On Career Conversations, NACUBO's Christine Simone sits down with higher education professionals to discuss their personal experiences, including successes and challenges of all kinds. They'll offer career advice and insights as well as nuggets of wisdom for business professionals new to higher education.
How Mentors and Instinct Shaped an Unconventional Higher Ed Career
Jennifer Desmarais, Senior Associate Director of Financial Aid at Emerson College in Boston, didn't set out to work in higher education. She started her career in publishing, and when layoffs followed the industry's post-9/11 downturn, she took a front-desk position at a local state college. A mentor there encouraged her to finish her undergraduate degree, opening a path into financial aid that would eventually take her far beyond campus.
Desmarais spent the next decade at the U.S. Department of Education's Boston Regional Office, working across eligibility analysis, program review and compliance, and audit resolution—a rare, comprehensive view of Title IV oversight from the federal side. She has since returned to campus-based work at Emerson, supporting the college's transition from Banner to Workday amid rising demand for higher-level financial aid support.
Throughout the conversation, Desmarais returns to the mentors who shaped her path—from the colleague who urged her to finish her degree, to supervisors who later pushed her toward leadership roles at professional conferences. That thread now shapes how she leads, treating team members with kindness and helping them find what they're good at. Her advice: say yes to opportunities that make you nervous, and remember it's okay to say no if one doesn't work out.
Links
Check out NACUBO's other podcasts!
CBO Speaks (https://learn.nacubo.org/cbo-speaks)
NACUBO in Brief
22 May 2026
Curiosity, Mentors, Mission: Adeeb Mozip
Adeeb Mozip is the executive director of business operations in the Office of Enrollment Management at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. His career began as an accounting intern at Michigan's Office of the Vice President for Research, where early mentorship and hands-on work—including multi-million-dollar reporting—revealed how finance supports an institution's core research mission.
From there, Mozip moved through roles in research administration, the library system, and Wayne State University's School of Information, earning an MBA while beginning a doctorate. A pivotal chapter came at Wayne State Law School, where he helped a new dean transform the school—taking its U.S. News ranking from 105 to 58 and launching three new academic programs. He returned to the University of Michigan three and a half years ago, now leading HR, finance, budget, and facilities within enrollment management.
Mozip credits a broad mentor network—from early supervisors to dissertation advisors—with shaping his leadership philosophy: that leadership means improving the way we serve people. An active NACUBO participant, he has engaged in NACUBO's Emerging Leaders program and chairs CACUBO's conference program committee, most recently receiving the President's Award. His advice to listeners: say yes to projects outside your job description, think beyond your functional area, and take advantage of higher education as a place of continuous learning.
LINKS
NACUBO Emerging Leaders Program (https://nacubo.org/elp)
CACUBO (https://cacubo.memberclicks.net/)
Adeeb Mozip on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aamozip/)
Check out NACUBO's other podcasts!
CBO Speaks (https://learn.nacubo.org/cbo-speaks)
NACUBO in Brief
8 May 2026
From Public Sector to Public Impact: Sean Clayton
Building a Higher Ed Career Through Reinvention
Sean Clayton, associate vice president for business services and controller at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) in Salt Lake City, Utah, took a non-traditional path to higher education. After co-founding and selling a housewares company, Clayton worked briefly in private equity before the recession revealed a hard truth: entrepreneurial experience alone couldn't land him a comparable role without a degree. He returned to school in his late 30s, completed a bachelor's and a master's in taxation, and landed an internship with the Utah State Auditor's Office—his first real exposure to higher ed.
Clayton joined SLCC in 2021 after auditing the institution and connecting with its team. Drawing on his operations background, he tackled food service auxiliaries that had been losing $500,000 annually, ultimately replacing a costly vendor with local restaurants, bringing auxiliaries into the black while better serving a diverse student population. He has since risen to his current role and now sits on SLCC's Cabinet Team, bringing a finance and strategy lens to institution-wide decisions.
A 360 evaluation early in his business career forced a reckoning with an authoritarian leadership style he hadn't recognized in himself. The experience prompted emotional intelligence training and a lasting shift toward collaboration—one later affirmed through a second 360 during NACUBO's Emerging Leaders program. His advice to listeners: be innovative, let your people fail, and make empathy a practice.
Links
Check out NACUBO's other podcasts!
CBO Speaks (https://learn.nacubo.org/cbo-speaks)
NACUBO in Brief
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