It’s been ten years since the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development opened its doors to students! Over the last decade, we have grown to a nationally and internationally awarded career center. To celebrate, we are reflecting on ten of the most influential evolutions and accomplishments that have shaped the office into what it is today.
Why is this important? We understand students and families want graduates to have productive and meaningful lives and careers after their time at , and also how career centers contribute to recruitment, retention, and even revenue to support our students. The university-wide collaboration, innovation, and hard work of the Fleishman team members over the past decade has been demonstrated time after time through data and testimonials. Within four years of the new center, the university strategic plan placement goal of 75% was exceeded, prompting the decision for that metric to be one of the few raised in the Road Map over the years. Last year a report found that students engaging with the Fleishman Center had higher placement rates than those who did not. We are also looking forward to what is to come because engagement levels continue to explode. For example, in an intentional effort to reach students early to reach our vision of immersing 100% of students in career and professional growth, we have seen an increase in first-year student meaningful engagement rise from just 28% to over 80% in just three years - unheard of for a career center without a curricular requirement.
We know that the strategic efforts to engage students early directly impact retention of our students. Every Fleishman career consultant can share stories of students we met with who initially indicate they are planning to transfer due to the stress and lack of career clarity, but then share that they changed their mind after meeting with a career consultant or taking our career exploration course. We also know from our data the impact our Fleishman Career Center student engagement has on their career outcomes, or what many refer to as placement.
1. The Fleishman Story
In March 2014, the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development (previously the Career Development Center) opened its doors to students and the founding director Dr. Kelli Smith was hired. Once located in the basement of Glenn G. Bartle Library, the Fleishman Career Center now resides in the heart of campus inside the University Union. Our relocation reflected a cultural shift on campus that reprioritized career services and the professional growth of students.
The Fleishman Career Center recognizes Steve Fleishman ’91 and Judith (Judy) Garczynski Fleishman ’90 for their generosity and leadership. According to the Fleishmans, they wanted to help students turn their education and hard work into jobs after graduation. A bit of a “Career Center junkie” as a student, Steve used the Center to learn how to write a resume and cover letter, as well as gain valuable internship experience. When he recommended the Career Center to his friends, many revealed they had no idea it existed. In fact, Judy did not know about the Career Center either until her senior year. With Steve and Judy’s support and leadership, the center has been transformed into a far-reaching, impactful office that engages over 70% of students across campus. In 2023, the Fleishmans were presented with the Glenn G. Bartle Distinguished Alumni Award, the Alumni Association’s highest honor, in recognition of their continued dedication to students and support of the career center.
Collaboration is at the heart of what we do, and we recognize that our achievements are a collective effort. We want to express our gratitude to our partner offices in the Watson School of Engineering, the School of Management, and Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, all of whom have been vital to our success. In our first year, Dean Upinder Dhillon in the School of Management agreed to use the same job and internship platform, ensuring a seamless experience for both students and employers. This and other examples of collaboration laid the foundation for our office’s success.
2. Growth of Staff
Since the start, we have worked hard to create an office culture where both professional and student staff want to work, feel they are empowered to be innovative, can bring their authentic selves to the office, and make an impactful difference in others’ lives. This has led to the Fleishman Career Center being a place where people want to work, and that has been important considering the staff growth over time. The growth of our staff over the past decade has been a testament to the expanding influence of the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development. Our office has grown from 14 full-time staff members, responsible for the entire student population, to a robust team of 30 dedicated professionals! This increase in staffing has allowed us to enhance our services, offer more individualized support and develop programs catered to the diverse needs of our students. These include the newly created Industry Specialist positions, allowing for more personalized guidance for students interested in the Government and Not-for-Profit, Healthcare, Business, and Data & Tech industries. With the support of the Dean of the College of Community and Public Affairs (CCPA), Laura Bronstein, this year we also created a satellite office in the University Downtown Center to reach students and faculty at the downtown location more effectively.
None of our success would be possible without the vital contributions of our exceptional student staff. In a given academic year, we employ approximately 50 student staff members who play an essential role in delivering our services to students. This includes holding career consulting appointments, and presenting and tabling at various on-campus events, as well as marketing and outreach efforts. Our student staff also model the Student Employment Initiative, allowing students to learn valuable career skills and feedback during their time studying at . We are proud to have had over 250 student employees over the past 10 years, and are so excited to see what they will continue to achieve in their lives!
While we celebrate our growth and achievements, we also recognize and honor the dedication of those who served in the Career Development Center before our rebrand. Their contributions have laid the groundwork for our current success, building up a legacy of commitment to student development and career readiness. The foundation they provided has enabled us to reach new heights and create an even greater impact for our students.
3. Student Employment Initiative
Initially without additional resources, the Fleishman Career Center took simple steps to prioritize student employment eight years ago, supported by Erin Cody before she took on the Harpur Edge Director role. The focus was centered on equity, and the Provost willingly issued a campus directive for all student employment opportunities to be listed within hireBING. In the first year, on-campus postings increased by 132%. Two years ago, the career center created a position entirely dedicated to campus employment, an effort led by Brandy Smith and Kathie Boice. This effort includes student and supervisor training, an intentional focus on career readiness, student and supervisor award recognition, marketing, student reflection, and constructive student feedback. The career center models the university-wide effort with nearly 50 high-impact positions.
