Campus News

Antovel selected for immersive HR program

Mallory Antovel, human resources manager, speaks with a fellow employee at Great Falls College. Antovel has been selected for a yearlong immersive HR program.

Mallory Antovel, human resources manager at Great Falls College MSU, recently was selected to take part in a yearlong immersive program for early career higher education HR professionals.

She is one of just 12 participants selected from across the country to participate in the Wildfire mentorship program that is put on by College and University Professional Association-HR. The Wildfire name comes from the organization's desire that participants' opportunities within the profession and the association spread like wildfire.

Antovel, 31, is excited to expand her knowledge base, learn from fresh perspectives and enrich Great Falls College through her experience.

"Basically, I'm excited because I have worked in HR for 10 years and being outside of school, it's hard to feel like you are staying on top of your stuff," she said. "I'm hoping this makes me feel like I'm progressing, staying on it."

She will learn from mentors assigned through the program and attend numerous virtual conferences and workshops as well as attend the CUPA-HR annual conference in Washington D.C. this fall. The program is free to Antovel and Great Falls College.

"Mallory has added so much to the human resources office at Great Falls College," said Mary Kay Bonilla, chief student affairs and human resources officer at the college. "This program will allow her to add to her talent base, connect with colleagues from across the U.S. and develop and implement a project specifically for our office."

As part of Wildfire, Antovel will propose and implement a major project to strengthen Great Falls College.

"In theory, I will have done something beneficial or innovative for the college with the resources they give me," said Antovel, who is still mulling project options for the program, which officially will start on July 1 and run through June 30, 2022.

"I am excited to see Mallory grow professionally with this program," Bonilla said. "She and the college will both benefit from this experience. In my opinion, CUPA-HR picked the right person for this program."

One thing she is excited about is representing smaller campuses.

"I go to conferences, and I see breakouts with colleges who have 25-person HR staffs," she said. "We have 1.5 people."

Antovel earned a bachelor's degree in HR management from Florida Gulf Coast University and then worked in HR at the school while getting a master's degree in business administration from it, so she has experienced a larger four-year campus as well as Great Falls College.

She hopes to offer a different perspective and learn from others with different perspectives.

Antovel and her husband, Max, moved from Florida to Great Falls in 2016 to experience the outdoors.

Her passions outside of work?

"Camping, backpacking, fishing and being outside in any capacity," she said.

They recently purchased a new home on the outskirts of town where they have started a "huge garden" and have 12 chickens as they settle into country life with their dogs Camper and Murphy.