Although these may not be faces we see every day, we welcome four new staff members to our Saint Ursula Community. With fun stories and past experience all of our new staff is very excited to start their first year at Ursula.

Dr. Mari Thomas

What is your career and new role at St. Ursula?

I am the new Assistant Principal for Student Affairs. In my role as the AP for Student Affairs, I get to be a part of the school administrative team and I am responsible for developing and coordinating co-curricular programming that is student centered and promotes community building. The development and implementation of such co-curricular programming is done in conjunction with the Campus Ministry Director, Director of Community Service Learning, Diversity Director, and Student Life Assistant. Additionally, I get to work with the Admissions office, which includes the Admissions Director and Admissions Assistant.

How does St. Ursula differ from your past experiences?

For the past several years, my work was focussed on curriculum and instruction...what happens in the classroom. In this new role, my focus is on student programming. My responsibilities at SUA is more closely aligned with the work that I did when I first started in education as a school psychologist. I love being reconnected with programs that directly connect me with students.

What are you most excited for in your first year at St. Ursula?

I am very excited about two things: simply being a part of the SUA adult community and working closely with the various student leaders.

Do you have any fun stories from your first week here?

Oh my goodness...too many to share!

Is there anything else you wish to include about yourself?

I am super thrilled that SUA has started to build a relationship with Girls on the Run, Cincinnati. I have been a part of the GOTR organization for several years and I know the impact that the program has on young girls!

Evan Patrick

What is your career and new role at St. Ursula?

I am a new Help Desk Technician, and I help to diagnose and repair issues ranging from the PC hardware, to printers, to network issues here at Saint Ursula.

How does St. Ursula differ from your past experiences?

Well I have been interested in and involved in technology from a pretty young age. Currently I am working towards my Bachelor’s degree in the field, and I am very excited to have the opportunity to learn even more here.

What are you most excited for in your first year at St. Ursula?

I’m excited just to learn how things work around here, both from a technology standpoint, and from a school year perspective.

Do you have any fun stories from your first week here?

I do not actually, my first week here was the first week of summer vacation. It was a ghost town around here.

Is there anything else you wish to include about yourself?

I enjoy helping others, so if you have questions about technology feel free to ask them.

Ann Barnes

What is your career and new role at Saint Ursula?

My role at Saint Ursula is the Assistant to Admissions and Student Life. In my role, I support both Ms. Dellecave as the Director of Admissions and Dr. Mari Thomas as the Assistant Principal for Student Affairs. For admissions, my primary responsibilities include managing the shadow program, processing applications and registrations, and supporting the many admissions events and activities throughout the school year. For Student Life, a key focus area for me is to help with integrating the many organizations and clubs into the overall plan for student life and to assist in coordinating various student life activities.

How does St. Ursula differ from your past experiences?

My role at St. Ursula is vastly different from my prior experience. Before coming to St. Ursula, I was employed at Procter & Gamble for 18 years. During my time there, I had a variety of roles ranging from working as the Quality Assurance manager at the August, Georgia dry laundry manufacturing plant, to managing a customer service team for P&G’s Pharmaceutical Business, to planning both material and product supply chain logistics, to working on product development where I would design product prototypes based on consumer needs. Working with students, teachers, and staff here at Saint Ursula is allowing me an opportunity to work in an educational environment. It is an amazing opportunity to be a part of such a thought-provoking community where young women can grow and thrive into confident young women ready and willing to share their knowledge, creativity, and depth of character. I am loving working at Saint Ursula because of the wonderful students and staff, the positive and welcoming environment and the opportunity to learn!

What are you most excited for in your first year at St. Ursula?

In my first year at St. Ursula, I am most excited to experience a full “season” of the school year from start to finish. That is, from welcoming the freshman on New Student Orientation through the first semester all the way through to the last bell and watching the seniors graduate. More so, I look forward to my own new insights into this community and my own personal faith journey.

Do you have any fun stories from your first week here?

