Staff

Jerry South is the Assistant Director of Career Coaching. His mission is to help develop students into professional employees by engaging them from their first introduction to NDSU through graduation and beyond. Jerry oversees an extremely motivated and talented staff driven to help prepare every student for the evolution from a classroom to a ‘career everywhere’! He holds a Master of Science from DeVry University in Educational Technology, and a Bachelor of Arts from Chapman University, California in Social Science. Jerry recently moved to Fargo from the San Francisco Bay area where he served as Chief of Education & Training at Travis Air Force Base, CA. He retired from the Air Force in 2012 after 23 years of service. He has worked in educational roles for the past 14 years teaching military students and managing five college satellite campuses serving the educational needs of the military, their families, and retired veterans. Jerry and his wife Jennifer are trained financial coaches and enjoy teaching Financial Peace University classes through church and spending time with family.

Smita Garg works with a resourceful, talented and hard-working team in engaging with internal and external stakeholders to prepare NDSU students for maximum employability.  She understands the value of building relationships and is passionate about creating opportunities and connections to fulfill the Center’s ‘career everywhere’ vision, locally and globally.

Smita holds an MBA in International Marketing from Temple University, Philadelphia, and her career has ranged from being a ‘domestic engineer’ to working in the manufacturing sector, language service business, market research industry, immigrant serving agencies, and government, both at a project and policy level. Multi-lingual, with an interest in culture, travel, and unity in diversity, she has lived in six countries over four continents.  She is a recipient of the ATHENA Leadership Award®.  Last year, she gave a TEDxFargo talk entitled: “Becoming US: Embracing Integration”.

She moved to Fargo with her husband Adi almost 2 1/2 years ago. Their three daughters, Aditi (Chris), Avni and Aneri who live in Canada are her inspiration. Whether you are a student, an alum, a faculty member, or an employer, she encourages you to explore this website and invites you to visit her at 306 Ceres Hall – she looks forward to connecting with you!

As the Assistant Director of the Internship Program, Alli oversees all aspects of the Career Center’s Internship Program. In this role, Alli works collaboratively with key stakeholders, including staff, faculty, employers, and alumni to ensure high quality internship opportunities and experiences are available for all students. She also works to increase the prominence of all internships happening on campus and beyond, adding to the Career Center’s vision of a “career-everywhere” model. Alli holds a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education from Concordia College in Moorhead and holds a master’s degree in Counseling and Student Affairs from MSUM. Prior to coming to NDSU, Alli spent four years as a high school English teacher and also served as a Graduate Assistant in the Career Development Center at MSUM. In her spare time, you can find Alli on the golf course with her husband, Brock, or spending time with their rescue pup, Stella.

Brenda Vertin is the Business Coordinator at the NDSU Career Center. As a team member, she assists co-workers by coordinating finances, data, and backend operations for the office, allowing their focus to remain on students. Prior to working at the Career Center, she worked for the NDSU Extension Service for 12 years. Brenda holds a Bachelor’s degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead and a Microsoft Office Specialist certification.

Brenda and her husband Chad live in the Fargo area with their 3 children. They enjoy traveling, visiting family and friends, and spending time at the lakes in the summer.

As a Senior Career Coach, Olivia works diligently to provide guidance, tools, and resources to students, faculty, and staff in order to assist students and alumni in their career endeavors. Olivia happily oversees the Career Mentor Program in the Career Center where she is dedicated to training student mentors in assisting their peers on campus. Olivia received her bachelor’s degree in Management Communication from NDSU where she spent much of her time rooting on the Bison as a member of the Gold Star Marching Band. While working towards her undergrad degree she started her journey at the NDSU Career Center as a Career Peer and after working for a year became an Intern in the office. Upon her graduation, Olivia found a permanent home in the Center as a Career Coach where she happily gets to support the bison and assist students in reaching their career goals. Before working with the NDSU Career Center Olivia spent time as a Guest Service Associate with Target where solving problems was the name of the game. In her spare time you’ll find Olivia, experimenting in the kitchen, planning her next adventure abroad, attending her brother’s baseball games, and drinking coffee while catching up with friends.

