We are pleased to announce that the College of Staten Island was awarded a Career Success on Campus (CSoC) grant.
The CSoC program will provide two years of funded resources to expand campus-level expertise in career readiness preparation and sector-based hiring partner engagement at three CUNY campuses. The goal of this program is to create most effective methods and infrastructure to increase CUNY’s overall paid internship rate from 11.7% to 25%.
Paid internships have been well documented as playing key roles in helping college students gain meaningful work experience and improving their post-college career outcomes including starting salaries.
The three sectors on which CSI will focus are Business Administration, Healthcare, and Life Sciences. Funding will include employer-driven internship subsidies, six trained Career Success Peer Leaders, and a full-time Campus Career Specialist to support sector-based employer engagement.
John Kesaris has been hired as the Campus Career Specialist who will be researching and identifying new potential partner organizations within the three sectors, and will begin outreach to employers in an effort to increase partnerships for paid internship opportunities for our students. He also will be building upon current employer relationships developed by the Career Center and through his network of connections.
John will also be contacting colleagues and faculty to ensure that students are aware of the importance of internship acquisition and that they are prepared with the tools and knowledge that will be required for a successful internship experience. He is a 2010 CSI graduate and is excited to be back to help students succeed in their careers.
Feel free to contact John at John.kesaris@csi.cuny.edu if you would like to discuss CSoC in more detail.
By Caryl Watkins
