Career Management Center Staff

The director of the Mays Business School Career Management Center, Kim Austin has more than 13 years of experience leading university and business school career services.  Prior to joining Texas A&M, she led career centers for the SMU Cox School of Business as executive director for the MBA, MS and BBA career centers and at Brigham Young University’s Hawaii campus and directed a global employment initiative for students from Asia and the Pacific Rim countries. She is certified as a Job and Career Transition coach and is trained to administer and interpret the MBTI and Strong Interest Inventory assessment tools.

Kim has more than 20 years of experience as a marketing strategist in the health care industry, government sector and the apparel industry.  She spent 12 years working in Asia, including five living and working in China.

Austin holds a M.Ed.in cooperative business education and a BBA in marketing from the University of North Texas. In addition, she is a graduate of the Executive Program in Health Care Administration at The Ohio State University. She is actively involved in the MBA Career Services and Employer Alliance (MBA CSEA), the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). She has served in a wide variety of leadership roles in both professional and community organizations. She is currently serving on the board of directors for the National Association of Women MBAs.  In her spare time, Kim enjoys international travel and family history research.

Mitch Lederman brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team.  In addition to prior roles providing higher education career services, Mitch has experience as a nuclear engineer with the Bechtel Power Company, a global Fortune 50 company and as a licensing engineer and financial/treasury analyst at Northeast Utilities, a Fortune 500 company and the largest nuclear utility in New England in the 1990s.  He later segued from those roles to managing director positions with two executive search firms, each having a national scope across multiple industries and functional disciplines.

Complementing these experiences, Mitch holds a Master of Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  He and his wife, Cheri, relocated to College Station from Cleveland, OH after previous stops in Florida and New York.  He and enjoys exploring new places, taking nature walks, and scouting antiques.

Donna is a seasoned professional who brings significant expertise in finance and consulting, primarily in the energy industry, to her role as a career consultant. During her career, she advised on numerous M&A transactions, completed company valuations and management consulting projects and served as an expert witness with legal testimony. Just prior to joining the career center team, Donna had spent the last 10 years in London where she led major fundraising initiatives for the American School of London.  She is well-known in the international community for her role in creating impactful community building activities and leading major philanthropic endeavors.  She holds both US and UK citizenship status.   She is a two-time Aggie holding both an MBA from the Mays Business School as well as a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering.

As the Coordinator for the Career Management Center, Sandy is responsible for the day-to-day management of the office, including first point of contact as reception, appointment scheduler, as well as serving as employer relations and event coordinator.

Sandy has more than 35 years of experience in office administration and management.  She has worked in manufacturing, service, insurance and sales administration businesses.  Prior to her employment with the Career Management Center, she worked at the Texas A&M University System in the Office of the Treasurer.

She graduated from Pearland High School.  It was there while enrolled in a Vocational Office Education program that she fell in love with office administration work and decided to pursue that as her career. She has had the opportunity to travel to China and Hong Kong.  She has also lived in Colorado and New Mexico before setting in Hilltop Lakes, Texas with her husband.  In her free time, Sandy enjoys gardening, working on the family farm, and spending time with her two children, their spouses and grandchildren.

A career employee of Texas A&M, Patti Urbina has led efforts in a number of ventures in academic program evaluation and assessment; engineering and computer security research and education; and, coordination of industry consortia.  Prior to joining the Career Management Center team, Patti served as Director of the Texas A&M at Qatar’s Qatar Support Office for four years and the Director of the Full-Time MBA Program for two years.  In her current role, Patti travels extensively meeting and developing relationships with prospective employers of Mays graduate business students.

Patti holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in History with a focus on Management. She completed over 70 hours of Ph.D. level study in Education & Human Resource Development. The first Communications Chair of the inaugural University Staff Council, Patti has been a longtime advocate for staff representation and also served a term as the secretary of the Women’s Administrative Network.  She is an alumni of the Center for Leadership in Higher Education’s leadership development program in which she represented TEES in a one-year internship with then Chancellor Barry Thompson.  She was a member of the 1991-92 Brazos Leadership class.

A fifth generation native Texan, Patti enjoys travel abroad. She is married to Hispanic Studies Professor Emeritus, Eduardo.  When not watching Aggie sports, she enjoys visiting family in Spain, and domestic travel to spend time with her three children and the families of her three stepchildren, including six grandchildren.

An experienced director in public management and nonprofits, Jabot Colvin joined Texas A&M University in January 2020 as the Assistant Director of Employer Services for the Mays Business School’s Career Management Center. In this role, Colvin will oversee employer engagement, including on-campus recruiting activity, for graduate business programs at Mays.

Previously, he served as the executive director of The Children’s Museum of the Brazos Valley, a local nonprofit museum dedicated to providing a hands-on, interactive environment for children. He handled the business aspect of the nonprofit organization, and shared the mission of the organization to business leaders and other stakeholders throughout the Brazos Valley. He gained the museum more than $180,000 in grant funds from foundations and local city government agencies, and he created and strengthened community partnerships to drive collaboration, engagement and revenue development.

Colvin earned a Master of Public Administration degree from The Bush School of Government and Public Service and also a bachelor’s degree in political science from Texas A&M University.  He has a strong history of giving back to youth in his community by volunteering with Big Brother Big Sisters, local church groups, and local recreation centers.  He was a member of the 2018 Leadership Brazos Class as well as a member of the College Station Morning Rotary Club. In his spare time, Jabot enjoys playing the guitar, traveling with family, and watching a variety of sports.

For employers interested in engaging with Mays graduate business students, contact Jabot Colvin at employerrelations@mays.tamu.edu or call 979-845-1998.

Upon graduation from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and Management in 2004, Sarah Bugh accepted a position in retail banking in Houston, Texas. After completing the Retail Leadership Development Program and serving as a Branch Manager Designee, she returned to academia and obtained a Master of Labor and Human Resources from The Ohio State University in 2008. Sarah subsequently began working in the oil and gas industry as an HR Advisor and Site Recruiting Coordinator with ExxonMobil where she supported a client group and managed programming for summer co-op students. She now works in the area of career advising and employer development. Previously, Sarah served as an Assistant Director with the Career Management Center at Mays Business School, Texas A&M University and with the MBA Career Management Team at the McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin. Having returned to Texas A&M University, Sarah supports the graduate business students as an Associate Director with the Career Management Center, Mays Business School.

Sarah earned a Master of Labor and Human Resources degree from The Ohio State University and a B.B.A. in Marketing and Management from Texas A&M University.  She is a member of the MBA Career Services and Employer Alliance and the National Association of Colleges and Employers

In her downtime, Sarah enjoys quilting and crocheting.

Shanna Upchurch is a native of the Midwest and attained her Bachelor of Music Performance from Indiana University. When the musician’s lifestyle didn’t suit her, she changed directions with an MBA from Brigham Young University. That launched her to an internship with Campbell’s Soup Company and then to a full-time role with General Mills. Thanks to her time on the Old El Paso brand, she can tell you more than you care to know about sourcing green chilies!

For the last ten years, Shanna has devoted herself to a career in higher education, both in admissions and then career services. Most recently, she was with SMU for six years. As a Certified Career Management Coach, she has worked with students in all disciplines but focused on analytics, marketing and operations.