike’s: One of my favorite courses was my capstone with Vince Bolduc. Each class was discussion based on readings we had done leading up to the class, but there were several times we went offsite for more work that was team bonding related and wellness. For instance, for one class we went on a retreat to St. Anne’s Shrine, and another we had dinner at Professor Bolduc’s house - each person having their own responsibility to help bring a whole dinner together!
Other information you would like to share or advice for incoming or current students: Keep an open mind, and make the moments count! St. Mikes has so much to offer, and there’s something for everyone to get involved, whether it be volunteering, orientation, fire & rescue, and more. For those that are thinking about their next steps after SMC, don’t be afraid to reach out and leverage your alumni network!