By Julie Cole

J

une Clark's career path has come full circle.

The Briercrest College and Seminary alumnus has been hired by her alma mater as Vice President of Enrolment—a department she also worked in 27 years ago.

Although her road back to Briercrest has held some interesting twists and turns, Clark's career path has helped equip her for her new position.

While working for Briercrest from 1983-1987, Clark regularly directed teams within event management and media services.

"I always ended up kind of managing people," she said.

This talent for working with people continued to open doors for Clark. After leaving Briercrest, she eventually relocated to British Columbia and gained extensive work experience in government relations, project management, community relations, and management consulting. Clark has spent the last few years doing consulting and project management in the health care sector.

She didn't see a change coming.

Clark admits she was completely surprised when Dwayne Uglem, president of Briercrest College and Seminary, asked her to consider the VP Enrolment position. After praying about it, she and her husband visited Briercrest and they began to feel an excitement about returning.

"I say we caught the bug again," Clark laughed. "We decided that if Briercrest called us to come and do (this job) we would be excited to do it."

Clark hopes that her enthusiasm about Briercrest is contagious. She desires to encourage anyone interested in post-secondary education to explore how Briercrest equips students to serve God in whatever vocation they may choose, and enables them to help others understand who God is.

"I was surprised in my life (by) where my career took me, but my education at Briercrest was one of the key foundational pieces that helped me in every position that I've had—the educational side as well as the grounding of Scripture."

Clark has witnessed this strong foundation in other Briercrest alumni she worked with over the course of her career.

"Although I wasn't focused on working with Briercrest alums, those were the people that surfaced who had the kind of leadership skills and people skills I was looking for in areas where I had the opportunity to employ people."

Clark is excited to come back to the high energy level that students bring to Briercrest. She relishes being in an atmosphere where young people are discovering what they can do in life.

"I'm excited about what I hear about the student body," she said. "(Their) passion for the Lord, but also for learning how to serve and connect with their world."

President Dwayne Uglem is also excited to work with Clark.

"I am delighted with the energy, experience, and competencies June is going to bring to our Enrolment Division."

In coming back to Briercrest, Clark admits there are a few things that she herself will have to "go to school on." She knows two decades can bring a lot of changes to an institution.

"I need to understand ‘What is Briercrest now?' "she insisted.

One of the first items on her agenda is getting to know her new staff and finding ways to complement their areas of strength. Besides that, Clark plans on studying the changes that have happened at Briercrest since she's been gone.

It's this kind of focus that drives the new VP and gives her enthusiasm for the job ahead.

"I get excited when people get involved in their world and get their hands dirty in ministry so that we are just loving people the way we've been loved by God."