Professional Pathfinder: Angela Joyner Jumpstarts Her Campus Career Center

Angela Joyner, Ph.D., is on a mission to take Radford University's Career Center to a new level. She wants to help students find their path to career happiness and success.

The Center's executive director is driving an effort to “evolve the center to focus on three areas that will have the most positive impact on our students” and engage alumni, she said.

Joyner, who began her role at Radford University in June 2016, is determined to create more experiential learning opportunities for students, develop talent and build stronger collaborative communities.

“We want to create a culture where every student has the opportunity to participate in at least one experiential learning activity,” Joyner said. “Whether it be internships, student research, study abroad, work-study or job shadowing, we would like each student to engage in activities that will put their classroom work into practice.”

Application-based experiences, Joyner said, will further develop Radford University students to be engaged contributors in the future.

Radford University has an abundance of talented students who can fulfill those roles, and Joyner aims to provide them with rich personal and professional development opportunities.

Joyner wants to help those talented students connect with industry experts, employers, mentors and alumni. “These communities will also help students connect with others who are interested in the same fields and industries so that they can build strategic relationships that will last a lifetime,” she said.

Before coming to Radford, Joyner served as vice president and general manager of ConAgra Foods in Naperville, Illinois. Her previous higher education experiences include teaching as an adjunct professor of brand management at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine.

Joyner, who is “unapologetically doing what I love,” holds a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University, an MBA in marketing from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a doctorate of philosophy from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

Her greater mission at Radford University is to provide strategic leadership for developing, implementing and evaluating recruiting systems, programs and events to connect employers with Radford University students, faculty and alumni.

“I am excited about the future of the Career Center and how we can help our students be successful,” Joyner said. “With the challenges our world is facing, our students are being called to solve complex problems, serve their communities and add value to their future organizations.

Joyner has spoken to groups of alumni throughout the year and encouraged them to connect with the Career Center and help students find internships and employment upon graduation. During the Alumni Volunteer Summit on campus in February, she discussed ways in which alumni can become more involved.

Rodney Crowe ’89 was a finance major at Radford University and attended the Career Center workshop during the summit. He says that he attended the summit because he wants to give back to the University. He works in the finance area of federal contracting and has ideas for classes that would better prepare students to work in his area of business.

“I see a need and I see how Radford can help fill it,” said Crowe, who is also interested in providing internship opportunities for Radford University students.

“We have to inspire and equip our students so that they can confidently leave their unique contribution in the world,” said Joyner. “Our commitment is to help individuals and organizations thrive. My belief is that our relationship with Highlanders should last a lifetime.” ■

If you would like to become more involved and help students find their professional path, contact Angela Joyner at 540-831-1464 or ajoyner9@radford.edu.