Nazareth Transforms Student Experience with The Center for Life's Work

ROCHESTER, NY (09/12/2016)(readMedia)-- Nazareth College is transforming its student experience this fall with the announcement and opening of the College's Center for Life's Work. The new center integrates the career development path into a student's entire college process from day one. Following a national search, Nazareth named Emily Carpenter the Center for Life's Work director. She will lead the dynamic new initiative that proactively prepares and connects students so that they are maximizing their time and investment while in

college.

"What we're doing is unique and effective," said Carpenter. "It's not a one-size-fits-all program. Instead, it's a dynamic, expansive, and personalized process for exploration, preparation, and connections that integrates academics with co-curricular options. Nazareth's holistic approach meets you where you are and encourages you to think big, explore, discover options, and exceed even your own expectations. The end result: confident, tested, and proven graduates who are prepared to face challenges in a world of constant change."

The Center for Life's Work wants every student to have a path to achieving their post-graduate goals. Starting early, and engaging often, students are coached, advised and supported to ensure their college decisions map to a great first step and future they want. The Center for Life's Work cornerstone is The Bridge Plan, a personal roadmap for post-college life. Unique to Nazareth, this progressive approach to mentored career planning begins in a student's first semester when they are paired with a career coach and continues beyond graduation day. The Bridge Plan integrates studies in a student's major, the uncommon core (core curriculum) and experiential learning.

The Center for Life's Work Director Emily Carpenter has worked in higher education for 15 years as a leader in career development and experiential education. She has also worked as a faculty member in the Nazareth College School of Management. Carpenter has worked to successfully develop, coordinate, and internships as a valuable part of the Nazareth College Curriculum as the director of the Professional Internship program. Prior to her appointment at Nazareth, Carpenter was both a counselor and then director of Business and Finance programs at the University of Rochester's Gwen W. Greene Career and Internship center.

The Center for Life's Work is also happy to welcome career coaches Dale Leyburn and Emily Marchese.

Leyburn comes to Nazareth from his position as the associate director for the U of R Career and Internship Center. Prior to that, Dale was an academic advisor at Syracuse University School of Education. He brings an extensive amount of experience in internships and experiential education. He has done detailed work in linking the internship experience to the career development process. Leyburn holds a master's in higher education from the Warner School of Education and Human Development at the University of Rochester. His undergraduate degree is a bachelor's in physical education with a concentration in sport management.

Marchese comes to Nazareth from St. John's College High School where she was a Spanish teacher for 125 first and third-year high school students. Prior to that, she was an academic program advisor for The Washington Center where she taught and advised college students in that program. Fluent in Spanish, Marchese was the Student Life director at Encuentro Dominicano (Creighton University) in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. She served in the Peace Corps for two years in the Dominican Republic where she worked in the area of family health for youth and women in rural communities. She has a master's in nonprofit and NGO Leadership for Social Change from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice, along with a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in Hispanic studies from Boston College.

Nazareth College's academic strengths cross an unusually broad spectrum of 60 majors, including education, health and human services, management, the fine arts, music, theater, math and science, foreign languages, and the liberal arts. The coeducational, religiously independent, classic campus in a charming suburb of Rochester, N.Y. challenges and supports 2,000 undergrads and 800 graduate students. Nazareth is recognized nationally for its Fulbright global student scholars and commitment to civic engagement. Rigorous programs, an uncommon core, experiential learning, career skills, and a global focus prepare graduates for not just one job, but for their life's work.