Student feedback tied to the NACE competencies to assist with student skill building and career readiness has been a key element of the program. One surprising finding in the first year was that students evaluated themselves on the competencies lower (6.27/7.0) than their supervisors (6.43/7.0)—the only institution the vendor supported for which this was the case, indicating the importance of building students’ confidence in their skills.
This year, at the suggestion of the Fleishman Center and with the backing of their program’s success, decided to add campus employment as a designated HIP within the University’s strategic plan. This was also a result of an analysis of their HIP non-participant data and the student worker demographics; for example, first-generation, underrepresented minority (URM), and Pell-eligible students were more likely to be student employees, suggesting that providing meaningful student employment experiences will help increase career readiness for these populations. This also led to additional funding to expand the center’s introductory student employment grant. The grant fully funds the wages for a newly created campus job intended for students who have never held an on-campus role. The position must meet the criteria for a high-impact practice by having defined learning objectives and requiring work on a project as well as student feedback.
4. Creating a Culture of Career and Meeting Students Where They Are
The Fleishman Center launched the first annual Career Champions Breakfast in 2015, a program managed by Emily Love that won the Innovation Award at an invite-only international U.K. conference of career center leaders from around the globe in 2017. Every year, over 100 University faculty and staff are nominated by students for playing a pivotal role in their lives. All Career Champions are celebrated for empowering others to achieve their career goals or recognize their future post-graduation. The initiative is part of a growing movement to integrate career exploration and readiness into all parts of University life — from inside the classroom to extracurricular activities. Research shows that we need to create pathways to drive awareness for all students to close the gap in career mobility for minoritized and first-generation college students, as well as those who have not yet gained career and academic clarity or mentorship.
In 2015 and in an effort to engage students earlier and meet them where they are, a new “career consultant in residence” role was created in collaboration with Residential Life, and taken on at the time by Laura O’Neill (who now supports our strategic efforts to support transfer students). Due to the success of this pilot, university support for another role was secured and the program has evolved to the Residential Student Engagement Specialist program. Such efforts helped lay the foundation for the even more strategic early engagement efforts led by Lexie Avery and highlighted in this .
To further this work, the Career Collaborative was introduced in 2023, led by the efforts of Aly Novi and Jessica Lane-Rwabukwisi, as a multifaceted initiative for faculty and staff to co-create meaningful career education opportunities in partnership with our team. Similar to our transformational career education initiatives geared toward students, the Collaborative will provide relevant tools, resources, education, recognition and networking events, funding opportunities and transformational services geared toward our partners — in order to immerse 100% of students in career and personal growth and advance our core value of equity.
5. Curriculum and Internships
The Fleishman Center is proud to offer a first-rate, nationally recognized curriculum. We currently oversee three career development courses that provide students with career-readiness skills and experiences, each designed for different stages of the career development journey.
- The Career Exploration Course (CDCI 200) is an impactful course for students deciding on career and major, and is even open to students the summer before their first year.
- The Credit-Bearing Internship Program (CDCI 395) is an online, asynchronous seminar course taken in conjunction with an internship experience, open to all undergraduate students. Students learn about networking at their internship site and beyond, professional communication, adding their experience on a resume, setting up a LinkedIn account and more.
- Design Your Post-Graduation Plan (CDCI 476/HDEV 476) is a new course open to all juniors and seniors in partnership with CCPA to ensure all students are prepared for post-graduation life, including overall wellness.
These classes and programs have been highly successful, with over 10,000 students participating in the CDCI program over the last 9 years! To build on these successes, the recently hired Associate Director of Experiential Education, Chris Wandell, is leading efforts to ensure 100% of graduating undergraduate students participate in High Impact Practices (HIPs) by the end of the 2024–25 academic year. Three groups were formed to drive this initiative: the High Impact Practices Learning Group, Leadership Council, and Storytelling Group, each comprised of diverse campus representatives. These groups will work collaboratively to create a learning community, engage new student populations, and share the success and impact of HIPs through enhanced marketing and storytelling efforts.
6. Internship Funding
In addition to the curriculum and internships offered, the Fleishman Center also provides students with the funding needed to participate in internships and other experiential learning opportunities outside of the classroom.
In 2014, we had just one internship fund. Now, we have six named internship funds intended to remove barriers and allow all students to participate in high-impact experiences. During the summer of 2024, the six internship funds awarded over $100,000 to 31 students to assist in their summer internships. These funding opportunities are generously funded by friends and partners of and the Fleishman Career Center. We are extremely grateful for their ongoing support of students. If you would like to make a donation, you can follow the link provided.
We also introduced the Professional Development Grant in 2022 to offer financial support to students pursuing various professional growth opportunities, such as conferences, networking events, and graduate school applications. Since then, we have awarded over $30,000 to 90 students to help them achieve their goals.
7. Employer, Alumni, and Partner Engagement
At the Fleishman Center, we are committed to connecting students with employment opportunities. Currently, students have access to over 189,841 job and internship postings through hireBING by Handshake. We also offer numerous opportunities for students to network and get jobs in person.
