Wartburg College has welcomed seven new employees since April, including three administrative staff members and four support staff members.

Jeff Keen, assistant director of annual giving, worked for the past two years as director of development and marketing for the Bosco System Catholic Schools in Gilbertville.  He earned an associate’s degree from North Iowa Area Community College and completed a B.A. in political science at the University of Iowa. Keen spent two years with RuffaloCODY in Cedar Rapids, supervising phone campaigns for colleges, universities and nonprofit organizations.

Abbie Smith, alumni and parent relations associate for event planning, earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Wartburg and is completing a master’s degree in healthcare administration at Des Moines University. She has worked at Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community in Waverly since 2008, first as a Certified Nursing Assistant and, since January 2011, as marketing publications coordinator. As a student, she was an event planning and e-communications assistant in the Wartburg Alumni and Parent Relations Office.

Heather Patrick, Wartburg Bookstore manager, earned a B.A. in English from the University of Northern Iowa and a master’s degree in cinema studies from New York University, where she spent two years as study center librarian in the NYU Cinema Library. She has been an adjunct faculty member at UNI since 2007 in addition to working part-time at Barnes & Noble in Waterloo. She spent nine years as an assistant store manager at B.Dalton in Cedar Falls. Patrick succeeds longtime Bookstore manager Arlene Schwarzenbach, who is retiring.

Amy Hansen, office coordinator, annual giving, earned an associate’s degree in applied science from Hawkeye Community College, where she also completed the executive administrative assistant program. She has worked as executive assistant/secretary at Hudson Elementary School since 2008, served as the school district’s prom coordinator since 1998, and coached Hudson’s varsity girls golf and eighth-grade girls volleyball programs since 2010.

Amy Weber, cook in Dining Services, most recently worked as a line cook with Smack Shack Food Truck in Minneapolis. She is a graduate of Iowa State University in business marketing and studied culinary arts at The Art Institutes International in Minneapolis.

Barbara Vance, part-time worker in dining services, was formerly a paraeducator/associate at Clarksville High School.

Steve Kluiter, groundskeeper, event setup and rental property maintenance worker, earned an associate’s degree from American Institute of Business and most recently operated his own business, buying, restoring, and selling, antiques, collectibles and furniture.