Jorgens builds a career on campus

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Catherine Jorgens graduated from law school 15 years ago but still looks forward to the first day of classes.

“With the academic calendar, we get a clean slate on a regular basis,” said Jorgens, counsel for Carroll University. “There’s a natural rhythm and a fresh crop of eager learners coming to campus every single fall.”

Working at a small, busy college means Jorgens does not have just one job. Since joining Carroll in 2005, she has practiced law, taught students, managed risk, worked in student affairs and counseled students preparing to take the law school aptitude test.

A New York City native, Jorgens calls herself

a “double Badger,” having earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed the latter in 1998.

She practiced in litigation at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren SC, Milwaukee, for four years and then spent three years working for Meta House Inc., a nonprofit organization in Milwaukee that works with women who have substance-abuse problems.

But Jorgens, whose parents are university professors, said she found herself missing the practice of law.

“I often say I speak fluent faculty and feel very comfortable on college campuses,” she said. “So when I saw this job posting, I leapt at it.”

Her legal work at Carroll includes contracts, employment, policy development, corporate governance, and compliance with state and federal regulations. Jorgens also is active in the National Association of College and University Attorneys, as well as other local bar groups.

Most recently, though, her legal focus has dealt with construction law.

The university has completed three residence towers — Frontier, Pioneer and Prairie halls — that were filled to capacity before they opened, a sign that the number of university applications is increasing, she said.

More growth is anticipated, Jorgens said, through new programs, especially at the graduate level. Since she joined Carroll, she said, the university has added an MBA program and a doctoral program in physical therapy.

“We take our mission very seriously,” Jorgens said. “It’s important that we deliver high-quality education, that our facilities run smoothly and that we’re good stewards for the people who contribute to Carroll.

“And the fact that we’re a smaller campus means I interact with students all the time, which is terrific.”