Career Conversations

In this episode, Christine Simone interviews Beverly Walker about her career journey in higher education. Beverly's early time as a community college student has helped to inform her work and laid a foundation for her passion as a relationship builder who helps others find their purpose. Beverly's current role allows her to work with students, employees, and the community. She stresses the importance of showing up authentically and meeting students where they are to "help them to navigate through this world." To aid in the continued professional development of employees, Beverly was part of a team that created VCU's career communities – professional teams that cross departments with a focus on functional job role rather than department. Beverly encourages the use of initiatives such as these to be purposeful in your career path by taking advantage of collaboration and leadership opportunities. Tune in to hear more from this insightful career conversation! LINKS

• Check out NACUBO's other podcasts!
• • CBO Speaks
  • NACUBO in Brief

We're excited to kick off this new podcast with our guest Shawn Norman, senior vice president for operations and finance, at Iowa State University. He shares insights from his career journey about the importance of relationships, collaboration, and mentorship. Building strong relationships and collaborating with others has been critical to Shawn's career success. He moved from accounting to finance and found relationship building and collaboration to be highly rewarding. Great mentors helped him improve skills like delegating and motivating teams. Shawn says being open, honest, and willing to listen enables building trust and connections. Shawn faced roadblocks like being laid off and passed over for promotions. He stresses learning from mistakes, soliciting candid feedback, and persisting. Shawn returned to school to earn his MBA which helped him achieve new career goals. Shawn emphasizes being true to yourself. He believes in bringing his genuine personality to work– being approachable and having fun while still working hard. Shawn advises others to be honest with themselves first so they can be honest with others. Overall, he shares great career insights on relationships, learning, and authenticity. This was a fascinating and insightful career conversation. Be sure to tune in to the full podcast episode! ABOUT SHAWN Shawn Norman began serving as senior vice president for operations and finance on Jan. 1, overseeing five varied units including budget, facilities planning, finance services, payroll and benefits, and business services. Norman comes to Iowa State from the University of Nevada, Reno, where he had been associate vice president for planning, budget, and analysis since 2018 overseeing budgets, enrollment data, decision support, and space coordination. Before that, he served in several capacities at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston from 2003-18 including director of finance, and holds a bachelor's in accounting from Wiley College and a MBA from Boise State University. LINKS

• Connect with Shawn Norman on LinkedIn
• Check out NACUBO's other podcasts!
• • CBO Speaks
  • NACUBO in Brief

NACUBO's new podcast Career Conversations, featuring insights and advice for business professionals new to higher education, starts airing biweekly on September 8th. Make sure to subscribe!