Our Mission
The mission of the Undergraduate Development Center is to support the Questrom community by providing intentionally designed programs and services to enrich the academic, personal, and professional development of students in a respectful, inclusive, and equitable learning environment.
Undergraduate Development Center Staff
Want to make an appointment with an advisor? Use Handshake, call 617-353-2650 or stop by the UDC.
Academic Advisors
- Discuss curriculum planning, concentration interests & academic performance
- Create beneficial learning experiences
Meet the Team!
Deanna Baker (she/her)
Assistant Director, Academic Advising
Deanna joined the UDC after nine years at the Archaeological Institute of America, where she worked in member services. She received her BA in Archaeology from BU and, during her studies, excavated at a Mycenaean site in Greece. She is a double Terrier having also completed her EdM in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from BU Wheelock. Originally from Ohio, Deanna has volunteered with children and youth educational programming throughout her life and this commitment to education informed her transition into higher education. In her spare time, Deanna enjoys reading, baking, and exploring Boston’s many pastoral cemeteries.
Focus Area: External Transfers
Questions? Email Deanna at drbaker@bu.edu
Danielle R. Desjardins, EdD (she/her)
Director, Academic Advising & Student Services
Born and raised in Connecticut, Dr. Desjardins is proud to assist in the leadership of the UDC team and is really excited to call Boston her new home! As a first generation college graduate, Dr. Desjardins has earned a Bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of Saint Joseph, a Masters degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University of New Haven, and an EdD in Higher Education Leadership from Regis College, Danielle believes in the power of education, lifelong learning, and the powerful impact of representation in higher ed.
Professionally, Dr. Desjardins has spent her career serving as a passionate advocate for student veterans, military affiliated students, and transfer students and has spent over 10 years in the field of higher education. Outside of work, Danielle enjoys coffee, live music, yoga & pilates, spin (hey Peloton!), floral arranging, and cooking at her new home in Brighton with her family.
Focus Area: Academic Advising and Leadership Support for the Advising Team
Questions? Email Danielle at DrDes@bu.edu
Lindsey Itzkowitz (she/her)
Associate Director, Academic Success & Special Programs
A true New Englander, Lindsey grew up on the South Shore in Massachusetts before receiving her B.A. from the University of Connecticut in journalism and sociology (Go Huskies!) Lindsey then went on to receive her M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from Boston University. Lindsey has spent the last decade dedicating her career to working with undergraduate students across multiple disciplines, including education, human development, the liberal arts, and of course, business. When she is not working, you can find Lindsey spending time with friends & family, running, cooking, and getting in as much outdoor time as possible. Lindsey loves helping students to excel holistically in their college career all the way from orientation through commencement. As Associate Director, Lindsey will focus on supporting students to achieve academic success and oversee special programs including, study abroad, the Questrom Honors Program, and the Academic Success Program.
Focus Area: Oversight of special programs including, study abroad, the Questrom Honors Program, and the Academic Success Program.
Questions? Email Lindsey at lindseyi@bu.edu
Robyn Johnson (she/her)
Assistant Director, Academic Advising
Originally from New Jersey, she holds a B.S. in Nutritional Sciences from Cornell University (’13) and an M.S. in College Student Development & Counseling from Northeastern University (’16). You can find Robyn working on a number of initiatives in the UDC, with a particular focus on supporting Freshman and planning their Orientation experience. She aims to empower students to take responsibility for their educational experiences through a blend of challenge and support and encourage them to engage in academic and personal problem solving and decision making. Robyn currently resides in Brighton, MA, and in her free time can be found reading, running, and pursuing her MBA.
Focus Areas: Freshmen and Orientation
Questions? Email Robyn at robynj@bu.edu
Liz Katz (she/her)
Associate Director, New Student Programs
Liz is a born and raised Massachusetts “South Shore” native having grown up here and gone to school at Emerson College in Boston. With a BFA in Theatre Production & Management, she loves live performances but has always preferred musicals to plays as the idea of being able to sing and dance your problems away has always held a certain appeal to her. Not that long after completing her undergrad she came to Boston University to complete an M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration and has never looked back. When she’s not working you can find her hanging out with friends, family, and her cat (she’ll show you far too many pictures if you ask), and following her favorite band around the world when they tour. If you visit her office you’ll see plenty of pictures of U2 from many of the shows she’s attended over the years (over 30!). Another perk of visiting her in her office is getting to enjoy the rocking chair as well as all of her plants. While she loves helping students plan out their time here at Questrom and BU, what she truly enjoys is working with students to fully realize what they want from their college experience as they make that transition into the “real world” as growth happens in all areas, not just academics. As Associate Director, Liz will be focusing on our new student populations, whether they start with us as first-year students or transfer to us later in their academic careers, to help acclimate them to Questrom life so that they can make the most of their experience here.
