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Carol McDonnell
Associate Director for Credit Programs, The Friday Center, The University of North Carolina
Professional Background
Carol McDonnell is a dedicated and experienced professional who has spent over 20 years working with part-time college students to help them achieve their dream of obtaining a bachelor’s degree. Her expertise lies in the realm of higher education, specifically focusing on creating supportive and flexible learning environments that accommodate the diverse schedules and needs of adult learners. Throughout her career, Carol has seamlessly blended traditional classroom education with innovative online courses that make obtaining a degree more accessible and manageable for students juggling work and personal commitments.
Starting her career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carol has gained extensive experience in various roles within the admissions, registration, and student services departments. Her commitment to supporting students is evident in everything she does, from guiding them through the admissions process to ensuring they have the necessary resources and support throughout their educational journey.
Education and Achievements
Carol is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree. Her time at this prestigious institution not only provided her with a strong academic foundation but also instilled within her a passion for education that would later drive her professional pursuits. This educational background is instrumental in her ability to empathize with students, as she is acutely aware of the challenges they face.
In addition to her initial educational pursuits, Carol has held the position of Associate Director of Continuing Education Programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In this role, she was responsible for the development and administration of programs designed to engage adult learners and help them succeed in their academic goals. Her leadership and strategic planning skills were pivotal in expanding the reach of continuing education and creating pathways for students to thrive.
Notable Contributions
Carol McDonnell’s contributions to the field of education extend well beyond her administrative roles. She has made significant strides in enhancing the quality of education for part-time students by incorporating digital learning solutions. Her innovative approach has not only made education more accessible but has also improved student engagement and progress.
While overseeing online education initiatives, Carol has worked diligently to ensure that the delivery of online courses meets the highest standards of quality. She is a firm believer that all students, regardless of their life circumstances, should have the opportunity to advance their education and achieve their professional goals. Her passion for student success is reflected in the relationships she builds and the support she provides.
Throughout her career, Carol has been an advocate for improving student services, which is evident from her years of experience in admissions and registration. She has played an essential role in developing streamlined processes that help students navigate the complexities of college admission, enrollment, and course selection, thus fostering a more positive and supportive educational environment.
Carol remains an active member of various professional organizations in higher education, continuously seeking ways to improve her skills and knowledge. She is dedicated to her own learning and development, which in turn enhances her ability to support her students effectively.
Achievements
- Over 20 years of experience working with adult learners and part-time college students.
- Successfully combined classroom and online education to improve accessibility for students.
- Served as Associate Director of Continuing Education Programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, fostering professional growth among adult learners.
- Developed innovative online educational programs that have made a lasting impact on student engagement and success.
- Advocated for improved student services and streamlined processes within higher education institutions.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
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Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
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