Patricia Rusin's New Role Expands Her Work In Career Education

A change in leadership at The Crossing's Hammond Campus gave Patricia Rusin an opportunity to take on a new challenge. For Rusin, however, accepting greater responsibility did not mean leaving behind the work that brought her to the school. Instead, it created an opportunity to expand a career built around workforce development, employer partnerships, and helping people translate their abilities into practical career pathways.

Rusin joined The Crossing School of Business and Entrepreneurship in October 2025 as an Instructor of Record and Career Pathway Instructor. Her work centered on helping students explore career possibilities, strengthen professional skills, and prepare for opportunities beyond graduation. After her first semester, she was promoted to Assistant Site Leader, adding responsibilities for daily operations, staff mentorship, and school culture while continuing to work directly with students.

The progression reflects a professional career that spans more than 20 years across human resources, career coaching, adult education, higher education, employer engagement, and workforce development. Throughout those roles, Rusin has focused on a consistent challenge: connecting people with the skills, resources, employers, and experiences that can move them toward sustainable careers.

Bringing Workforce Development Into The Classroom

Rusin's dual responsibilities at The Crossing allow her to approach career readiness from two perspectives. As an instructor, she works directly with students as they identify interests, develop workplace skills, and consider career goals. As Assistant Site Leader, she can help create partnerships and programs that expand the opportunities available to them.

Her work includes overseeing the school's School Based Enterprise Facilities and Hospitality Team, where students receive structured work based instruction and hands-on experience. She has also taught Principles of Business and has helped connect classroom learning with community projects.

That approach reflects experience Rusin developed before joining The Crossing.

At Ivy Tech Community College's Lake County Campus, where she served as Talent Connection Manager, Rusin worked with students, faculty members, workforce organizations, and local businesses to develop work and learn opportunities. She also spearheaded the first Tool & Torch employer engagement initiative for the college's Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering and Applied Science School.

The initiative introduced students to career opportunities with regional industry employers, including BP, Linde Gas & Equipment, American Bridge/ISC, Hammond Machine Works, Sterling Solutions, and Finkl Steel. Rusin also researched employment trends and wage data to help career coaches identify ways to improve student employment outcomes.

Those experiences now inform how she approaches career education at the Hammond Campus.

Creating Career Pathways Through Employer Partnerships

One of Rusin's priorities has been bringing employers and workforce organizations directly into the student experience.

She has reached out to local businesses and industry leaders to identify work-based learning opportunities while inviting professionals into the school to discuss workforce expectations, career pathways, and the skills employers value.

Zarach Logistics, for example, spoke with students about career possibilities within logistics, providing relevant industry exposure for students studying supply chain management and related subjects. Powers Health, Buona Beef, and Gora Plumbing are also partnering with the school to have career conversations with students.

The purpose extends beyond hosting guest speakers. Rusin's broader workforce development approach is designed to help students understand how classroom learning connects with actual jobs, credentials, industries, and employers.

Her experience has also taught her that career pathways rarely follow a single formula.

At CWI Corp., where Rusin served as a Career Path Advisor and Adult Basic Education Teaching Assistant, she worked with adult learners to identify career options based on their interests, employment histories, transferable skills, and long term goals. During the 2023 to 2024 program year, she facilitated a 75% HSE graduation rate, representing a reported 181% improvement over the previous year's graduation rate at the Tri-Town Adult Learning Center.

She also mentored graduates who earned the top two places in an IAACE statewide essay competition involving more than 50 entries. The students were invited to read their essays during Indiana's Adult Education Day at the Indiana Statehouse.

The results reinforced a principle that continues to shape Rusin's work: workforce readiness begins by helping people recognize that multiple routes to meaningful employment are available.

Showing Students That There Is More Than One Route

At The Crossing, Rusin has continued building connections that expose students to different options after graduation.

Express Employment of Schererville has discussed local employment opportunities with students. WorkOne is scheduled to speak with students approaching graduation about logistics credentialing programs. Ivy Tech has also introduced students to dual enrollment opportunities.

Together, those connections help students consider college alongside industry credentials, apprenticeships, work-based learning, and direct employment.

Rusin's career has repeatedly placed her at the intersection of those systems. Her background includes more than two decades at GlenStar Properties, where she supported C-suite leaders in workforce planning, employee engagement, organizational development, training, and HR operations. As a self-employed career coach, she has also worked directly with clients on career mapping, resumes, networking, interviewing, personal branding, and job search strategy.

That combination gives her perspective from both sides of the employment relationship. She understands the preparation individuals need to pursue opportunities and the skills and readiness employers seek when building their workforce.

Turning Career Readiness Into Practical Action

At the Hammond Campus, that philosophy is visible in initiatives designed to give students practical preparation before an opportunity appears.

Rusin initiated a Career Closet to provide students with interview appropriate clothing. She also helps students develop resumes and conducts mock interviews designed to strengthen employability skills.

Her work extends beyond traditional career preparation. She has also sourced experiential learning opportunities that allow students to support organizations including Haven House, Phil's Friends, and veteran organizations.

In her Principles of Business class, Rusin mentored students as they developed a project plan for a community event scheduled for spring 2027. The project was selected as the winning plan, giving students another opportunity to connect business concepts with practical execution and community impact.

These efforts reflect a broader view of workforce readiness. A resume matters, but so do communication, accountability, problem solving, workplace exposure, confidence, and the ability to understand how individual skills translate into value for an employer.

Expanding Leadership Without Leaving The Mission

For Rusin, becoming Assistant Site Leader has expanded the scale of her work without changing its central purpose.

She remains in the classroom because direct engagement with students continues to be important to her. At the same time, her leadership responsibilities give her greater ability to support staff, strengthen operations, develop partnerships, and help shape an environment where career preparation is connected to real opportunities.

Her career has moved through corporate HR, career coaching, adult education, higher education, and secondary education. Yet the connecting thread has remained remarkably consistent: building bridges between talent and opportunity.

Now, at The Crossing's Hammond Campus, Rusin is bringing those experiences together.

She is helping students explore industries before choosing a path, meet employers before entering the workforce, develop professional skills before an interview arrives, and understand that their next step can take more than one form.

For students still deciding what their future might look like, that preparation can turn an abstract career goal into something much more concrete: a pathway they can begin pursuing.

Recognized as Best Career Coach in Indiana of 2026

Patricia Rusin has been recognized by Best of Best Review as the Best Career Coach in Indiana of 2026, honoring her more than two decades of experience in career coaching, human resources, adult education, higher education, employer engagement, and workforce development.

The recognition reflects her commitment to connecting students and adult learners with employers, practical learning opportunities, and career pathways. Through her work at The Crossing's Hammond Campus and her previous roles in workforce development, Rusin continues to help individuals build professional skills, explore career options, and prepare for meaningful employment.

Explore Career Pathways And Workforce Connections

Learn more about The Crossing School of Business and Entrepreneurship and connect with Patricia Rusin on LinkedIn to follow her work in career readiness, employer engagement, workforce development, and building stronger connections between students and regional career opportunities.