Focus Areas: New Student Populations
Questions? Email Liz at lkatz@bu.edu
Sarah Mesnik (she/her)
Front Desk Administrator
Sarah Mesnik has been pulled out of retirement after 15 years of raising kids to come back to the UDC. Her current role is a utility player supporting both the academic advising and operations teams. In addition to helping students at the front desk, Sarah is also the go-to academic advisor for students interested in the Dual Degree Program. Previously she was an Academic Advisor in the UPO from 1998 through the end of 2000. Her career there was cut short due to an early delivery of her first child. Originally from Lexington, currently from Needham, Sarah earned her BA from Tufts and her MA in Higher Education from Boston College.
Questions? Email Sarah at smesnik@bu.edu
Sally E. Ward (she/her)
Assistant Director, Academic Advising
Sally E. Ward joined the staff at Questrom in March 2001. Prior to that date she worked in the Department of Athletics here at the University as well as the Office of Financial Assistance. She also worked at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Sally advises undergraduate students, those students enrolled in CGS planning to continue to Questrom, and serves as the Intra-University Transfer advisor. She works with the Office of Financial Assistance regarding the awarding of Restricted Scholarship funds and serves as the liaison to the Student-Athlete Support Services Office in the Department of Athletics.
She has a B.A. in History and an Ed.M. in Higher Education from Boston University.
Outside of Questrom she enjoys films, reading, being outdoors, and spending time with her dog and her friends and their dogs.
Focus Area: Intra-University Transfer Students and CGS Students Continuing to Questrom
Questions? Email Sally at seward@bu.edu
Career Advisors
- Explore & assess career options
- Develop strong career management skills
Meet the Team!
Trish Harper
Assistant Director, Career Advising
Trish Harper joined Questrom in November 2015 as the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Career Advising. She completed her B.B.A. in Management at Stetson University in Deland, FL and her M.A. in Organizational and Counseling Psychology at Adler University in Chicago. Most recently, Trish was a Senior Career Advisor with The Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. Prior to this she was at Loyola University of Chicago teaching and doing academic advising, and career counseling. Before returning to school to complete her M.A., Trish worked for several years in Human Resources doing recruitment and talent management. In her role at Questrom, Trish supports undergraduate students in constructing and editing professional documents, increasing interview preparedness, discussing job search modalities, and providing direction in career exploration, negotiation of salaries, and conducting self-assessments. She is an admitted MBTI fanatic and truly believes in combining who you are with what you do. Trish enjoys bringing a business and psychology background to working with students and is often described as disarmingly approachable (often because she is mistook for a student herself!). In her appointments she aims to be honest, thorough, and direct, but will also regularly inject a pop culture reference, funny analogy, or terrible pun in as well. Outside of work Trish is an avid sports fan and enjoys playing sports of any kind. She spent several years playing semiprofessional women’s tackle football with the Chicago Force, but now sticks to sports with less equipment like flag football, volleyball, basketball, and kickball. When not outside or on a court, you can find her eating every type of cuisine in the city, sampling New England craft breweries, complaining about winter, and trying to pretend she isn’t crying about the Chicago Bears, the Cubs, or the Blackhawks.
Questions? Email Trish at tharper@bu.edu
Harry Dole
Assistant Director, Career Advising
Harry joined Questrom in November 2021 as the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Career Advising. Prior to working at Questrom, Harry was an academic advisor at BU’s College of Arts and Sciences for three years after completing his EdM in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. He is originally from Syracuse, NY which is where he fell in love with college campuses. Accompanying his parents to work at Syracuse University is his earliest memory of talking to college students. He gave them plenty of advice too, but whether or not SU Law students thought Harry’s 7-year-old take on career development were insightful has yet to be determined. He went on to study English Literature and French at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo, where he fell in love with student affairs and helping college students achieve their personal and professional goals. This longstanding history in education has influenced Harry’s advising style where he aims to let students’ passions inform their career strategy. Letting a student’s personality and uniqueness drive the conversation has always helped Harry to develop a meaningful and individualized plan in his appointments. Outside of work Harry is a very active person. Whether he is training for a marathon, joining friends for a Buffalo Bills watch party (this is our year), or playing in his recreational Dodgebow League (dodgeball and archery, it’s really cool), Harry is always looking for new and exciting opportunities to get involved in.
