A love of higher education, learning: Goley reflects on 34-year career at AU

Julie Goley has built a career at several institutions and has never had to change ZIP codes.

As she retires after 34 years of service to Augusta University and its legacy institutions, Goley says she’s leaving AU still loving her career.

“I truly feel blessed to enjoy the core of what I do, and I’m retiring still enjoying the core of what I do,” Goley said. “It doesn’t always work that way. I’ve built a career helping people transition and deal with tough transitions while I’ve never had to change ZIP codes. That’s not lost on me.”

Networking for life

Goley’s journey to Augusta first began at the University of South Carolina in her master’s of higher education administration program. While enrolled in a leadership of higher education course, her professor, a retired university president, connected her to the former dean of students at Augusta College, Roscoe Williams, PhD, and AC’s former director of Career Services, Diane Fennig, PhD, who were also enrolled while completing their doctoral program. While the three of them didn’t interact much during their class, Goley tried to connect to them whenever she could.

As Goley’s time in the program was concluding, she knew she wanted to stay within a three-hour radius of Columbia and wanted to work in higher education.

About six months after the conclusion of the leadership of higher education course, thanks to a connection forged in that class, Goley received a phone call from Fennig who shared there was a job opening at Augusta College and she needed help distributing information about the position.

Goley was intrigued by the position and decided to apply because she knew she wanted to begin her career at a smaller institution. She was eventually offered the role and became the assistant director of cooperative education in 1992.

Goley recalls the first nine years of her time with the Career Center being instrumental to the success of the team in building a core group with very little turnover. The Career Center was housed in Boykin Wright Hall in the early years of her tenure. She keeps a photo of Boykin Wright Hall in her office as a reminder of the beginnings of her career at AU and the hard work her team did to help students with career placement. 

Goley says she’s grateful for those years being on the outskirts of campus because the career team had to be very strategic in getting to the students and working with the faculty despite their location on campus.

“If you think about what the college was then as Augusta College/Augusta State University, the Career Center and Student Affairs leadership with both based on the outskirts of campus in Boykin Wright Hall. You had to intentionally come to us, you didn’t just pop in because you were in between classes. We had to work really hard to get into the classroom, get to know the faculty and really get to work with the students. At the time, we were all commuter-based, you just wanted students to drive by Boykin-Wright and stop,” Goley recalled.

A core memory from Goley’s early years in the Career Center that she will never forget is the impromptu meetings held on the veranda of Boykin Wright Hall with Fred Barnabei, EdD, former vice president for business and student services at Augusta College. Barnabei took smoke breaks on the veranda and employees had direct access to talk with him about whatever they wanted, from issues on campus to articles in the latest edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education. As a new employee who loved higher education, Goley appreciated the opportunity to learn from someone who might not typically be so approachable in an informal setting.

Once Goley began working at Augusta College, she started with the mindset that she would stick around for maybe three years to gain some experience and then move on. The week after she moved to Augusta, Goley met her future husband on a blind date and changed her mind.

“It all worked out. I had no idea I would be here this long. I’ve loved being able to serve in many ways with different types of institutions,” Goley said.

The evolution of Career Services

Goley smiles when she looks back on the evolution of Career Services since she first started at Augusta University in the 1990s. From students coming in to look at job books and perusing newspapers to search for job opportunities, to the creation of LinkedIn and holding interviews virtually, she still holds firm to one fact about career searching that will never change: the importance of networking.

“Even with technology there’s some things that never change: the ability to create relationships and establish networks. You don’t network to find work, you network for life. No matter what changes that’s never going to change, and that will always be the best way,” Goley said.

Networking proved to be valuable for the Career Services team during Augusta State University’s consolidation with the former Georgia Health Sciences University in 2012. Goley says the Career Services team was not in the same situation as other offices across campus were, attempting to figure out how to best merge entities together. Career Services was not an individual office on the Health Sciences Campus, so Goley and her team took the opportunity to meet with the deans and associate deans across all GHSU degree programs to learn how they were providing career guidance to their students.

