Meet Saint Rose’s New Admissions Counselor

By EMILY PAOLICELLI
Contributing Writer

A master’s student at the College of Saint Rose is doing double duty as the new member of the Undergraduate Admissions team. Jenny Bogda, 28, joined the staff at the beginning of this semester as an Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions. She is assigned the Northeast region of the country and will be responsible for outside events.

“I’m not sure what that entails yet, but I’m excited to find out,” said Bogda.

As the admissions representative for the Northeast, she travels to events in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. “A cool part of this job is that you get to travel, try new things that you wouldn’t have,” said Bogda.

Her favorite trip so far has been to Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and she is looking forward to visiting again. She’s also looking forward to visiting Boston.

Traveling is nothing new for Bogda; she’s already seen a good share of the country. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and moved to Osceola, Iowa when she was eight years-old. Immediately after graduating from Graceland University in Iowa, she began working in admissions in Missouri, and in Illinois after that. She and her husband moved to Albany in June 2017, and Bogda worked at an Educational Opportunity Program in Troy before coming to Saint Rose at the start of this semester. In addition to working in admissions, she is currently enrolled in a master’s program at Saint Rose for Higher Education Leadership and Administration.

“She’s full of energy,” said Matthew Gregus, who worked with Bogda in Illinois. “Always super happy, super smiley.”

Gregus isn’t the only one to comment on Bogda’s demeanor. “She’s probably one of the nicest people I ever met,” said Kaitlin Beam, Bogda’s former colleague at the Educational Opportunity Program in Troy. “She’s a caring, kind, sweet individual who really cares about helping people.”

Bogda said her mother influenced her to pursue higher education as a career path and a field of study.

“My mom graduated high school when she was 16 and moved from Arizona to Tennessee to attend college…and moved back to Arizona after only a semester,” said Bogda. Her mother finally finished her Bachelor’s degree at the age of 43 and has completed three master’s programs since then. “Witnessing my mom overcome so many barriers to complete her education sparked my interest in Higher Education,” said Bogda. “I want to be someone that can knock down barriers for students.”

Not only does Bogda have a passion for the work that she does in admissions, she also holds a passion for Saint Rose itself. Although she only started this semester, her feelings toward Saint Rose have already been established, both through the lens of an admissions employee and of a student at the College.

When choosing where to continue her education, Bogda decided that the experience that Saint Rose had to offer was a better fit for her than what other universities had.

“UAlbany has the Higher Education program, but I was looking for the smaller class sizes,” said Bogda. “I feel like when you go to a school that has a smaller class environment that you just get more out of it.”

She also recalled her positive experiences with various faculty and staff on campus when she was first hired. “The Human Resources office is awesome. They’re so kind and they really want to help you out…you don’t always get that at places,” said Bogda. “And… somebody who’s in charge of putting forth the mission of the institution will email you when you first start working here to…welcome you, and it’s just a very welcoming environment.”

Although admissions seems to be Bogda’s calling, it wasn’t her first career choice. When entering college, she’d planned to become an actress. “I’d been doing it since I was five,” said Bogda. However, once she realized that the community college she first attended did not have a theatre program, she pursued communications instead. She graduated from Graceland with a Bachelor of Arts in communications and a minor in psychology. She still intends to pursue acting in her future, however.

“After I’m done with my Master’s and I’m kinda settled in my career, I’m looking forward to participating in community theatre,” said Bogda. “I get information from a casting agency around here, and they just need, like, extras sometimes, and so… definitely something I want to do.”

Even beyond theatre, she participated in other interests in high school. She was a cheerleader, ran cross country and track, held a position in student council, was president of her junior class, was a member of the speech and debate team, sang in choir, played the tenor saxophone in band, and earned the title of homecoming queen.

Although the diversity of her commitments have been toned down since high school, Bogda is always occupied, between her studies, her travels, and her office work.
“Life is really busy right now,” said Bogda. “But it’s good busy.”