Photos by Patricia Marroquin
Whitney Winn’s experience in funding research, workshop organizing, library science, and media helped pave the way for her new role as the Graduate Division’s Retention Services Director.
Winn, who grew up in north San Diego County, earned her bachelor’s degree in Linguistics at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. While there she was an editor at the college’s newspaper and also worked in the library. She came back to the West Coast after graduation, and earned her Master’s in Library and Information Science at UCLA, completing an internship at National Public Radio during a summer at UCDC.
As Retention Services Director, Winn is in charge of coordinating workshops for graduate students, particularly related to career and professional development skills (see our spring 2012 workshops calendar); planning central events including Graduate Student Appreciation Week, Commencement, and new graduate student orientation; overseeing the GradPost; and supervising the Graduate Student Resource Center and the student peer advisors.
Graduate students are her top priority. “I want to increase the opportunities for grad students to learn about and practice the skills they need to succeed both in their time at UCSB and on the job market, through a variety of different mechanisms,” Winn said. “I also want to make it easy for students to find the information they need online, so I’m excited to be working on some new and redesigned Web content for Graduate Division related to professional development skills and student life.”
Winn’s advice to grad students is to take time to enjoy life and engage in activities outside the classroom. “Get involved in the community beyond your coursework and research, whether it’s a national academic organization, a social group on campus, outreach to K-12, or student governance,” she said.
She takes her own advice. When not working, she enjoys reading, particularly contemporary fiction, young adult literature, and graphic novels. “I also love television, movies, and music,” she said. “I am a big crafter, especially quilting and sewing, and love to do Web and graphic design.”
Winn would love to hear from students on any of the above topics. “You are welcome to contact me at whitney.winn@graddiv.ucsb.edu, 805-893-2671, or stop by the Graduate Student Resource Center in the Student Resource Building.”