Lisa Hupf works in RIT's Information and Technology Services Organization. She started her career at RIT in 2005 as a senior web services programmer and analyst and about a year ago, took over as applications development manager for RIT's enterprise business applications team.

Sharitta Gross-Smith serves as Assistant Director of Programmatic Initiatives and Student Development at RIT's Multicultural Center for Academic Success. She started her career at RIT in 2007 as a career services coordinator in the office of Career Services and Cooperative Education. Outside of her formal work at RIT she volunteers and serves on the boards for numerous organizations and nonprofits. Including the WDKX Women for Women Event on the programming and planning committee, and NextStepU.

Anna Lombard is from Russia and in 2005 she moved to the United States to pursue her master's degree in communication and media technology here at RIT. Upon completing her degree, she worked as a marketing specialist for a company called The Lighting Division, then joined RIT as an employee in 2008. Today she works as a payroll, HR, and marketing specialist supporting RIT's global campuses.

Dr. Pine started her career at RIT in 1994 while working in residence life and spent 11 years as Director of the NTID student life team. Now she serves as the Senior Director of the RIT Center for Campus Life. She earned her Doctorate of Education from St. John Fisher in 2012.

Michael Damico teaches as an adjunct faculty member for the Kate Gleason College of Engineering. He's a landscape architect at Stantec by day and serves as VP of External Affairs for the New York Upstate Chapter of the American Society for Landscape Architects.

Chris Denninger began his more than thirty-five year career at the university on patrol and was eventually promoted to director of public safety in 2007 and earned his master's degree in human resources development from RIT in 2003. We talked with him about his path and advice for people seeking to develop their own careers.

Dan Rosica recently announced that that he is retiring at the end of May, and before he ends his 16-year career with RIT, he sat down with us to share insight about how technology will impact the workplace and how to follow develop a fulfilling career.

Positive mentorship experiences can be a critical part of professional development. Warren Bennis, a pioneer of leadership studies, advised those concerned about advancing their careers to “make sure you have someone in your life from whom you can get reflective feedback.” RIT faculty and staff members from various levels and backgrounds shared their experiences with professional development, their stories about what worked for them and how they got to where they are today. While their career paths, fields of expertise and perspectives were all unique, a common thread is that most of them credited their mentors with much of their success.

Featuring Dr. Sandy Johnson, Dr. James Watters, Danny Maffia, Dr. Gerry Buckley, Dr. Lynn Wild and Dr. Sophia Maggelakis

To be an effective employee, regardless of your position, you have to constantly find ways to keep your skills sharp. In an article for Forbes, Margie Warrell said that “to succeed today you must be in a constant state of adaptation – continually unlearning old ‘rules’ and relearning new ones. That requires continually questioning assumptions about how things work, challenging old paradigms, and ‘relearning’ what is now relevant in your job, your industry, your career and your life.”

Featuring Judy Bender, Lyn Kelly, Ebony Miller, Randy Vercauteren and Dr. Bill Destler

When people hear the term “professional development,” they often think about training courses, pursuing degrees and certificates, or other methods of formal instruction. However, if you’re going to advance your career, you’ll also need to develop skills on the job, sometimes by taking assignments slightly above your experience or comfort level. We call these “stretch assignments.” In conversations I’ve had with RIT faculty, staff and administrators, they frequently cited stretch assignments as an important part of professional development.

Featuring Jeanne Casares, Dr. Sandy Johnson, Dr. Kevin McDonald, Ebony Miller and Randy Vercauteren