Annie Beurman
Reporting correspondent
abeurma1@jccc.edu
The new Student Life Coordinator, Brittany Martin has taken the job after having worked at the college for over three years. Martin was born in Arkansas and grew up in both Johnson and Miami County. After graduating from Olathe Northwest she received her Associate’s Degree from the college and her Bachelor’s Degree from Ottawa University.
“I’m pretty sure my next step will be the community development program through K-State,” Martin said.
Martin worked a series of different jobs in previous years, such as working for a crystal and china shop and working at a collection agency. Then, Martin came to work for the college.
“I started off as a registration clerk, then I became a student development specialist … and then I was a nursing administrative assistant, and then I was a coordinator for CollegeNow, and now I’m the coordinator for Student Life,” Martin said.
Martin began preparing for the position shortly before winter break.
“I didn’t really start [the job] until after we came back from [winter] break,” Martin said. “My first day was actually a training session the week before the college closed in December and then I came back in January. It’s really been learning about everything we do in Student Life because there wasn’t much time to centrally focus on my job.”
Martin’s direct responsibilities include overseeing The Student Lounge, programming, serving on committees, planning school events and more. She has several goals to make her work environment more organized for her and those she works with.
“Starting summer, we’ll do a full shift in the way our office is structured,” Martin said. “Everyone will have a dedicated role versus being a teen with a quasi-lead … My goals have been trying to increase the foot traffic [in the lounge] … [and] increase our social media presence. There’s a lot of room for improvement in those areas and we’re taking different measures to do that.”
Student Engagement Ambassador Ryanne Pritchard is thankful for the improvement in the organization of her work environment.
“[Martin is] a great leader as far as management goes,” Pritchard said. “She definitely keeps the whole Student Engagement Ambassador group together. We’re getting very organized opposed to when I first started working here and she also makes us all feel included.”
Another Student Engagement Ambassador, Frankie Zeng greatly agrees with Pritchard.
“She has contributed so many good ideas for us and for this office, even for this whole department,” Zeng said. “One idea [of hers] I really like is she makes every team to have very clear duties … after that, every team becomes much more productive than before.”
As for the road ahead, Martin’s very excited about it and the opportunities that lay ahead of her.
“What is there not to be excited about?” Martin asked. “Whether it’s the students that come in the lounge or the campus center, the same students who walk by the office all the time, just building those connections. The students I work with really make everything I do so much fun.”