She remembers how appreciative the leaders were for the Career Services team taking the time to meet and learn about the work faculty were already doing to support health sciences, medical and dental students. 

“They loved the idea of having student-facing career support, so they really celebrated it. They were really welcoming,” Goley shared.

When asked about the accomplishment she’s most proud of during her tenure at Augusta University, Goley pointed out the creation of the Jags On-Campus Internship Program. It’s a program she’s wanted to have for a long time and Goley says she’s elated that dream has finally become a reality. Following a successful inaugural year of Jags On-Campus in spring 2026, additional funding has been provided to support this program which will allow for 120 undergraduate students to learn critical career readiness skills this year.  

In addition to the Jags On-Campus program, Goley also credits her staff as another point of pride in her career. Goley says her teams throughout the years have always remained focused on Career Services’ mission of preparing students for the workforce. In 2009, the Career Services office shifted from more of an employment-focused model to more of a career advisement model where employees were aligned by academic areas to build relationships with students, faculty, and staff.

Goley says this shift has proven valuable to their office, as students have liked knowing that their career advisor understands their degree area and what’s needed for students to succeed.

‘One of one’

Stanley Singleton, PhD, associate vice president of Career-Integrated Learning, spoke highly of Goley in recalling his first impressions of meeting her.

“Julie has always been very astute and a sharp administrator. She thinks critically and knows how to ask not only the obvious questions but the macro-level questions that need to be asked as well. She is a sound administrator who I have appreciated being able to work with,” Singleton said.

Singleton enjoys Goley’s ability to lead with both her head and her heart. While he adds this unique quality has been refined through her tenure as a seasoned higher education administrator, Singleton says she blends the two well.

Following the recent loss of AU educator Beth Huggins, EdD, a close friend of Goley’s, Singleton says her service-focused personality showed up in a big way, ready to help Huggins’ family and her team however she was needed. He admires Goley’s natural born leadership, knowing how to lead without always being asked.  

“That’s basically Julie. She’ll go where she’s needed to go and fill in the gaps wherever it’s needed. If we had more folks who are like Julie, this would be an even better university. Julie is definitely one of one,” Singleton said.

Kimberly Norville, PhD, acting director of Career Services, has gotten to know Goley well both professionally and personally. She witnessed Goley’s caring personality firsthand following an accident she sustained.

Norville was getting ready for work one morning when she had an accident and fractured both ankles. She knew she had a busy day at work planned, so she called in to explain what happened. As expected of one’s director, Goley took on Norville’s busy day with no questions asked. Goley took things one step further and was the first to show up at Norville’s house with dinner at 5 that evening.

“That’s just the person she is. She understands her role, work-related, and how to keep carrying what needs to be done within the office. She really takes the extra step when anything happens to you to care for you as well,” Norville said.

Norville says she’s going to miss Goley’s presence, steadiness and her quick ability to know how to navigate every situation, among other things. She looks forward to creating a different relationship with Goley as more of a mentor in this next season of life.

“Even with technology there’s some things that never change: the ability to create relationships and establish networks. You don’t network to find work, you network for life.”

Julie Goley

Looking ahead

With her husband joining her in retirement in late 2027 and her son expected to graduate college at the end of 2027, Goley is excited for this new season of life for herself and her family. After working in a service-driven field and dedicating much of her time and energy to her career, she’s looking forward to time with her husband, mother and mother-in-law who live close by.

Goley says she will miss the people and commitment to the institution the most. She believes in the people who make up Augusta University and the resources they bring to the heart of campus.

Several initiatives Goley has advocated for are finally taking place, like the Jags On-Campus Internship Program, and she says she’s not sad to see them come to life just as she’s retiring. She believes there’s a season for everything and if it took a spirited person to champion those things, she’s OK with that being her role.

“I appreciate that Career Services is growing, and the emphasis on career readiness will be impactful for their career preparation. Because of the changing landscape of job searches, we don’t want students failing because they don’t understand how to navigate the dynamics to effectively compete in finding work and then thriving in the work. The best way to do that is to integrate more career preparation into the classroom and to be intentional with that and equip students with the tools to be as successful as possible. I’m excited about that.”