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Meet Our Staff: Cristi Millard

Cristi Millard.

Cristi Millard

Pronouns:
She/her/hers

Degree(s) earned and institutions:

  • Bachelor of Arts, Brigham Young University
  • Master of Organizational Management, University of Phoenix

Years at SLCC:
34 years

Current title:
Director of Special Projects & Compliance

Department:
Financial Aid

Previous titles at SLCC:
I started as an advisor in the Financial Aid Office. Then, I became the director of Financial Aid and Scholarships in 2000. I started in this position last year.

What is a typical day or week like for you?
My days are never the same; I work on whatever special projects we're have in the financial aid office. Some of the special projects I'm working on are the HEERF funding that goes out to all the students. We've been working on that for about the past two years.

I work a lot with the Student Success pilot program. We also have some scholarships through the state of Utah, such as the Reengagement scholarship and the Adult Learners grant. So, I work on those and basically whatever else needs to be done in Financial Aid — presentations, workshops, and other things."

Cristi Millard sitting at her desk, working on a laptop.

What are the most challenging aspects of your job?
Throughout the past couple of years, getting money to students has been challenging because we have to collect some information. So we contact students and say, 'Hey, if you tell us this, we will give you $500,' and then they don't tell us, and it's frustrating. This is free money, and it's hard because many of them [students] think it's a scam, which I understand. So that's been challenging.

The other challenge is to get people to understand how financial aid works. It's very complicated, and federal regulations govern it. Sometimes people say, 'Why can't you do this?' And it's because we must follow these regulations.

What rewards come with your job?
Being able to get this money to students and see them retain and graduate. I used to work at Commencement because it was cool to be there, recognize some of the students’ names, and think, ‘OK, good. We've got one through.”

Who or what inspires you at work or in life, and why?
I would say my family: my parents, siblings, husband, daughter, granddaughter and grandson.

I remember my daughter said to me once, ‘I wish I had a job like yours, one I like doing every day.’ I taught adjunct faculty for a while, and when she was younger, I had to bring her a couple of times. I put her in a corner and let her color. She thought it was cool that mom would teach. So, they [my kids] are kind of my inspiration.

Cristi Millard standing next to a SLCC Promise banner.

Tell us something about yourself from outside of your SLCC life.
I like to travel. My husband’s job takes him internationally, and my goal is to always go with him, which I don't often do. I did get to go to Greece with him one time. I'm waiting for an Australia trip, that's the one I want to do. I have a lot of stepchildren who live all over the United States, so we [my husband and I] like to spend time with them.

I'm also a big BYU fan since I went there to school. We have season tickets. This year, we're going to South Florida for a game, which is great. We have two kids who live down there.

I also have a huge library, and I read all the time.

Family:
I have one child, and my husband has eight. When I married him, I inherited many children and grandchildren. We have nine kids and 17 grandchildren.

Hobbies/interests:
I like teaching. For about 12 years, I taught at an institute for financial aid in different states. It was a lot of fun teaching people about financial aid. I also taught English composition in SLCC's English department for about 15 years.

I enjoy doing presentations to people to teach them about financial aid and presentations to my financial aid colleagues about things we're doing [in Financial Aid]. For example, I presented on financial aid for seventh, eighth, and ninth graders a couple of years ago.

Awards/accomplishments:
I was the president of the Utah Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and got an award. I was also president of the Rocky Mountain Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, which covers Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, and Kansas. I also received a Hall of Fame award for the region. One year, I received a regional award from the national association.

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Location: Salt Lake City, UT, USA

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