Alexa Colella '08 (studio art)

Alexa is a Marketing Manager for Scholarly Journals at University of Illinois Press, in Urbana/Champaign. In this role, Alexa manages all aspects of the marketing of U of Illinois Press journal titles, including legacy media, subscription collateral, event marketing collateral, data analysis (both quantitative and qualitative), and positioning the press to weather issues regarding open access vs. paid content. She is  responsible for both the strategic and tactical aspects the promotion of our titles. Philosophically, Alexa believes that the academic press has a responsibility to deliver interesting and sound scholarship to people. She has used this philosophy to develop a series that is designed to solve some intersectional problems in publishing and academia. This series, Common Threads, is an anthology series of journal articles, curated by an editor, around a theme. These project target themes that may be helpful in courses, have a general interest, or are helpful to practitioners in a field. They are priced low, as the content is already “paid” for. Non-subscribing institutions or individuals can access it for a low cost. This allows the university press to continue generating revenue from articles that are important, but not current; gives faculty ready-made resources for their courses; and give students a low-cost text.

Alumni Biography

I loved my time at SLU. I was lucky enough to have been the recipient of several grants that allowed me to travel with a faculty member to Japan and Guatemala. I was also able to study abroad in Northern Ireland for a semester, which was incredibly challenging, but I recall it as one of the more formative experiences of my life. St. Lawrence is a truly unique place where I felt incredibly supported in my pursuits, and extraordinarily prepared for graduate school and life.

I entered grad school immediately after leaving SLU. As I mentioned above, I was extraordinarily prepared. I credit the faculty in the Art and Art History Department for this; several of the faculty were incredible instructors and went above and beyond what was required of them. Mark Denaci allowed to create several independent study courses exploring art theory that were not offered in the regular curricula. So did Melissa Schulenberg. Several other faculty/staff at the university were exceptional teachers and friends and I am grateful for their leadership and influence: Natalia Singer, CJ Jahnke, Kathleen Self, Obiora Udechukwu, Andrea Nouryeh, Kasarian Dane, Catherine Tedford, Carole Mathey, Karen Foster, and Amy Hauber… there are probably many more… but it’s been a decade. Since graduating grad school at Purdue University in 2011, I have worked at the Purdue Center for Food and Agricultural Business and at the University of Illinois Press. I have been at the U of I for three and a half years. I constantly contemplate pursuing a PhD, but I have a pretty full plate at the moment. 

 I would advise current or prospective students to take advantage of all the St. Lawrence has to offer as much as they can. Few institutions are able to give you the individualized education that SLU can. The faculty are enthusiastic instructors and will really teach you everything they know. Take advantage of the opportunities to study abroad. Take advantage of this singular moment in your life when your only responsibilities are to learn, and develop, and challenge yourself. St. Lawrence will transform you if you let it.