By Elise Shapiro ’25
Staff Writer
Photo by Ali Meizels ‘23
Tayler Kreutter, the new executive director of Student Financial Services, joined the Mount Holyoke administration this March, according to an MHC This Week update email sent to the campus community on Feb. 10. “We are very much looking forward to welcoming [Kreutter] to the College as well as to all that she brings to this key role,” Robin Randall, vice president for enrollment management, wrote in the email.
Kreutter, who grew up in upstate New York, earned a bachelor’s degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication from State University of New York at Brockport before earning a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Rochester.
Kreutter expressed that her original career interest did not line up with the path she ultimately chose. “I remember saying to my advisor, ‘I want to avoid [finance] with a 10-foot pole, that is not my interest, that’s not where I want to work,’” Kreutter recalled.
She explained that she was originally interested in Health Promotion and Prevention services. However, while at the University of Rochester, she worked as an RA and oversaw apartment complexes nearby, eventually leading her down a different career path.
“[There] was a residential conflict between two students, one male [and] one female, and the whole time I [saw] the situation through the female’s lens and really advocated for her throughout the whole process,” Kreutter explained.
When she met with the dean of admissions at the University of Rochester to talk about the situation, he asked her to consider the situation from the male student’s perspective and pointed out that he didn’t have an advocate. This conversation had a profound impact on Kreutter. “For whatever reason I was just so focused on her throughout the situation that I hadn't even stopped to consider the other person involved,” Kreutter said. Following this experience, Kreutter decided she wanted to work with the dean of admissions after graduation.
“Sure enough, when I graduated, guess what the one open position was? [It was] in financial aid,” Kreutter said. “[It was] a guest relations coordinator [position], which [included] entry level supervising the front desk [with] student workers answering all the phone calls. And then I actually fell in love with the field, and so [I’ve] stayed in it ever since, and now, here I am.”
At University of Rochester, she cultivated a strong mutual connection with a newfound mentor. She also grew confident in taking leadership positions in student financial organizations, which motivated her to become more independent in her work.
After working at Rochester for seven years, she became employed in the student financial services office at Roberts Wesleyan College, a small liberal arts college in Rochester, New York. During her three years there, Kreutter remained in contact with her mentor, who informed her of the job opportunity to become the executive director of Student Financial Services at Mount Holyoke after discussing Kreutter’s desire to step into a leadership position. During the interview process, Kreutter realized that Mount Holyoke suited her.
“I got to meet … some students on campus and go through the interview process and that was really affirming to me. [I found that] Mount Holyoke was where I wanted to be in this moment in my life,” Kreutter said.
Kreutter is looking forward to finding community at Mount Holyoke.
“My biggest goal is to just learn and immerse myself in Mount Holyoke as much as I can right now. It’s a very different institution than the one that I came from. And so, right now, I’m really in the learning stage trying to have as many conversations as I can, collect as much feedback as I can [and] get to know as many students as I can,” Kreutter said.
She is also devoted to guaranteeing student satisfaction and taking a proactive approach, educating students and families about what the SFS office does.
“I think when you talk about student financial services, a lot of what I hear is like, ‘We don't even know what questions to ask,’ right? It’s so cumbersome and so tedious to try and work through,” Kreutter said. “We really do want to try and make sure we’re offering the best service that we can.”
Moreover, she plans to further advance SFS over the summer with the goal of making the office more community-oriented. “I think the summer actually is a great time for an SFS office to refocus all of our energies … because all the students are home,” Kreutter said. “The new first year class has already been filled in, so it’s like maintenance conversations, but it really gives us a lot of time to really dig in and set our goals for the new year.”