Reflections Magazine Issue #87 - Fall 2018 | Page 24

Alumni Feature
Rising Stars
Heather Goupil
Chas Frey
Christian Helser II
Barbara Schmidtman, Ph.D.
“Rising Stars”profiles Siena Heights University alumni who have graduated within the past
10 years and who excel in their careers, occupations or community service accomplishments.
To be considered for the “Rising Stars”piece in an upcoming issue of Reflections Magazine,
please fill out the online form at www.sienaheights.edu/risingstars. Those who are selected to
be included in an upcoming issue of the magazine will be contacted by the Reflections staff.
Heather Goupil
Graduation year (from SHU): 2013, Lansing.
Current title/position: Purchasing Specialist,
Capital Area District Libraries, Lansing, Mich.
What Heather is doing: After graduating, she
took on a new role as purchasing specialist for
the Capital Area District Libraries. She is the pub-
lic purchasing agent for CADL, a public library
district of 13 branches serving Ingham County,
Mich. She facilitates the purchase of supplies and
equipment, manages contracts, solicits bids and
evaluates vendors and suppliers among many
other tasks related to public procurement. She
has worked in public libraries for 14 years, and
her goal is to eventually become a librarian.
Immediately after graduation from Siena, she
entered the MLIS program at Wayne State Uni-
versity and was awarded a master's degree in
Library and Information Science in 2016.
24 | Reflections Fall ’18
My favorite moment/story while a student
at Siena Heights was: I received so much support
from my instructors whenever I mentioned my goal
of becoming a librarian. Many shared stories about
the importance of the field or the personal impact
libraries had on their lives, and this feedback really
encouraged me to move right into the master's
program and see it through!
My favorite person at Siena Heights was:
Sharon O'Brien (retired).
Ultimate goal in life: To continue to serve my
community by keeping our libraries strong, relevant
and accessible to all.
My best piece of advice for SHU students is:
Keep going! As a returning student with a full-time
career, classwork was sometimes overwhelming
and there were times I felt like I wasn't moving
forward. Talk to your instructors and classmates;
the encouragement you need is there.