With 5,000 square feet of space, the Student Professional Development Center is a showcase resource for corporate recruiters.
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The Student Professional Development Center opened this week in a spacious Moseley Center first-floor suite where program leaders say their heightened visibility will make it more convenient for students to explore career and graduate school opportunities with Elon University staff.
An open house for current Elon University students is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 8, from 3-5 p.m.
“One of the most important parts of what we’re trying to do is prepare students once they come into Elon and engage them early with career development,” said Tom Brinkley, executive director of the Student Professional Development Center. “That may be for graduate school. That may be for a job.”
Central to the center will be a comprehensive program of career development that spans all four years of a student’s education and a strong employer relations program featuring partnerships with the nation’s top companies.
“Students just entering Elon will leave here in four years looking at new types of jobs we know don’t exist yet,” Brinkley said. “That’s how fast the world is changing.”
Located in the space formerly occupied by the campus bookstore, the center features an open lobby, six interview rooms of which two allow remote video conversations, a lounge for corporate recruiters stocked with refreshments and computer terminals, a classroom that can accommodate up to 40 people, and offices for career counselors.
The lobby will host a series of employer-student gatherings and be equipped with several large flat-screen televisions, computers and a touch-screen display to showcase student and graduate success stories.
The centerpiece of the new facility is the Wes and Cathy Elingburg Room, a fully furnished space with chandeliers hanging from a two-story ceiling. The room includes entrances to the Moseley Center’s patio and can be used to host premiere university functions as well as serve as a meeting area for recruiters and students.
The room carries the name of Elon trustee Wes Elingburg and his wife, Cathy, who made a $250,000 gift as part of the Ever Elon Campaign. The couple had said they wanted to support a project that will benefit all students and help the university meet its goal to transform career services and consistently place students in the nation’s top companies and graduate programs.
The center was also made possible through the generous support of a $1 million gift made possible by an Elon parent who wishes to remain anonymous.