photo by steed media service

No student should be denied a fulfilling educational experience. As director of campaign corporate relations for Columbia College Chicago, part of Joe Green’s responsibilities are to raise scholarship dollars for the school, in order to increase opportunities for students. A former Peace Corps volunteer who spent time in Swaziland and Jamaica working in adult education and youth development, Green’s efforts to promote education have proven to be advantageous for students and staff of the learning institution.

“I get a chance to help students finish college ... I’m helping to find money for scholarships for them. One of the largest initiatives that I’m trying to undertake is creating endowed funds for retention [of] students who can’t go from one semester to the next because of financial hardships. I try to find money to help those who don’t have, maybe $1,000 or $300, to go from their sophomore year to their junior year,” explains Green.

Another of Green’s responsibilities is to engage companies in a program that complements the students skills, and communicates with other school departments and deans to identify funding priorities.

“There are too many of our students who don’t graduate simply because they just don’t have enough money — and we’re not talking about the primary tuition ... we’re just talking about the interior costs that are indirectly related to tuition costs. I think that my role in trying to find retention scholarships carries a lot of mileage for some of our students who later become graphic designers [and] product designers in the field of commercial art,” says Green. – jason thompson


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