Careers at WGU
Our voices.
Hear from our incredible workforce, in their own words.
Representing a vast array of departments and walks of life, here’s what WGU employees eagerly had to share about how their individual roles play an important part in WGU’s unified mission to help students thrive and succeed.
Scout Parmenter
“I started working at WGU during Pride Month and on my first day of touring through the office I saw Pride flags everywhere. As a queer and non-binary person, that meant the world to me. My colleagues and supervisors are affirming, encouraging, and supportive. I know that our student population is as diverse as our faculty and staff and that matters to me. Now, I have been at WGU for a little over a year as an enrollment counselor (EC) and I work with prospective nursing students as they start their steps with WGU. One of my greatest honors in my time here has been working with our new hires and mentoring them through their first few weeks as an EC. I love helping them learn how to take care of our students and showing them what an incredible team we have here. Since moving to work from home, we’ve had to adjust how we train our new hires in the College of Health Professions. I worked alongside a team of my colleagues to create opportunities for our newest teammates to get to know us to alleviate any feelings of isolation that may come with starting a brand-new job without ever having met any of their coworkers in person.”
Scout Parmenter
Enrollment Counselor II - College of Health Professions Graduate School
“Here at WGU, I feel that we all share a common purpose, and a deep commitment to the good work we do in changing people’s lives. I’ve worked at places where some share that commitment, while others are clearly heading in a different direction. In my time here, I’ve felt that everyone—from the newest hire to the president—are working to a common purpose, that we believe in and value the same things. We may have different approaches, and we may try things that don’t work, but if we are all doing it for the right reason, we will keep getting better. That’s an amazing feeling. I’ve very proud of the day-to-day work of our team. There are definitely highlights, but maintaining a consistent focus on our students, and ensuring that we provide a great workplace for our colleagues, is the most important part of my job. I’ve recently had the privilege of working with a number of our faculty and managers in the College of Business on two important initiatives for employee camaraderie and professional development—both of those are newly launched and I can’t wait to see where they go.”
Tricia Polley-Culberth, MBA, M.Ed.
Senior Manager, Program Faculty - College of Business
Tricia Polley-Culberth
Sunny Jordan
“Prior to my current role as a Strategic Partnership Manager, I served as a Program Mentor for the College of Business IT program. In addition to propelling workforce development goals for our region, I also have a mission to help adult learners discover their purposes by connecting them with meaningful networks, abundant resources, and greater opportunities. More specifically, I strive to establish partnerships with progress-focused education, business, and industry leaders who have similar goals. During my tenure at WGU, I have had the privilege and honor to facilitate training sessions to my colleagues on the ADEPT Model, I have participated in the WGU Emerging Leader certificate program, have authored multiple blog posts on the WGU platform, and was presented with a WGU Dedicated to Development Award. However, the accomplishment that I am most proud of is practicing what I regularly preach by establishing meaningful relationships with leaders and influencers throughout our university. Doing so has not only positioned me to grow, but has also empowered me to help others to do the same.”
Sunny Jordan
Strategic Partnerships Manager - WGU North Carolina
“I feel so blessed to be a part of WGU. I am going into my 5th year here and I can’t express how happy I am with my job. I believe part of this feeling is the fact that we all work towards a common goal together as a team. If one doesn’t find the way, there is always someone else giving you a hand to help you get up and continue the journey. This is especially true with the students. We are here to give them a hand to find their purpose in life.
"As a Latin American (Hispanic) educator, I want to help our community find their purpose in life because we all matter in this world. Which is why I am so proud to be a founding member of our new LatinX Owls Group. I think this is an important time at WGU because a group like this is given the opportunity for employees from all the department to collaborate and help reach WGU’s goals and most importantly, to give a hand to all those individuals who want to reach their purpose.”
Cristina P. Valentino, Ed.D.
Course Instructor, Teacher College
Cristina Valentino
Brandon Lippens
“My role as an enrollment counselor is to help students through the enrollment process to ensure it is as smooth as possible. My goal is focused on the students’ goals and aspirations. A bachelor's or master's can change lives, but the first step of many is through the enrollment process. Some advice I have for new employees is to be patient. There’s a lot to remember and a lot to take in, but there are people around you that will support you. Being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, I feel accepted and appreciated here. There’s so much potential to move up and explore the many avenues of secondary education, all without judgment. Managers and supervisors want to see you accomplish your goals, and they’ll help out as much as possible if they need to!”
Brandon Lippens
Enrollment Counselor, College of IT
“I’ve hired many people on the engineering side since I’ve started, and every one of them is working on advancing our technology on our next-gen platform to better our student experience. Our EdTech organization is full of talented people, and knowing that I’ve helped in hiring many of these individuals, which will help WGU grow and accomplish our goals, has made my experience that much more rewarding. It’s also very encouraging to me that WGU is always willing to change and adapt our systems and processes if it makes sense, which ultimately is about helping our students thrive and succeed.”
Seth Davis
Manager, Talent Acquisition
Seth Davis