On-campus Events Offer Graduate School and Employment Opportunities for FAMU Students
Florida A&M University (FAMU) hosted three simultaneous events that offered students private and public-sector employment and graduate school opportunities.
All Majors Career Expo
On Wednesday, nearly 2,000 students flocked to the Al Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymnasium to interview with major corporations, federal, state, county, and local agencies, and school districts. Three days earlier, 451 students converged at Governor’s Square Mall for the JCPenney Suit-up in preparation for their interviews. Student shoppers received more than $7,000 in in-store gift cards to purchase professional attire, said Vanessa Chatman, interim director of the Career and Professional Development Center. On Tuesday, a Networking Mixer at the President’s House attracted 256 students and 322 recruiters.
The Fall Career Expo featured 900 representatives from 195 corporations and federal, state, county, and local agencies. Among the major corporations were Enterprise, E&J Gallo Winery, Dell, Nike, Inc., DaVita, Walmart & Sam’s Club, Amgen, PepsiCo, The Boeing Company, Target, Bloomberg, Sandia National Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson, KPMG, LLP, HP Inc., Dow, Chevron, Honeywell & BP. Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the City of Seattle Police Department, and sheriff’s offices were also recruiting FAMU students.
Chatman said students seized the opportunity to network and interview with prospective employers.
“We saw the largest turnout in student attendance in recent years with 1,917 student check-ins,” Chatman said. “We had a fantastic expo. Our FAMU students showed up prepared with resumes in hand and impressed employers. The feedback we received from the recruiters was overwhelmingly positive. I am excited to see how we continue to grow the event and connect FAMU students to the amazing careers awaiting them.”
On Thursday, 25 companies held next-day onsite interviews with students.
Graduate Feeder
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the School of Graduate Studies and Research held the 36th Annual Graduate Feeder Scholars Recruitment Fair in Gaither Gymnasium. More than 25 universities were registered. Universities were recruiting for master’s and doctorate programs not currently offered at FAMU. Among the recruiters were representatives from American University, Auburn University, Cornell University, Emory University, Florida International University, Florida State University, University of Missouri, North Carolina A&T State University, Purdue University, Rutgers University, University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Tennessee. According to Program Coordinator India Woods, about 200 students attended on Tuesday, and about 400 students attended on Wednesday.
“Our partners and recruiters had the opportunity to speak with students over two days about best practices in admissions into their university’s graduate programs and scholarship/fellowship opportunities,” Woods said. On Tuesday, organizers hosted a Power Hour for FAMU’s Graduate Feeder Scholars. On Wednesday, the Graduate Feeder Recruitment Fair was open to the entire University and alumni.
“In total, there were 520 FAMU students in attendance,” Wood said. “Our partners were able to speak with students from all different majors.”
Airforce HBCU Literacy Summit
From Tuesday, September 19 to Thursday, September 21, the Tallahassee campus hosted the second Air Force Historically Black Colleges & Universities/Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) Digital Partnership Summit.
The three-day hybrid, virtual/in-person event offered HBCU faculty and students, researchers, minority businesses, digital transformation professionals, and other academic enclaves, including the Department of Defense personnel, that advocate for connecting the Department of the Air Force and the HBCU community.
The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), with its main campus located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the Air Force’s leader for advanced, multi-disciplinary academic education and its institution for technical professionals continuing education.
The Summit featured speakers from AFIT, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and academia. Topics to be discussed included: the University Affiliated Research Center, Cyber-Physical Systems and the Joint Warfighter, Digital Gamification and Model-based Systems Engineering, Why AI Will Never Replace Human Creativity, Human Systems Integration, Agile/Scrum Methodology Delivering Digital Products, What Does It Mean to be a Software Factory?, and more.