Laura Adrien

Education

• MA in Applied Linguistics, University of Massachusetts Boston
• BA in English and Spanish Literature, Emmanuel College

Biography

Laura Adrien is an assistant director of graduate student services at the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University. She received her master’s in applied linguistics from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

In addition to her full-time roles at Northeastern, she’s worked as a part-time writing specialist at Emmanuel College, mainly assisting international and graduate students. She’s also a volunteer coordinator with Lynn-based Diverse People United, a grassroots organization that seeks community change through direct action and educational programming. Prior to working with the Khoury College’s graduate student services team, Adrien worked as an assistant co-op coordinator with Northeastern’s multidisciplinary graduate engineering unit. Before that, she had four years of experience at Road Scholar, a Boston-based not-for-profit that provides adult-oriented educational travel programs.

Adrien’s time at Road Scholar helped her realize her passion in education and prompted a return to school for a part-time graduate program, which introduced her to sociolinguistics and social literacies. Her advisors in the program introduced her to the field of higher education student services and the overlapping administrative systems that are often overlooked in terms of student success — especially for marginalized groups. In her five years at Northeastern, she has rooted her work within a strengths-based sociocultural pedagogy.

In her role, Adrien oversees the student services procedures and policies as they relate to Khoury College’s doctoral computer science, cybersecurity, personal health informatics, and network science programs. She also manages PhD program administration and activities, supports Khoury’s associate deans of graduate administration and graduate programs, and serves as a liaison between the Office of Global Services, the Registrar, co-op, and other university departments and teams that interact with Khoury College’s PhD students. Adrien enjoys her work as she believes Khoury College is agile, innovative, and — most important — dedicated to creating diverse, equitable spaces for students, faculty, and staff.