Nazareth Transforms Student Experience with The Center for Life's Work
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 executive 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 (pictured at right). “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 Executive Director Emily Carpenter has worked in higher education for 15 years as a leader in career development and experiential education - most recently as the director of Nazareth's Professional Internship Program. Prior to Nazareth, Carpenter was a senior associate director and 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 the new Internship Program team: 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.
For More Information
Julie Long | Nazareth Chief Public Relations Officer | (585) 389-2456 | jlong2@naz.edu
Nazareth University is an inclusive community of inspired learners, educators, and changemakers who for nearly 100 years have been driven by a bold commitment to action, empathy, equity, and leading innovation for the common good. Impact experiences are at the heart of a Nazareth education, preparing each student to discover within themselves the potential to cultivate positive change in their life's work, in any career field, and in a world that is constantly evolving and infinitely interconnected.
Our broad academic offerings present a range of study options typical of larger universities, yet achieved in our supportive campus culture. Nearly 2,100 undergrad and 600 graduate students enroll in degree and certificate programs and engage in collaborative, transformative learning experiences, preparing for the professions and society of today and tomorrow. In a learning community that purposefully integrates liberal arts and professional programs, Nazareth University graduates are able to launch a lifetime of impactful leadership in communities and workplaces near and far.
