Jacquerlin Cruz
Responsibilities
- Leave Management & Compliance
- Workers’ Compensation & Accommodations
- Student Casual Hiring & casual Onboarding
- Recruitment Support
- Employee Engagement & Culture
About
Jacquerlin (Jackie) Cruz joined SEAS in December 2025 as the HR Leave & Operations Specialist. Jacquerlin will play a critical role in supporting our staff, researchers, students, and managers across Columbia Engineering. In her role at Columbia Engineering, Jackie serves as the primary liaison with Columbia University’s central Leave Management team, guiding employees and managers through the full leave lifecycle, including FMLA, parental, medical, and other statutory or contractual leaves.
She coordinates workers’ compensation, medical accommodations, and return-to-work processes while ensuring full compliance with university policies, federal and state regulations, and collective bargaining agreements.
Jackie also supports student casual hiring and onboarding by verifying eligibility, processing PeopleSoft transactions, ensuring I-9 compliance, and coordinating with university partners, and she provides recruitment support in collaboration with the Talent Acquisition team as needed.
In addition, she contributes to HR operations through recordkeeping, audits, reporting, and special projects, and supports employee engagement and culture initiatives that foster a positive, inclusive, and supportive workplace across SEAS. Jackie’s depth of experience, attention to detail, and empathetic approach to employee support are tremendous assets to the Columbia Engineering community.
Previously, Jacquerlin served as a Leave Specialist at Montefiore Medical Center, where she supported the administration and implementation of complex, high-volume leave programs within a large healthcare system. In this role, Jacquerlin played a key part in operationalizing leave policies, ensuring alignment with federal and state regulations, union agreements, and organizational procedures. She collaborated cross-functionally with HR leadership, payroll, benefits, managers, and external vendors to streamline leave workflows, resolve escalated and non-standard cases, and improve the employee experience. Her work at Montefiore required managing sensitive cases involving FMLA, NY Paid Family Leave, disability, and workers’ compensation, while contributing to process improvements, documentation updates, and consistent application of leave practices across departments.
Education
Jacquerlin earned her Bachelor’s degree in Corporate Communications from Baruch College in 2023. Jacquerlin also received her Master of Science degree in Human Resources Management from Manhattanville University in 2025.