At the beginning of November, we were delighted to remotely welcome Dana Erickson as our new Communications Coordinator. We welcomed her again, this time in-person, in mid-January. Below, Dana offers insight into her role at MSP and a little about herself.
Give us a snapshot of your professional/academic background.
I graduated from North Carolina State University in May of 2021 with a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in public relations and a B.A. in Psychology. During this time, I spent two years working as the Public Relations Intern for a local Girl Scout council. I spent most of my time in this position managing the council’s social media, drafting and pitching press releases to news outlets across 41 counties in North Carolina, and assisting in the review of council publications from outside the marketing and communications department to ensure national brand standards were being met. Being in this position at MSP is my first full-time role.
Describe your role at MSP.
I’ve joined MSP as the Communications Coordinator, so I’ll be managing a lot of the communication efforts for both internal and external audiences. I’ll be working to increase awareness, engagement, enrollment, and fundraising. Basically, I manage social media, the blog, and website and then do other communications tasks as needed for various projects. I also get to help with programming events.
What attracted you to working at MSP?
I’d worked as a College of Humanities and Social Sciences ambassador in college and really enjoyed getting to tell prospective students about programs that meant so much to me. I briefly considered the idea of pursuing a career in college recruitment or new student programming. However, I’m really passionate about the fact that there’s power in how we discuss mental health, especially in regard to treatment, so I decided I wanted to work in a communication position within the mental health space.
I’ve moved a few times in my life and knew that I didn’t particularly want to stay in North Carolina which led to me looking for opportunities in Michigan. When I came across the posting for the position here at MSP it seemed like a perfect blend of my interests. Obviously, it’s a communication position within the world of psychology but it also brought together my interests in higher education and treatment through the clinic.
What are you looking forward to most in this position?
I’m really looking forward to working on the blog. I’ve always enjoyed writing and I think it’s a great space to share thoughts and research on a variety of topics that are relevant to our community. I’m especially excited to learn more about which areas of psychology MSP students are particularly interested in to construct posts they’re excited to read.
What is one thing that people might be surprised to know about you?
I was a competitive swimmer for 14 years but I’m allergic to chlorine!
