Lauren Little, Associate Director of Student Services, has worked at IUPUI since May 2018. Before IUPUI, she worked in Career Services at IU Bloomington and as an Academic Advisor at IU East. She chose the opportunity to work at IUPUI because she wanted to move closer to family, work with the student population and work in an urban environment.
Her favorite part of her role is the people she works with. She loves the collaborative environment and the ability to share new ideas and tackle problems together. In fact, Lauren’s #Kelleymoment happened last fall semester, when she was able to see how the career services office ran and how the students were interacting with staff members.
Lauren was always meant to work in education. After earning both her degrees from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, she began her career as a middle school teacher. As a commuter student during her college career, she feels connected to IUPUI because of IUPUI’s similar urban layout and culture.
Lauren utilizes her teaching experience as an associate professor. She’s taught career classes at each IU campus she’s worked at. Lauren has been able to teach a wide range of courses, from basic career exploration classes to very specific classes about entering different industries. She is very involved in career development, serving in professional organizations, and sharing and promoting career advice on her personal social media channels.
One of Lauren's favorite hobbies is baking. In fact, she has been entering baked goods into county and state fairs in Ohio and Indiana since she was young. This year, she received a best in show ribbon at the Indiana State Fair for her oatmeal coconut almond cookies, 1st place for brownies, 2nd place for blueberry muffins and several honorable mentions. You can see her ribbons at the Indiana Arts Building at the state fairgrounds.
Other hobbies Lauren enjoys are hiking and traveling. Recently she traveled to Marble, Colorado to hike and visit the nearby state parks. She also loves taking her dog, Payden to play in parks. She adopted Payden from a humane shelter in Richmond, Indiana. She says her spirit animal is a dog because she’s a big people person and a foodie. Payden lives with Lauren, Lauren’s boyfriend Terry and their rescue cat, Chester.
Her goals for the next few years include traveling more, continuing to enter baking competitions at the Indiana State Fair and staying connected in professional organizations.
Posted by Caitlin Karas, cunnical@iupui.edu