As a Senior Career Coach, Amanda assists students in planning for their futures.  She is enthusiastic about meeting with students to help them identify their strengths, inventory their talents, brainstorm different options to a fulfilling career path, and to help them realize their full potential!  Amanda partners with many faculty and staff throughout campus to assist in implementing the “career-everywhere” model and to ensure that students are able to get connected to Career and Advising Center services. Amanda has a bachelor’s in Human Development and Family Sciences from NDSU and a bachelor’s of Social Work from Minot State University. Her passion has always been helping others, previous to her role at NDSU she worked with nonprofits in the community as a Self-Sufficiency Advocate and a Job Counselor. When not working with students or collaborating with her team at the Career and Advising Center, Amanda enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, going for walks, biking, kayaking, gardening, and visiting her family on the farm.

Amanda is Strong Interest Inventory and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Certified.  Stop by to see Amanda and learn more about the Strong or MBTI and how outcomes can assist with career exploration.

As a Career Coach, Cassie is thrilled to be helping students, alumni, and faculty at NDSU and is excited to be back among the Bison Herd. She believes that the “career-everywhere” model will help provide the best access to Career Center services and that we can best meet the needs of everyone by building relationships with those that we serve.

Cassie has a Master of Arts in History from Western Illinois University, a Bachelor’s of Science in History with minors in Anthropology and Sociology from NDSU, and an Associates of Science from Carl Sandburg College. In her previous work for non-profits, Cassie has worked to create, build, and promote partnerships within communities as the Director of a Main Street Iowa community program and as a Marketing Specialist for a behavioral health care center. Originally from Illinois, she enjoys hanging out with her husband and two dogs, Oreo and Napoleon, going to the movies, traveling, attending a variety of sporting events, golfing, and reading.

Emmanuel is the Internship Program Specialist at the NDSU Career Center. In his role, Emmanuel works with the systems aspect of the Internship Program. Emmanuel also reviews internship postings on CAREERlink to ensure the most meaningful experiences are available to students in order to enhance their learning beyond the classroom. Meeting with students and assisting them meet their career goals through internships is one of the most rewarding aspects of his role. Emmanuel holds a BBA degree in Human Resources Management and Management Information Systems from the University of North Dakota and is pursuing an MBA degree at NDSU. Emmanuel is fascinated about cultures and languages so, he enjoys international travel and interacting with people from different socio-cultural backgrounds. Emmanuel also enjoys playing soccer, volleyball, table tennis and lawn tennis.

As the Employer Partnerships Manager, Pat Interfaces directly and through staff with organizations for the purpose of maximizing employability for NDSU students and recent graduates. He implements strategic plan initiatives to build vibrant partnerships that enhance employer presence at North Dakota State University and creates robust recruiting pipelines between employers and the North Dakota State University community. Pat holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Computer Science from North Dakota State University. He spent 30+ years in software development as a programmer and IT Manager. Pat is passionate about serving others and helping them attain their personal and professional goals.

Pat and his wife Brenda are very active in their church and in Pat’s formation in the Diaconate program of the Diocese of Fargo. Pat and Brenda are blessed with seven children and Pat thoroughly enjoys spending time with family, camping at national and state parks, hiking, traveling, brewing beer, golfing, and officiating high school and college football games.

As the Events Manager, Briana is excited to bring her passion of event planning to NDSU, organizing the Career Expos and various job fairs throughout the year. Briana is thrilled to be back in the Fargo area after spending a few years in Bemidji, MN, working at Knife River Materials where she implemented a new electronic payroll and job costing software. She also immersed herself in the Bemidji community, serving on the planning committees for the Lake Bemidji Dragon Boat Festival, Lake Bemidji Winterfest, and Boys and Girls Club of the Bemidji Area annual fundraising Gala. Briana is no stranger to the NDSU campus, as she completed her Special Events Internship within the College of Engineering at NDSU and has been a part of the Bison BEST Robotics program for the past 11 years.

Briana has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies from Minnesota State University and enjoys spending her free time baking, working on craft projects, and with family at the lake.