Meet the Staff

Joseph Catrino: Director

Joseph (Joe) Catrino, Director of Career Development, joined Trinity in 2015 as senior associate director of marketing in the Division of Enrollment and Student Success. He played a critical role in Trinity’s enrollment success and has fundamentally transformed the division’s strategies around marketing, outreach, and strategic communications. In addition, Joe teaches in the first-year seminar program, taking on an advising load of students, mentoring student interns, and working to develop Trinity’s new design thinking initiatives.

Prior to joining Trinity College, Catrino spent nine years at Quinnipiac University. Four and a half of those years as the assistant dean for career development in the School of Communications. In this role, he oversaw and managed career development and career advising for more than 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Communications. During that time, he successfully increased the student job placement rate from 82% to 92%. One of his key responsibilities was also to manage and supervise the academic component of the School’s internship program.

Joe has a long history of teaching, writing, and serving on professional boards. Since 2007, he’s taught at Quinnipiac and the University of Hartford. His course topics range from Social Media to Media Career Development; Personal Branding; Business and Professional Communication; and Sports, Media, and Society. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Cooperative Education and Internship Association (CEIA) as vice president of professional development and previously held the position of vice president of marketing and communications for two years and is a frequent presenter at regional and national career-related conferences. His most recent publication, “A New Approach: How to Prepare Students to Exceed Expectations in Internships” for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, highlights his passion for helping students thrive through experiential learning.

Joe holds an MBA from Quinnipiac University, an M.A. in communication from the University of Hartford, and a B.A. in history and communications/public relations from Marist College.​

Joseph.Catrino@trincoll.edu​

Jett McAlister: Associate Director

“A career development program emphasizing process, lifelong learning, and honest self-reflection enhances the liberal arts experience, empowering students to cultivate competencies they will use throughout their personal and professional lives,” says Associate Director Jett McAlister.

 Before coming to Trinity, Jett served as an Assistant Director for Academic Preparation in the Career Advancement office at the University of Chicago.  During his tenure at Chicago, Jett designed innovative programs integrating the liberal arts with professional skills valued in the marketplace.  He has also worked closely with alumni and employers across a range of industries to develop internship and externship positions, and has led students on site visits to employers in the for-profit, not-for-profit, and government sectors.  Before working in career development, Jett taught a variety of courses in writing and literature, both at Chicago and at the University of Virginia.

Jett earned his bachelor's degree in English literature from Rice University, a master of fine arts in creative writing from the University of Virginia, and a master of arts in English language and literature from the University of Chicago.  Outside of professional life, Jett has a wide array of interests—he is an avid fan of the arts, an amateur pianist, and an eight-time marathoner.

Jett.McAlister@trincoll.edu