PRESS RELEASE
Melissa Rigas
Melissa Rigas has been appointed manager for the Charter College campus in Wasilla, where she is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the campus, including admissions, financial aid, academics, student success, career services and community outreach.
“I am so honored to be entrusted with these tasks, and I am ever observant to see what the community needs so the Wasilla campus staff and faculty can get involved and lend a hand or two,” Rigas said.
Charter College Wasilla, located at 721 W. Parks Highway, has been providing residents of the Mat-Su Valley with career education opportunities since 2007. The campus (a learning site of Anchorage), currently offers a certificate career program in Medical Assistant Training (MA).
“Wasilla is booming with state-of-the-art facilities and is accommodating more and more healthcare growth because we can and there’s a need. From family practices to opioid addiction specialists to cutting edge hospitals and clinics, the Mat-Su Valley has it all,” said Rigas. “Charter College Wasilla is training members of our community to help our people. We provide the place, complete with a medical lab and experienced instruction, for students to acquire the skills they need to enter the workforce, usually in under a year.”
Rigas has spent her career working in higher education, including most recently serving as an adjunct professor for the University of Alaska in Anchorage and an English language tutor for the Anchorage School District. She has also served as the center director for ELS language centers in Teaneck, New Jersey; cross-cultural communication and management specialist for Group ESC (Rouen Business School) in Rouen, France and manager/instructor for SOFRESA in Saint Cloud, France. She is bilingual in French and proficient in Spanish, Korean, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese.
She earned her Ed.M in administration and leadership in higher education from Jones International University in Centennial, Colorado. In addition, she earned a TEFL certificate in English as a foreign language from the American University in France, a BA in Special Honors Curriculum/History from Hunter College of the City University of New York and a Certificate of Completion in foreign policy from Oxford University – Exeter College in Oxford, England.
Rigas is a member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, Phi Alpha Theta, Phi Beta Kappa and StudyNewJersey, where she co-wrote the winning proposal for an EducationUSA/College Board visit by counselors from Morocco, Brazil, Georgia, Hungary and Kazakhstan in April 2010.
Details on Charter College’s MA program is available at www.chartercollege.edu/locations/wasilla-ak or by calling 888-200-9942.
About Charter College:
Founded in 1985, Charter College is a private, independent institution of higher education, providing students with a career-focused education in job fields that include healthcare, business, information technology, aviation and select trades. Charter College operates 14 college campuses in California, Washington, Alaska, Montana and New Mexico, and operates an online program. For more information, visit www.chartercollege.edu.
