Director of Student Services
Contact:
sjhaughenbur@ualr.edu
501-916-6698
Fine Arts 258
Sarah Haughenbury is from Clinton, Arkansas. In 2013, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology & Anthropology and in Archaeology from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. Her minor was art history. Right after college, she worked two part-time jobs: as a Sales Associate at Dollar General and as a Supervisor of Housekeeping at a motel in Greers Ferry, AR. She studied hard for grad school during this time, and after much perseverance, she was accepted into the University of South Carolina (USC). During grad school, Sarah worked as a teaching assistant. In 2016, she completed a Master of Arts in Anthropology from USC with an emphasis in cultural anthropology.
As Sarah was completing the thesis for her master’s degree, she secured an academic advising and adjunct teaching position at the University of Arkansas-Monticello (UAM). Here, she discovered her love of working with students and being part of their college support system. She worked at UAM from August 2016 until November 2019, and then she began her current role as Director of Student Services at UA Little Rock. In this role, Sarah leads advising and student success initiatives in the College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education.
Sarah loves traveling, dancing, reading, cooking, and spending time with her husband and silly pets!
Sarah’s Takeaway for Students:
“College is your opportunity to prepare yourself for an array of careers. Instead of viewing your major as preparing you for one specific job title for the rest of your life, see your major as equipping you with a set of skills that can be transferred or applied across multiple industries and job titles. College teaches you to be adaptable. This is the value of a college education.
As you can see from my job history, I did not graduate from college and immediately snag a role working in higher education. I worked in retail and the hospitality industry for a while as I planned my next steps. Rather than immediately pursuing a doctorate after finishing my master’s, I made the decision to take more time to figure out what I really want to do. I am glad I did this because this hiatus from earning a doctorate led to me landing my first full-time job in higher education which subsequently helped me realize that I love having a career working with students. After a few more years, I was ready for my current leadership role.
Staff and faculty who work in higher education have very diverse educational backgrounds and career trajectories, and the same can be said for workers in other industries. It is usually not the case that one hat fits all. With all that said, be open-minded to the unexpected twists and turns that life will bring you. I am confident that you will find your way!”
