Career Development Center moves to Cardinal Residence property
The main campus of Saint Joseph’s University has a few new residents. Moving officially on Wednesday, Oct. 14, the Career Development Center is now permanently located on the Cardinal Residence Property and is open for business.
As soon as students or employers enter the building there is a waiting space with a “Genius Bar,” which will soon be set up with iPads for students and employers to use while waiting for interviews and workshops.
All the interview rooms are located along the main corridor of the building, and accord- ing to Trish Shafer, executive director of the Career Development Center, this set-up is something different than what they were accustomed to in their old residence in Moore
Hall.In the old space not all the interview rooms were located in the same area, and this separation caused a problem for both students and employers, Shafer said.
“You had to run [through] a maze to even find them,” Shafer said.
There is also a collaboration space and kitchen located at the back of the new building on the first floor. This space, according to Shafer, will be used to hold workshops, employer luncheons, and small information sessions.
All of the technology in the new space was donated by a family from the Loyola Society which is a group of philanthropic supporters of the university.
The demolition of the old space and subsequent construction of the new space, according to Alexander Oleykowski, construction project manager, began in June.
Due to the building’s age and its original structure, there were some un- anticipated challenges, which caused the project to go over the budgeted amount, Shafer said.
But Oleykowski was unable to pro- vide an exact number for the exact cost of the project.
Shafer explained that when the project was it the initial phases, directors and employees of the center were able to give some input. A big feature on their wish list was to have a sense of nature and comfort that exists through- out the building.
“Something that’s really important to us is for employers to have comfort- able spaces when interviewing candidates,” said Shafer. “It’s important for the candidates to not feel confined, cold, [or] hot.”
“[From] everywhere nature comes inside,” she continued and pointed out that with the exception of two rooms, every other interview room in the new building has a window with natural light flowing through.
“We can see the outside from virtually every space in this building and it just makes a difference,” said Shafer. “It’s bright, it’s airy, [and] it shows, I think, [to] the employers and the students that the university is serious about their career development and their career path.”
Shafer explained that the transition was in fact not sudden at all, but rather “a long time coming,” as one of the first requests to move the career center was filed back in 1990.
One of these reasons for the delay in the moving process was the multiple logistical problems encountered with Moore Hall, such as spacing and layout Shafer said.
Jean Burke, administrative assistant of the center, reiterated these problems, saying, “Sometimes we had to kick people out of their offices because we had more employers than we had space for them,” Burke said.
Shafer explained that she also heard many complaints from students about the remoteness of Moore Hall relative to main campus.
“It was not convenient, it was not a place that you could stop in when you had time between classes,” Shafer said, adding, “I do believe here we will have a lot more walk-in traffic.”
Students, when asked, expressed delight at the new location.
“It’s definitely better for it to be on campus,” said Dan Cofone, ’16, “It’s a centralized location and all students can get to it… I think it’s better now because students don’t have to travel far to get there.”
The new home of Career Development Center was previously a garage used by residents of the Cardinal Center, when the university did not own the property.
Students were alerted to the move last week through an email.
The center is to host an Open House on Oct. 29 at 11 a.m., where students can see the new space and meet the career services staff.