Professional Edge Center hosts open house
The newly created Professional Edge Center held an open house Sept. 14 during Family Day to introduce the center and its resources to University of Indianapolis parents and students.
According to Director of Community Programs Marianna Foulkrod, the open house was specifically for students and their families, which is one of the reasons why they scheduled the event during Family Day.
UIndy’s Director of Community Programs, Marianna Foulkrod.
The reason for the open house was to introduce the merger of Career Services, Community Programs and Alumni Relations into the Professional Edge Center.
“It was important for us to address not only the hope that the students have for this new merger but also the parents, because for the most part the parents play a big role in the students’ decision to come here to the University of Indianapolis,” Foulkrod said.
According to Vice President of University Advancement Chris Molloy, the Professional Edge Center will increase encounters with alumni and business people and help students gain skills that will help them be more competitive in the job market.
“We want them to have a full education experience, but we also want them to have gained skills by either internships, job-shadowing, community service projects or actual interactions with alumni that will help them be more prepared,” Molloy said. “Rather than graduating and spending six months or nine months trying to figure out what’s next, they’ll have done some of that work ahead of time.”
While the goal of the open house was to introduce the Professional Edge Center to parents, Molloy said that they would have venues in the future to announce the center specifically to students and faculty.
“There are some very important faculty components to this that are still developing. We need to work harder to introduce them more and orient them more about what we’re trying to do and to gain their support,” Molloy said.
The goal of the center is to enhance the Greyhound experience so that students can meet their full potential, according to Molloy. With more frequent communication and connections, Molloy believes that the Professional Edge Center will be better able to serve students.
Prior to this event, the Professional Edge Center had hosted an engagement fair for all students and an open house for international students. According to Foulkrod, about 30 to 40 international students attended the open house and 180 students attended the engagement fair.
“At every event, the ultimate goal wasn’t just introduction [of the Professional Edge Center]. It was two-fold. We wanted to introduce and to receive input,” Foulkrod said.
The center will be hosting an awareness week Oct. 21-26. The week will include a variety of activities at the Stierwalt Alumni House for students to attend and receive more information, while also gaining skills, according to Molloy. The week will include conversations with alumni, an alumnus talking about launching his own nonprofit organization and a nationally known public speaker talking to students about how they can find their edge.
“The awareness week will again be two-fold,” Foulkrod said. “It will be to inform students about our new location and to engage and involve students with the alumni.”
According to Molloy, the Stierwalt Alumni House and the Professional Edge Center always will have an open door policy.
“We want to drive traffic here,” Molloy said. “We want people to realize that the Professional Edge Center is in the alumni house and realize that’s a place they can come any time for help.”