In one of my first weeks over the summer, I had a great time getting to know Ms. Bissmeyer and Ms. Dellecave while cleaning out and organizing the storage rooms. Who knew it could be so fun to organize school supplies!!! The first week of school was also a challenge helping to coordinate teachers and students I had just met doing activities I had never participated in myself!!!

Is there anything else you want to include about yourself?

I will have been married 25 years as of next summer and have been blessed with three beautiful children; Jacob, Caitlin, and Ella. In high school, I played basketball and was a swimmer while getting involved in as many extra-curricular activities as I could possibly do. After high school, I attended Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and then proceeded to earn my Master’s degree also in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Kentucky. I like to consider myself a lifelong learner who always loves a challenge! Finally, I love meeting new people and I most appreciate people who are authentic and willing to take a risk in being themselves. I am looking forward to having a positive impact at Saint Ursula Academy and contributing to its deep legacy!

Mary Ellen Lintner

What is your career and new role at St. Ursula?

I am the director of Special Events at SUA-meaning I oversee events such as the SUA Ball, Soul of the City, the Golf Outing and Taste of SUA.

How does St. Ursula differ from your past experiences?

I have not worked in a school before so it's been a lot of fun seeing the girls everyday, attending lunch, masses and assemblies and just being a part of such a great community.

What are you most excited for in your first year at St. Ursula?

I am excited to be a part of such a kind and welcoming community. From the students, to parents, to faculty and staff-everyone is so helpful!

Do you have any fun stories from your first week here?

I started on the same day as Director of Alumnae Relations, Ms. Beardsley. On our second day we accidently took Mrs. Bissmeyer's mail from her mailbox and she emailed the entire faculty and staff asking what happened to it. I'm pretty sure she knew it was us, but was nice enough not to call us out in the email.

Is there anything else you wish to include about yourself?

I am so excited to be at Saint Ursula. I am a graduate of an Ursuline school in Louisville and each day when I come to work I think about my high school experience and hope that I can help more girls have the same experience I had!

Bailey Beardsley

What is your career and new role at St. Ursula?

I am the Alumnae Relations Director here at SUA, which means that I handle everything related to alumnae! That is the easiest and best way that I can describe my job. I recently received my Master of Arts degree from West Virginia University in Higher Education Administration, so I am utilizing techniques and practices that I learned from my program and transitioning those newly learned skills back to Saint Ursula. So that's really exciting!

How does St. Ursula differ from your past experiences?

My previous job experiences are rather interesting, but I believe they have gotten me to where I am today. I graduated from Gettysburg College with a B.A. in Studio Art and Business - my catered my experiences to solely work in the fashion industry. I had internships in NYC with fashion houses, magazines, PR firms and more which turned out to be wonderful, but not the path for me. Post-graduation, I found a live-in nanny job to three wonderful children in Washington D.C, which turned out to be the reason I am here in Cincinnati today. My "nanny-boss" accepted a position at Kroger HQ, and asked if I would consider moving to Ohio with them. After many pro's and con's lists, prayers, and conversations I decided to take the leap of faith and move with the family. Therefore, to answer your question, I learned a lot from my past experiences which all helped me get to where I am today.

What are you most excited for in your first year at St. Ursula?

am really looking forward to getting to know the alumnae on a much more personal level. I went on many coffees and luncheons this summer getting to know as many alumnae as I could and after about 50 of these "get-to-know-yous" I can confidently say that I am well on my way to getting to know many more!

Do you have any fun stories from your first week here?

I have had many funny moments here on campus. At my first event, the Golden Graduate Luncheon in June for all alumnae who have been graduated for 50 years or more, I got on the altar to ask the alumnae to take a photo. Well, I slipped and said - "if I could have all alumnae come to the stage to take a photo." The stage? This was not a concert - this was a mass. So that was funny and I will never be able to live that one down!

Is there anything else you wish to include about yourself?

My door is always open! I am the facilitator for SFA, and I remind each and every one of my club members that I am here for them, with questions, concerns, issues, whatever it might be.