SuccessWorks, a center for personal and professional development for students in the University of Wisconsin College of Letters and Science, held a grand opening Wednesday in its new facility located on the third floor of the University Bookstore.
College of Letters and Sciences Dean Karl Scholz launched the idea for this career initiative in 2013 as a way to provide liberal arts students with the career services and support needed to achieve academic and future success early in their college careers.
Chancellor Rebecca Blank opened the ceremony with praise for the UW staff, business leaders, donors and alumni involved in the development of this new program, and spoke to the impact she sees this program making.
“SuccessWorks, this space, is going to transform how we prepare liberal arts students for careers, and bring us that much closer to our goal of integrating career readiness into students experiences while they are here on campus,” Blank said.
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Scholz spoke about SuccessWorks, and its goal to create a new model for serving students through resources in eight career communities based on student interest.
Career communities connect students to expert advisors that are able to help students get internships and jobs offered by UW’s employer partners, other companies, organizations and alumni, Scholz said.
Associate Dean for L&S Career Initiative and SuccessWorks, Rebecca Paré further explained the purpose of career communities model and how it drives students’ career success.
“What we are doing is helping students through this model by letting them explore what types of career options are out there, and sparking their imaginations for what’s possible,” Paré said.
Paré said the career communities are essentially clusters of occupations that include an adviser, an alumni group and an employment group. Students are encouraged to utilize these clusters while forging their career path.
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SuccessWorks offers a number of other resources to students as well, from advising, to interview practice, to workshops and more, Paré said. SuccessWorks looks at every student’s individual interests and skills, and helps them to determine a path to success within that field.
“Capitalize on what you’re learning and your education, and then really think about how you can apply that in the world of work,” Paré said.
SuccessWorks spokesperson Nathan Barker, said the program has already seen early indicators of success. Since its opening just last September, SuccessWorks has hosted three times as many on-campus interviews than the entire previous academic year, career and internship advising is up 18 percent and $135,000 in internship scholarships to L&S students was granted this year, $100,000 more than last year, he added.
“We aspire to put every L&S student on the path to success, and be the number one source of talent for companies in Wisconsin, and the world,” Scholz said.
