Kristof Zaba Helps SHU’s International and Grad Students Succeed

Experienced leader in student life takes on additional responsibilities at SHU

Kristof Zaba has been executive director of international student life at Sacred Heart University since January. Now his role has expanded to also include oversight of graduate student life, which means he will be helping both sets of students achieve success.

Zaba, a seasoned leader in international student affairs, brings extensive experience in academic support, student engagement and program management to SHU. Prior to Sacred Heart, he was dean for international programs and global engagement at Montana State University (MSU), where he led comprehensive student services for international students, oversaw study abroad programs and managed international partnerships.

His MSU role also included guiding student engagement initiatives, advising on immigration compliance and developing faculty-directed study abroad programs. In addition, he led committees on global safety and strategic planning and coordinated efforts across the MSU campuses to promote international themes.

Before MSU, Zaba was executive director of the global student success program at the University of Massachusetts Boston where he directed academic support, extracurricular engagement and multicultural programming for international students. He also managed enrollment initiatives, compliance and operations, which contributed to high student retention and success rates.

Before that, he held leadership roles at the New York Institute of Technology and Marymount Manhattan College, where he developed international admissions strategies and supported global initiatives.

Zaba holds a doctorate in organizational leadership studies from Northeastern University and a diploma from the graduate business school INSEAD’s executive leadership program in Singapore. He earned his master’s degree in higher education administration and bachelor’s in international marketing from Baruch College in New York.

In a question-and-answer interview, Zaba discussed his goals for the international and graduate student experiences.

What attracted you to Sacred Heart University?

Sacred Heart University’s commitment to educating students in mind, body and spirit to ensure they are well prepared to succeed academically and professionally and face the challenges of today’s world resonates with my own passion and philosophy for student life and development. SHU, which has traditionally been an undergraduate institution, has experienced a recent growth in graduate and international student enrollments. And with that comes a need to strategically rethink how to support this growing student population to ensure that we create a welcoming and inclusive campus for all students with more comprehensive services that speak to the needs of this growing population.

I hope to bring my expertise in student services to enhance the experiences of Sacred Heart’s student body and contribute to the University’s vision of developing globally aware, engaged and well-rounded graduates.

What is your vision for enhancing the graduate and international student experience at Sacred Heart? What initiatives or programs would you like to introduce or expand?

My vision is to create a more comprehensive and coordinated support system that fosters academic and personal growth and prepares students for professional success.

Having been in my position for a couple of months now, I was happy to discover that there have been efforts and initiatives to support graduate and international students at the University. Yet, several of those initiatives are very localized. I hope to engage faculty and staff to create a more comprehensive, University-wide support system that speaks to the needs of graduate and international students. This will result in more comprehensive services and offerings, including onboarding of new students, access to health care and counseling for graduate students, the graduate year experience course for international students, outside-the-classroom engagement opportunities and other student supports.

What role do you see diversity, equity and inclusion playing in your approach to supporting students?

Diversity, equity and inclusion are part of the fundamental mission of any university that strives to provide students with the experiences that will instill long-lasting values, empowering them to find appreciation for their own and others’ diversity, reduce all forms of societal injustice and become a fabric of a responsible, inclusive society. That mission brings the responsibility for me, and all educators, to expose students to the social challenges of today’s world, create opportunities and adequate support mechanisms for unrepresented populations and encourage an intercultural and multicultural dialogue as students begin an exploration of where they see themselves fitting into the larger global community.

My personal commitment to diversity aligns well with this philosophy. I am committed to ensuring that all our students are adequately supported and provided with numerous learning opportunities so they can succeed academically at Sacred Heart and professionally when they graduate.

What key experiences have prepared you for this role?

I bring several years of experience in leadership positions within higher education with a career path focused on supporting academic success and the experiences of different student populations, including international, undergraduate, graduate and immigrant students, on their way to degree completion.

My career has presented me with opportunities to work at a private two-year college, a liberal arts college and a multi-campus institution with overseas programs in China, the Middle East and Canada. I have also worked for a for-profit and nonprofit partnership university pathway program and a large public university. All of this has provided me with a wide range of opportunities that focused on supporting student experience and student outcomes.