Each fall, we host an annual Job and Internship Fair, the largest recruiting event on campus. Last year, 2,400 students attended the fair! This year, we are innovating and adapting our approach by offering specialized industry events to best fit the evolving needs of our students. We are excited to introduce the Science, Research, Engineering/Tech Job Fair, the Business Operations, Marketing, and Consulting Job Fair, as well as the inaugural Symposium: Exploring Careers in Art, Design, and Social Impact . The fairs will be open to students of all majors and years, and we hope to provide more tailored opportunities for students interested in a wide variety of fields.
The Fleishman Center also partners with the Office of Alumni Engagement who have helped fund our ability to create the award-winning CONNECT Employer Treks and the ability for us to ensure cost is not a barrier for students to participate. These programs are offered several times each year in major cities across the country, such as New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles - locations purposefully chosen for having a strong presence of alumni eager to share professional advice and educate students about career opportunities. Employers can also connect with our talented students during school breaks
In January 2017, the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development and Visions Federal Credit Union entered into a unique partnership to provide financial literacy programming for students. This fall, the Division of Student Affairs and Vice President Brian Rose provided funding to hire our first, full-time Financial Literacy Coordinator, and the campus interest has already exploded!
8. Commitment to Equity and Inclusion
The Fleishman Center is deeply committed to fostering an environment that supports the diverse needs of all our students. Our close partnerships with the Multicultural Resource Center, Q Center, Student Support Services, Educational Opportunity Program, International Student and Scholar Services, and Services for Students with Disabilities allow us to provide comprehensive support and resources tailored to a wide range of student communities.
We are dedicated to innovative diversity-centered employer events, such as the Roundtable: Centering Inclusion in the Workplace and Multicultural Career Flip, created and led by Tiffany Soto, which offer unique opportunities for diversity recruiting and education. These events not only facilitate connections between employers and students from diverse backgrounds, but also promote a culture of inclusivity within the professional world.
Additionally, Fleishman has an internal working group that plays a crucial role in ensuring that our programs, events, and initiatives are evaluated through a lens of equity and inclusion for all students. This ongoing evaluation helps us maintain our commitment to equity and inclusion in everything we do. Additionally, our affinity communities are designed to connect diverse students with valuable resources, alumni, and opportunities as they navigate their professional goals. By fostering these connections, we aim to empower all students to thrive in their chosen fields and contribute to a more inclusive workforce.
9. Skills Lab
Yet another innovation of the Fleishman Career Center is the Skills Lab, piloted this past January. The Skills Lab at the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development provides a collaborative space for students to learn and practice industry-relevant skill sets, taught by our alumni and employer partners. Skills Labs provide students with an opportunity to learn sought-after skills that prepare them for the real world and make them more qualified candidates when applying for jobs. All majors are welcome to attend, allowing students to explore different industries and careers. Attending a Skills Lab offers networking opportunities, hands-on learning, and career insights from experts. After attending a Skills Lab, students will have a new transferable and practical skill to add to their resume, discuss in job interviews, and apply to real-world situations in the workplace. Past Skills Labs have included “How to Create a Stock Pitch” with alumni from Morgan Stanley, “Idea to Action, Entrepreneurship Insider Tips” in collaboration with the Southern Tier Koffman Incubator, and “Strategies for Building a Career in Financial Services” with a representative of Wealth Advisory Group.
This semester, we have an exciting schedule of Skills Labs planned, including The Financial Planning Process with Northwestern Mutual, Environmental Health and Safety Career Insights with Triumvirate Environmental, Crafting Social Media Strategy and Copywriting with Redken, and Writing for an Elected Official. We will also be hosting four Skills Labs during our Symposium: Exploring Careers in Art, Design, and Social Impact event in October, including Podcasting: Planning, Production, and Publishing, The Best Camera is the Camera You Have, From Art to Artificial Intelligence, and Community Needs Assessments for Social Impact.
We are thrilled to announce that the success of the Skills Lab concept has led to plans for a new, premiere, state-of-the-art “Skills Lab” space. We have earmarked funding to build it and hope to confirm a site soon. Our aim is to open January of 2027. This will help expand the Center’s footprint, but the vision is for the space to also be open to other departments and student organizations offering targeted skill training programs for our students and support workforce needs.
10. Digital Presence and Outreach
Thanks to the efforts of our staff, we have expanded our digital presence, providing students with 24/7 access to a wide range of career resources on our website. We established seven different Career Clusters for students to subscribe to and receive tailored job and internship opportunities, career resources, blogs, and events delivered directly to their inbox. Students are not limited to just one Career Cluster—they can subscribe to all seven, which is especially beneficial for students who are still exploring their career interests.
Our innovative approaches have also earned national and global recognition. The Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development was honored with the National Career Development Association's Exemplary Career Center Award in June 2017 for outstanding service in education and its thoughtful, innovative initiatives supporting career development.
In addition, the Fleishman Career Center and were recognized at the inaugural Handshake Career Spark Awards in October 2023 in two categories. Handshake highlighted our creative methods of engaging students and employer partners, along with our commitment to student success!