UML Industry Partner Expands Scholarship and Mentorship Support for Students
Image by Ed Brennen
05/01/2025
By Ed Brennen
Neath Taing needed to be in two places at once.
As a peer leader for the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA), she recently had the opportunity to visit the Lowell headquarters of UKG, the global human resources, payroll, workforce management and culture solutions company that sponsors the peer leader program.
But Taing, a juniorcomputer sciencemajor from Cambodia, was also on the schedule to work her campus job as a student support analyst for the university’sInformation Technologyoffice.
Taing decided to switch work shifts and visit UKG because “it was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss.”
She’s glad she did. On a guided tour of UKG’s vibrant office space, Taing and her six other OMA peer leaders saw why the company is consistently ranked among the best places to work. And during a panel discussion with four UKG employees — including UML computer science alum Shawn Jordan ’23 — the students learned about career development, workplace culture and other topics.
“It was an eye-opening experience,” Taing says. “Two of the panelists had backgrounds similar to mine, which made their advice even more relatable. I learned that it’s OK to change your career path if needed, and I got practical tips on job searching, interview techniques and overcoming nervousness in professional settings.”
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This is the first year that UKG is sponsoring OMA peer leaders, providing 10 of them with $2,000 scholarships and professional mentorship opportunities. But it’s hardly the company’s first engagement with UMass Lowell; the partnership began more than a decade ago. UKG has provided co-op and internship opportunities for UML students — and hired more than 250 alumni — over the years.
The OMA initiative was inspired by a successful parallel program. Since 2019, UKG has sponsored peer and team leaders from the River Hawk Scholars Academy (RHSA), UML’s award-winning program that supports first-generation college students. This year, 32 RHSA peer and team leaders are receiving scholarships and professional development mentorship from UKG. Taking it a step further, five UKG employees are working one-on-one with students through the RHSA’sElevate Mentoring Program.
Kerry Pucillo, the university’s senior director of corporate engagement, notes that as the number of first-generation students rose at UML and RHSA needed to increase its number of peer and team leaders, UKG stepped up last year to provide scholarship funding for the entire cohort.
“They’ve taken their support to the next level,” Pucillo says. “Whether it’s on campus or at the Lowell HQ, students participate in a range of personal and professional development opportunities — from workshops and panel discussions to tours and more.”
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“There’s a lot of people at UKG who are invested in helping UML students succeed,” she adds.
The company also funds two endowed scholarships (one for Lowell High School graduates planning to attend UML, and another for current UML STEM majors) and is a sponsor of the university’s annual.
UKG is also building a strong pipeline of talented sales professionals through a new partnership with the Manning School of Business’ Sales Hub initiative, which complements its recently established Sales Learning Center.
“At UKG, we believe that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not — and that’s what makes our partnership with UMass Lowell so powerful,” says Heather Geronemus, UKG’s senior director of social equity, opportunity and impact. “Supporting students through programs like RHSA and OMA allows us to invest in future leaders who bring grit, resilience and perspective to everything they do. Being just down the street makes it personal — these students are our neighbors, and we’re proud to help open doors to their next chapter.”
Image by Ed Brennen
“It’s empowering to assure our students that ‘Yes, we have companies that want what you are learning and what you are striving for, and who are right here in your backyard, cheering you on,’” she says.
The partnership with UKG is important, Wong adds, because it helps the company stay in tune with the next generation of employees while “demystifying” the job search for students.
“Sometimes our students have a bit of that impostor syndrome because a company has a big name or they’re in a field that they’d never thought about,” she says. “The first hurdle is to get students to say, ‘Yeah, I can see myself there.’”
That’s how OMA peer leader Logan Biederman felt after the recent UKG visit.
“I was surprised, but reassured, that the employees we met got to where they are today through untraditional paths like my own,” says Biederman, a juniorpsychologymajor from Mansfield, Massachusetts, who “appreciated” the safe and welcoming culture at UKG.
Jordan, one of the panelists during the OMA visit, first connected with UKG during aat UMass Lowell. He landed a pair of software automation engineer internships with the company before being hired full time as an associate software engineer last year.
“UML’s connection with UKG is a wonderful collaboration,” says Jordan, who hopes to help it grow by sharing what he’s learned with current students. “I didn’t take a straightforward educational path to where I got to today, and I hope that will resonate with students who might be in a similar situation but are having trouble relating to those around them — a position I found myself in many times.”