Jacob Brown Dr.

West IP&T 520 Interview a Professional Summary

My group and I had the opportunity of interviewing Rich Cullatta, who works for the
United States Department of Education. He is a fascinating person with great energy and
experience in a variety of fields.
As Rich described his career thus far to us, I felt his passion for improving education in
many varieties. He spoke equally favorably of his time in the CIA, improving their online
training capabilities, experience in Latin American schools, and past experience in the McKay
school. Throughout the interview, we came back to the idea of teacher training and
improvement, which doesnt surprise me at all. I have seen Richs TEDx presentation and his
ability as a presenter is impressive; Im sure that his abilities as a charismatic teacher translate
well to helping other teachers improve their skills.
Currently Rich works with several projects in the Department of Education, such as
making sure all schools have access to the internet and preparing leaders in each school to
establish strong infrastructures. Not surprisingly, being in Washington D.C., Rich also works
with educational policy to make large-scale changes throughout the country. He also works with
CLOs from Fortune 500 companies in an effort to find out what their organizations are doing to
improve their instructional goals (e.g., helping employees develop marketable skills), and how
those might be transferred to other organizations.
Rich is quite obviously not only knowledgeable about learning and teaching, but other
subjects like educational policy and helping underdeveloped populations receive effective
educational experiences. Prior to completing this assignment, I heard from Tadd that Rich has
decided to pursue a different career soon, leaving his job at the Department of Education. I
imagine that his diverse skillset will enable him to work wherever he goesand, even if he has
trouble finding something new, he is probably used to the roller coaster of looking for a new job.
I respect him for looking for new employment after having an apparently secure position;

Jacob Brown Dr. West IP&T 520 Interview a Professional Summary

pursuing ones dreams is paramount in my paradigm. If a similar position presents itself in my

future, I hope to be courageous enough to follow it.
Richs main suggestion for current IP&T students is to get involved in practical, skillbuilding projects in our field of interest. He mentioned that projects stemming from the IP&T
program are great, but that sometimes an even more effective option is to find and participate in
off-campus projects, especially in the form of internships. He also mentioned that when he
entered the work force, his first salary was rated as mid-career (as most positions will pay
Depending On Experience) since he had participated so heavily in projects before officially
becoming a full-time employee. This is a great suggestion, and I plan to capitalize as best I can
on it by continuing with my current job at LDS Business College as an instructional designer for
a small program called Corporate Connect.
I have provisionally been offered a job at the college for after I graduate, which is
exciting and encouraging. That said, if I can augment my post-graduation utility by getting
involved in additional projectssuch as taking Dr. Gibbons Advanced Instructional Design
class next semester and having the chance to be involved in practical projects at Thanksgiving
Pointthen I will be more prepared for the future than with my job experience alone. In the
interview, Rich touched on this ideaof being able to pursue a variety of different jobs because
of his involvement in useful, skill-building projects, and said that his opportunities after college
have come largely because of what he did as a graduate student in projects. I hope to do the
same and reap similar rewards for my family.
If I can do that in my time in the IP&T program as well, I will be confident as I move on
to LDS BC and beyond. I am interested in a variety of subjects as well, including corporate
training, positive organizational scholarship (i.e., a leadership philosophy) consulting, working in
EFY and other church programs, and motivational speaking and workshops. I hope that I will be
as keen to jumping on potential project options as Rich was during his time at BYU.

Jacob Brown Dr. West IP&T 520 Interview a Professional Summary

Perhaps the most personally meaningful thing that Rich said was that the time as a
student is a much more flexible time in life than others, and that we as students should take
advantage of the opportunity to do whatever we want with the time that we have. For me, a
newly-married 25 year-old, life is much less complicated than it is for, say, Jon, who has six boys
under the age of 15 and is working full-time. I feel very grateful for my current position, and
feel obligated to do my best to capitalize on our familys fortuitous circumstances. Having this
flexibility means that I can really jump into my job and classesand that I can spend time with
my wife performing with the BYU Young Ambassadors. Much of what I enjoy doing is related
to being in front of people and performing whether that be selling, singing, dancing, or
teaching. I hope that I can take advantage of this flexible and wonderful time of life.
I do not wish to speak too soon, but I want to go forth and serve as Rich and others
have done, and experience a measure of the success they have achieved. I feel the strong desire
to work up to their standard, and those in my cohort push me to want to do better as well. I want
to give back to this university and pass along the mentoring opportunities which I have received,
if possible. I am excited to move forward, take more classes, learn more, and get involved in
projects and deep thinking. I thank the Lord for the opportunity to be in this program, and will
try my best to listen to His promptings and do what He would have me do.
My contribution to our group was as video editor and web developer; I followed the
prescribed instructions on LearningSuite accordingly.