The Reitz Union was flooded with 233 students practicing firm handshakes and mock interviews Thursday morning.
What might’ve seemed like a rave between the upbeat music and free food was actually the grand reopening of the Career Connections Center, formerly known as the Career Resource Center.
The newly named center threw a “block party” to celebrate its $9.6 million facility and 65th anniversary, said Ja’net Glover, Senior Director for Career Services at the Career Connections Center.
“We want to make the university community proud and so we were just really excited to be here and celebrate today,” she said.
The new space is two stories and double the size of the last location, Glover said. It consists of seven multipurpose rooms for employment and career opportunities, six different collaboration spaces for students to interact with their peers and classroom technology, like computers and projectors, for students and faculty to use.
The doors that separated the Career Connections Center from the rest of the Reitz Union have been removed in order to make the space easily accessible, Glover said. After listening to student focus groups, the idea of having an open concept for the facility came into focus.
“We wanted to be intentional in that, making sure that space allows students to see that they are welcome and they are open to be here, but there are more things than just finding a job that are available,” she said.
The project was funded through Capital Improvement Trust Funds, which is student fee money provided for non-academic buildings. The project was five years in the making, Glover said. The last two years focused on the bulk of the construction, leaving the former Career Resource Center displaced for a year and a half in four different locations.
Block party attendees had the option to tour the building and participate in various workshops like, “What is a Career Action Plan?”, “Experience Changes Everything” and “Connecting with your Embedded Liaison.”
Assistant Director for Career and Industry Engagement Jaysen Williams said his favorite part about the event was being able to connect with students.
“I really enjoy sharing information on the resources that we offer,” he said. “We’re open, and we’re here to help.”
Rachael Dean, a UF zoology and biology freshman, said she attended the event in order to learn more about her career options with the majors she’s pursuing.
“I feel like they definitely know what they’re doing and they can point us in the right direction of like things we might need to do and where to like be more successful in finding careers,” Dean said.
Glover has high hopes for the new center. Ten years from now, she’d like to see the entire campus community engaged in the career center.
“It’s our job to be able to coalesce and to bring others together around the conversation about career and where students go,” she said.
Contact Dana Cassidy at dcassidy@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @danacassidy_
One of the staff members at the Career Connections Center speaks with students about the newly renovated space at the Connections Block Party on Thursday afternoon.
