Tag Archive: Alumni Update

August 26, 2022

Terri Olsen (’94, ’08) becomes new Director of TRIO Student Support Services

Terri Olsen (‘94, ‘08) has been named the new Director of TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) at Finlandia University. A two-time graduate of the institution, Olsen attained an associate degree in business from Suomi College in 1994 and later, a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies from Finlandia in 2008.

“During her time at Finlandia Terri has served the TRiO SSS program, and the institution, at an exemplary level,” said Luke Morrill, VP for Student Development and Dean of [...]

August 2, 2022

Alumnus Ethan St. Germain joins Finance Department

Ethan St. Germain (’21) joined Finlandia’s Finance Department as an accountant in Spring 2022. St. Germain started his accounting career as a student-intern and work-study with the Finance Department during his junior year.

“After graduation I worked for a cultivation and retail company. It was a vertically integrated rather new company called Ottawa Innovations/Higher Love. Being a new company in a new industry was very exciting, fast paced, and really helped me build my skills and gain experience in a broad [...]

July 15, 2021

Alumni Spotlight: Shayla Cornish (’21) talks about life as a nurse

Alumna Shayla Cornish (’21), an afternoon shift nurse at Canal View nursing home in Hancock, Michigan, reflects on her experience as a nursing major in Finlandia’s Hirvonen College of Health Sciences.

“Right after I graduated I was set up to take my boards and hop on right to the job,” said Cornish. Her determination and hard work paid off as she was able to find a job right out of nursing school. “This community is really great because [...]

June 18, 2019

Upper Great Lakes hires 2007 nursing alum Jenny Bausano, NP

Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center (UGL) recently announced Jenny (Niileksela) Bausano (’07), Nurse Practitioner (NP), has been hired to join their team of family medicine providers at the Lake Linden Family Health Center.

Bausano was born in Hancock, and grew up in Chandler, Arizona. She relocated to the Copper Country during high school and graduated from Hancock Central High. Bausano earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree from Finlandia University. [...]

March 12, 2019

Laplander Named President-Elect of Michigan College Access Programs & Personnel

Finlandia University’s Kailee Laplander has been named President-Elect of Michigan College Access Programs & Personnel (MI-CAPP). Laplander serves as TRIO Pre-College Programs Coordinator and has been at Finlandia since the fall of 2014.

“Ultimately, my interest in this role stems from my interest in college access and success for low-income, potential first-generation students,” Laplander said. “As a TRIO Student Support Services alumni myself, I realized how helpful it was to have someone supporting me as [...]

August 29, 2018

Alumni & Friends Email Newsletter features Homecoming 2018 information, Alumni Engagement Survey

On Wednesday the latest Alumni and Friends Email Newsletter was sent out to those subscribed to the monthly newsletter. You can view the entire newsletter here. If you’re interested in subscribing to the newsletter, visit finlandia.edu/alumni.

View Newsletter

Feature Stories

These stories were featured in the August 29, 2018 Alumni and Friends Newsletter.

Homecoming celebration set for Oct. 4-6 – RSVP Today! Fill out the 2018 Alumni Engagement Survey Finlandia Alumni Board calls for new [...]

June 13, 2018

Alumni Spotlight: Kelly Aho, BSN

Kelly Aho dreamed of advancing her career through the online RN-BSN program. After graduating in December 2017, she earned a promotion.

When Kelly Aho (’94, ’17) first came to Suomi College in the 1990s, she wanted to be a teacher.

She graduated as an RN instead.

“I decided that nursing is very much like teaching,” said Aho. “You do a lot of patient education, and I like being with patients and their families helping them navigate their healthcare.”

Now the unit manager of surgical [...]

May 25, 2018

Alumni Update: Alissa Pietila (’14) heads new broadcast segment at TV6

Alissa Pietila never thought she’d be working for a television station, let alone leading her own segment on the five o’clock news.

Pietila, a 2014 Finlandia University alumna, graduated with a bachelor’s in communication with a concentration in journalism and a minor in psychology. During college, she always thought she would work in a magazine and write long-form articles. Instead, she took a job at the Daily Globe in Ironwood before moving to

November 16, 2017

Alumni Update: LaBonte enters Art Therapy master’s program

This week Finlandia University’s International School of Art & Design had alumna Laurin LaBonte (’17) check in with an update on her first six months since graduation. LaBonte is nearing the end of her first semester of graduate school at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee as she looks to earn her Art Therapy, M.S.

“I am learning a lot in my first semester, and I feel like having a degree in Art Therapy before coming into this [...]