Student Assistance and Support Services
Russo Emphasizes Student Success, Earns Divisional Honor
By Teagan Welch, Assistant Director of Communications for Student Affairs
For Katie Russo, offering support to Charlotte students is more than just offering resources.
“Everyone can make an impact on students and it doesn't always have to be over the top,” Russo said. “If you notice something is off or different, just pulling students aside and having a small check-in can make a big difference.”
It’s that mindset that helped Russo secure the 2024-2025 Dedication to Students Award for Student Affairs. Russo started at Charlotte in 2018 in Student Assistance and Support Services (SASS). It’s an office critical to student success.
SASS offers assistance and advocacy to students experiencing a broad range of issues, academically or personally. Russo serves as the associate director of SASS. She says part of why she loves working in SASS is because her day-to-day is never the same.
“Some days we might get referrals, some days we focus on administration tasks or case management. We do a lot of consults and those one-to-one conversations can take up a huge chunk of time, but we also make follow ups a priority,” Russo said.
For Russo, these duties are second nature, which is why when she was notified she won the division award, her immediate reaction was gratitude. Not just for the award, but for her colleagues as well.
“I wasn’t expecting [the award] at all,” Russo began. “I feel really touched and honored that my work as an individual was recognized, but it’s really a team effort. What the students need involves everybody at the institution. That support wouldn’t happen without all of the people that work here.”
Russo says she has always been drawn to the education field. She started her professional career teaching high school students. Russo then went on to continue her education in graduate school where she landed a job working in Academic Affairs. After graduation, she moved to Switzerland where she lived and worked for Virginia Tech at their international campus in Riva San Vitale.
“I just love learning about other cultures and getting to see how they live and operate. Watching students experience things that are so different from what we experience here in the United States is really cool. I love seeing it,” Russo said.
During her time abroad, Russo managed all things student affairs related. She says this role, along with her other teaching opportunities and higher education jobs helped shape the way she transitioned into SASS here at UNC Charlotte.
“It felt like a natural next step for me,” she said. “My role now looks at the student experience from every angle so they can get the collective support needed to help move them forward. I think that approach is really what benefits students.”