Questions? Email Harry at dole@bu.edu
Sara Davis
Assistant Director, Career Advising
Sara rejoined Questrom in November 2021 as the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Career Advising. She graduated from Providence College as a psychology major and business minor. During her time at PC, she also had the opportunity to study abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. She lived with a host family an hour north of the city and studied positive psychology! Sara started her professional career at the UDC as a Graduate Assistant on the Career Team. She then shifted to the corporate world at a medium sized investment consulting firm as a Human Resources Assistant and eventually took on an investment role as a Performance Analyst for 2 years producing monthly and quarterly reports for clients. Having gained experience in both the higher education and corporate space, Sara is excited to use her past work experiences to better serve students during appointments and while teaching career courses. Helping others and combining the subjects of psychology and business together whenever possible are what drive Sara on a daily basis in her career. She likes to make empathy, active listening and effective questioning key components of her advising approach so that she can guide students based on the information they share during appointments. Outside of work, Sara is a huge dog lover (especially vizslas). She enjoys spending time with family and friends, watching competition cooking shows, being out on the ocean, taking pictures of the outdoors, and playing the piano!
Questions? Email Sara at sdavis16@bu.edu
Leadership
- Cultivate a supportive and knowledgeable environment
- Establish advising policies and set standards for effective implementation
Meet the Team!
Rachel Reiser (she/her)
Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Student Experience & Services
Rachel Reiser is the Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Student Experience & Services here at Questrom. She often can’t believe that she has worked in undergraduate business education for over 20 years! (That’s a lot of time for an Asian Studies major in college!) You can catch her — among her other less exciting responsibilities — getting to know students at Coffee & Conversation, her fun “pop-up” events, and just around Questrom in general. She does some other stuff aside from work, and a few of her favorites include reading, cooking, word games (think Wordle, crossword puzzles, the Spelling Bee), biking, and kayaking! She loves to chat about these things, including favorite books, recipes, etc!
Rachel was honored and humbled to be one of two recipients of the Boston University Honorary Scarlet Key Award in 2020, presented to faculty, staff, trustees, or alumni in recognition of exemplary leadership and positive impact on others.
Questions? Email Dean Reiser at rreiser@bu.edu
Operations
- Lead customer service initiatives
- Plan and execute student engagement initiatives
Meet the Team!
Sarah Mesnik (she/her)
Front Desk Administrator
Sarah Mesnik has been pulled out of retirement after 15 years of raising kids to come back to the UDC. Her current role is a utility player supporting both the academic advising and operations teams. In addition to helping students at the front desk, Sarah is also the go-to academic advisor for students interested in the Dual Degree Program. Previously she was an Academic Advisor in the UPO from 1998 through the end of 2000. Her career there was cut short due to an early delivery of her first child. Originally from Lexington, currently from Needham, Sarah earned her BA from Tufts and her MA in Higher Education from Boston College
Questions? Email Sarah at smesnik@bu.edu
Zoe Staude (she/her)
Assistant Director of Student Engagement
As the Assistant Director of Student Engagement, Zoe manages all student events for the UDC, works with Questrom affiliated student organizations, and serves as the supervisor for the Senior Program Coordinator and the work-study front desk student workers. Zoe also manages the UDC marketing communications and the office financial administration.
Zoe has been with BU since June 2022. Before joining the UDC, Zoe served as a Student Affairs Specialist at Purdue University working closely with over 1,000 student organizations. Zoe is no stranger to BU as before working at Purdue University, Zoe was an Operations Coordinator at BU’s Goldman School of Dental Medicine’s Continuing Education office. We are so excited to have Zoe back at BU within the UDC at Questrom.
Zoe holds a Master of Science in Higher Education Administration from Purdue University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Curry College. In Zoe’s free time, she likes to eat donuts, pet cows, and spend time with her fiancé Cameron and their pup, Garrett.
Questions? Email Zoe at zstaude@bu.edu
Graduate Assistants
- Conduct document reviews, assess LinkedIn profiles, and offer general career advising
- Develop social media posts, brainstorm event ideas, and provide operational support
- Oversee student-led Advisory Board and serve as a resource to student organizations
Meet the Team!
Becky McCain
Becky McCain is the Graduate Assistant on the Career Advising Team at the UDC. Becky is currently a second-year master’s student at Boston College studying higher education administration and international higher education. At BC, she works in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs. Before starting her master’s degree, Becky was a Teach For America corps member in Providence, RI where she taught 5th grade for 2 years. She graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 2018 with a B.A. in Business Organizations and Society, and Spanish. Aside from higher education, Becky enjoys reading fiction, knitting while watching reality TV, and baking anything with chocolate. Becky is very excited to get to know Questrom students!
Questions? Email Becky at rmccain@bu.edu
Boston University Questrom School of Business
Undergraduate Development Center
Rafik B. Hariri Building
595 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 102
Boston, MA 02215
Undergraduate Development Center
Rafik B. Hariri Building
595 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 102
Boston, MA 02215