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Gary Alan Miller, 20-year veteran of higher education, currently serves as Director of University Career Services at UNC-Chapel Hill. He also previously worked at UNC-Chapel Hill as both Assistant Director for Social Media and Innovation with University Career Services and Senior Assistant Dean with Academic Advising. Prior to becoming Director at UCS, Gary was Executive Director of the Career Center at Hofstra University and previously worked at Georgia State University and the University of Washington.
Gary has provided keynote, plenary and breakout sessions at EACE, SoACE, NCACE, SCACE, GACE, and MCEEA, as well as a pre-conference session and multiple breakout sessions NACE. In October 2009 he gave one of the earliest career services association keynotes on the use of social media in career development for NCCDA. He was a finalist for the 2013 NACE Innovation Excellence Award in Research for a study completed with his UNC colleague Katherine Nobles on career center innovation. Resultantly, the pair contributed a chapter in Leadership in Career Services: Voices From the Field (2013, Contomanolis and Steinfeld). In 2015, Gary and Katherine published an eBook titled Collaboration in Career Services.
In May 2018, Gary received his Doctorate from Hofstra University with a specialization in Educational Psychology.
How did you get into the Career Services profession?
My career was initially in academic advising for about 10 years. After I moved to Seattle and took a position in UW School of Business, I picked up responsibilities related to their internship program. That was my first step into the career world. When I moved back to Chapel Hill in 2008, I was fortunate enough to be hired by my current office and after a leadership change was given the awesome title of Assistant Director for Social Media and Innovation in 2010. That really established me in the field, because at that same time I began writing a lot for NACE Spotlight and presenting at every conference I could.
Describe your SoACE Experience. How did you get involved and how has that experience influenced you?
I had previously presented at SoACE. But, due to various unusual circumstances, my very first association role was actually to be a board member. I met and worked with some great colleagues that year, before getting recruited to Hofstra and thus moving into the EACE footprint. So, I was only in the role for one year. But, during that time I helped establish a number of things, some of which are still going strong today, including the SoACE Kudos program, the “Made Better” campaign, the Conference Consulting Initiative, and planting the seed of the Employer Relations Summit. I’m proud of that initial impact and happy that I again get to be an active part of my favorite professional community.
What advice do you have for new professionals who aspire to get more involved in the profession?
My biggest advice is to simply put yourself out there – find topics that inspire you, find your voice, and start contributing! Write, present, volunteer and collaborate. Make friends, bring ideas, and just start doing all the things!
How have the relationships you have built over the years impacted your career?
During the time I was on the board of SoACE, I made great friendships – Tim Harding, Ray Rogers, Amy Diepenbrock, and many others. People like Kevin Grubb and Alex Hochman are people that I simply enjoy being around and also always learn a great deal from. Others like Myrna Hoover and Ray Angle have been great mentors and champions. I have great friends like Darlene Johnson, Lisa Tandan, Patrick Chidsey, and others all across the country, along with my current team here at UNC. I feel really lucky to be connected to so many great people. These are folks who have encouraged me, inspired me, and simply made me feel like career services should always be my professional home.
What keeps you motivated?
As with anyone, motivation ebbs and flows. Ultimately it’s very rewarding to try to create an environment in which my team feels good about supporting our students. But, really what keeps me motivated is trying to make life interesting. I don’t believe in fate or reincarnation – so we get one life and it becomes what we make of it. Why not make it the most interesting it can be? I recognize that’s a pretty privileged statement. But, I do try to live that way!
What are some of your hobbies when not working?
People are sometimes surprised by some of these aspects of me. I’m a pretty unassuming and vanilla-looking guy. But, I’m a dancer (swing dancing – Lindy Hop, Balboa, Carolina Shag) and also a musician (my music has been used on more than 50 television shows). I’m also a collector of tattoos (two full arms and other scattered over me). Over the past few years these hobbies have been stifled as I worked on my doctorate. But, since 2018 is graduation year for me, I’ll be picking up many of them again, and also completely investing in travel, travel, travel! I wasn’t able to travel before, but I’m now liberated to do so. I made my first trip abroad this year (to The Netherlands) and I’ve caught the bug!
