Laura Ballou, assistant director of student activities at the University of Rochester, has been elected a regional director of the Association of College Unions International. Ballou will oversee programming and professional development activities for the organization's Region 2, which encompasses most of New York state as well as the province of Quebec and eastern Ontario in Canada.
The Association of College Unions International is an organization for professionals and students working in college unions and student activities, including student personnel administrators, program coordinators, student group advisors, food service administrators, financial officers, recreation managers, and deans. Founded in 1914, the organization has 700 institutional members and more than 4,000 individual members in seven countries.
At the University of Rochester, where she has been on staff since 2002, Ballou oversees Wake Up in Wilson and Wilson Commons Wednesdays, which are monthly series of breakfast and lunch events for students, faculty, and staff; the College Bowl competition; the student activities department's outreach efforts; student elections; and the Fall Activities Fair, during which student groups promote their activities. She is also an advisor to student class councils, honor societies, pre-professional organizations, academic councils, and intercollegiate competition groups, and serves on several committees.
Previously, Ballou worked at HelpSource, a non-profit social service agency in Ann Arbor, Mich., where she was an intake and aftercare worker for the foster care department before being appointed director of the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.
Ballou is a graduate of the University of Rochester, earning a bachelor's degree in psychology and a certificate in international relations in 1997. She received her master's degree in social work from the University of Michigan in 1998. While a student at Rochester, Ballou volunteered at Baden Street Settlement, Monroe Middle School, and Sojourner House.
Note to Editors: Ballou lives in southeast Rochester.