NASHUA, N.H. (AP) - A Rivier University program that promises students they will find employment within nine months of graduating is expanding to include area businesses.
The university’s Employment Promise Program, now in its second year, promises full-time undergraduate students that they will land a job within nine months of graduation if they maintain a 3.0 grade point average and work through a curriculum that includes academic leadership, career mentoring and service. If they don’t land jobs, the school will either pay their federally subsidized student loans for a year or enroll them in up to six master’s degree courses tuition-free.
Students enroll as freshmen and follow a four-year plan. Starting this year, the university began allowing neighboring companies to promote themselves on-campus and become a “company of choice” as the students move toward graduation and eventual employment.
“They’re coming on campus doing panels, working with faculty, to have students solve real-life problems for their organization,” Patricia Antonelli, executive director of university career service, told The Nashua Telegraph (https://bit.ly/2w3KOun).
University President Sister Paula Marie Buley said the resulting collaboration provides real-world support and brings in businesses “who want to participate with us in making sure Rivier is a partner in workforce development for this region.”
The program has an 80 percent adoption rate among eligible students, officials said.
“I know it’s called the employer promise program, but it’s really teaching the students how to fish,” Antonelli said. “Giving them the tools they’ll need for the rest of their life, because this first job that they go after out of college will not be their last job. We’re all working together.”
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Information from: The Telegraph, https://www.nashuatelegraph.com
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