Judy Beniak (email: benia001@umn.edu), R.N., M.P.H. is the Director of the Health Careers Center. Ms. Beniak has a B.S.N. from Alverno College and a M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota. Most of her professional career in nursing has been at the University of Minnesota. Specialties include organ transplantation, psychiatry, epilepsy and neurology, GI medicine and general medical-surgical nursing. Public health experiences include experience in state government as the Chief, AIDS/Sexually Transmitted Disease with the Minnesota Department of Health. Ms. Beniak also has extensive experience working with interdisciplinary work groups in developing regional and national conferences on a variety of health topics. Ms. Beniak was a co-creator of the Immunization Tour which is a public health initiative for distributing flu vaccine to the University of Minnesota campus community. Currently, Ms. Beniak has a teaching appointment in the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota.
Ms. Beniak is committed to addressing the importance of health careers in our community through the work of the Health Careers Center. This Center will be an opportunity for prospective and currently enrolled students at the University of Minnesota to consider exciting pathways in health careers.
Tricia Todd (email: todd0002@umn.edu ) B.S., M.P.H., is Assistant Director with the Health Careers Center. Tricia has spent fifteen years working in the field of public health, over ten of those years with the Minnesota Department of Health working on workforce and public health infrastructure development. Her most recent responsibilities focused on two public health initiatives – the Emerging Leaders Network, a leadership development program created to identify and nurture future leaders in public health, and the Pathways to Public Health project, a program designed to encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds to get advanced education in public health. Tricia has also provided consulting services in the area of strategic planning, proposal and grant writing, and conference planning. Tricia has served as the president of the Minnesota Public Health Association, and presently is on Health Administration Section Council and serves as Minnesota’s representative to the American Public Health Association.
Becky Hall (email: rahrah@umn.edu) is a Career Consultant and her focus is on vocational assessment, career fairs, and program application and job search skills preparation. Becky has a M..A in Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and a B.A.S. in Psychology and Minor in Gerontology from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. She has worked with college-level job seekers for nearly 10 years. In addition to her work at the Health Careers Center, she works across all of the career services offices on the Twin Cities campus – coordinating collaborative efforts such as the GoldPASS job posting software system, and campus-wide career events. Previously, she was Assistant Director of Career Services at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Technology. Becky is involved with the Minnesota Career Development Association, and served as the President of the organization’s Board of Trustees in 2004-05.
Mera Kachgal (email: kach0016@umn.edu) is a career consultant at the Health Careers Center. Mera teaches undergraduate career classes, facilitates workshops and information sessions, and develops programs/courses. She has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Minnesota's Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology (CSPP) program. She has worked as a career counselor in university settings, the VAMC, and with adult career changers, and she has conducted research on career development/vocational assessment topics
Scott Simpson (email: simps132@umn.edu) is a Careers Consultant at the Health Careers Center. Scott has a M.S. in the Counseling and Student Personnel program from Minnesota State University-Mankato, and a B.S. in Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. Over the past 8 years, he has worked extensively with college students as the Director of Career Services at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has experience working with students on identifying and taking action to explore their career interests and developing an effective job search strategy.
Doneka R. Scott (email: doneka@umn.edu) is an Assistant Professor in the College of Pharmacy and a Career Consultant at the Health Careers Center. Dr. Scott received her Pharm.D. and M.A. in Higher and Postsecondary Education from the University of Michigan. Her research interests include access and retention issues in higher education, career development, cultural competence, and health disparities.
John Alan N Applebaugh (email: appl0049@umn.edu) is a Executive Office and Administrative Specialist at the Health Careers Center. John earned a B.A. in History from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in 2004.