Jacinda Chaney is many things: a longtime Burlington County resident, a first-generation college graduate, and the newest assistant director of student accounts at Rowan College at Burlington County, to name a few. But as of April, she’s one thing more: a certified Emerging Leader. 

Just a couple of months ago, Chaney finished the selective National Association of College and University Business Officers’ Emerging Leaders Program, a fine-tuned developmental experience for business officers at the highest education level to help advance their careers. Chaney beat out thousands of applicants to become one of the cohort of 73, who hail from 61 institutions, 30 states, and two countries.

Chaney, an RCBC alum, started working at RCBC part-time in 2016 and transitioned to full-time in 2018. Then, in July of last year, she received a promotion to her current role, a month after she learned about her acceptance into the leadership program. It’s safe to say the NACUBO program came about at the perfect time; in a new elevated position unsure of the best ways to be a leader and manage an office, Chaney wanted to better herself and ascertain optimal methods to support everyone in the Enrollment Management and Student Success office. 

“There’s that nervous energy of, ‘Now I’m going to the next step in my career. What does it mean to be that?’” Chaney asked herself.

Starting in September, Chaney put her nose to the grindstone for eight months, hopping on virtual calls every other week and completing homework outside the sessions. There was a lot of networking, too, her favorite part, where she absorbed new resources and information from the people around her. Along with a better understanding of higher education’s past and present state, she learned the best skills and tools to be an effective leader and examined the impact of higher education business offices and cross-campus relationships. 

“It was really fun, really intensive,” Chaney said. “I was afraid that leadership was just a skill that you naturally had and that I was never going to be able to get to that level. But it can be taught. You can practice at it.”

When drawing together her deep ties to RCBC and her experience with the Emerging Leaders Program, Chaney seems adequately poised to lead her team successfully and confidently assist the next generation of RCBC students in navigating the finances of their educational path. However, self-improvement never stops. Chaney still strives to learn, with dreams of pursuing other training and mentorship programs and further leadership positions, possibly to chief financial officer. Why not? There are no limits once the doors to programs like this open. 

As Chaney puts it, “There’s always room for improvement.”