At UC, I have committed to growing as an individual, engaging the UC community, and pursuing my passions now and for the future.
"If you want to get a degree, go to class. If you want to get an education, go to college" AT UC, my closest friends have encouraged me, challenged me, and supported me as I discover and grow into the person and professional I aspire to be.
From January to August of 2016, I had the opportunity to live and work in our nation's capital for New America, a leading public policy institute and civic enterprise.
In early 2017, I worked at Psychological Associates, a boutique HR consulting firm in St. Louis, MO that specializes in survey, assessment, leadership development and family business.
During the summer of 2017, I began work for the University of Chicago, where I am responsible for developing a leadership and professional development program for IT staff.
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Hello and welcome!My name is Jeff Back, and I am a student at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, OH. Born and raised in the Cincinnati area, I graduated from Lakota East High School in 2013 and took a quick trip down the road to UC. Since then, my parents have retired to rural Virginia, and my siblings have set roots in Indianapolis and Nashville.
I am a Cincinnatus Presidential Scholar at UC in the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences' Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS) program. I can best describe the program as a self-designed degree program with an individualized curriculum. In it, I've chosen to focus on four key themes: emotional intelligence, change management, education, and leadership. The decision to enter the BIS program didn't come easily. Only after much deliberation and a year studying Industrial Design within the College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning did I find my academic home. It was a terrific year that challenged me, taught me tremendously about design and design thinking, and one that I will always cherish as a pivotal step in my journey. But at the end of the day, a different path was in store for me. Since that time, I've expanded my reach at UC, both academically and otherwise. I've been provided the opportunity to exercise my intellectual curiosity in my coursework, commit more fully to my student organizations, and diversify my professional experiences. On campus, I've broadly engaged the UC community. I am a proud brother in Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, and an active member of several other campus organizations that include ROAR Tour Guides, Student Alumni Council, and Emerging Campus Leaders, a leadership program fro first-year student that I founded alongside one of my closest friends. As a student at UC, I've been blessed to not only engage the campus community academically and extracurricularly, but also professionally. For three years, I worked as a Student Associate in the Office of the President at UC, first under former president Santa J. Ono and then interim president Beverly Davenport. In January 2016, I moved to Washington DC to co-op full-time at New America, a nonprofit civic enterprise and think tank committed to the renewal of American politics, prosperity, and purpose in the Digital Age. For four months, I worked closely with the central communications team to ensure that the work done by our policy analysts and fellows was communicated effectively to the public. I was then offered an extension to my internship, and began to split my time in the summer between the central communications team and the education policy program, where I provided research support to the higher education team. A year later, I began working for Psychological Associates, a boutique HR consulting firm in St. Louis, MO. While at PA, I worked on projects that ranged from client-facing to internal, survey to assessment, and more. I provide support through graphic design, project management, and research for PhD consultants at the company. In May 2017, I moved to Chicago to begin a new co-op at the University of Chicago. Within IT Services, I took lead on developing a leadership and professional development program for members of the ~600-person IT community at the university. The IT Academy will provide development opportunities for all IT staff, and the experience has cumulatively pulled together my personal and professional interests in higher education, change management, and leadership development. Professionally, there are several pieces that are critical to my experiences as an undergraduate and beyond:
With that, thank you for taking an interest in me, and I hope you enjoy that which I have to offer across my portfolio. I sincerely hope that it provides you a better look into my experience as a UC Bearcat and a member of the University Honors and Academics Internship programs. All the best, Jeff Back
Interdisciplinary Studies, Arts & Sciences University of Cincinnati, 2018 [email protected] | 513.374.0696 |