Career development at Peirce College: Getting to know the Career Development Services Department

Time flies! It's been a busy, productive three months since I joined the Career Development Services (CDS) team. I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you all a little more about what (and who) CDS is and what we have to offer Peirce students and alumni.

First, if you haven’t had the opportunity to meet the rest of the team, I would like to introduce them to you. I have the privilege of working alongside two fantastic colleagues, Audrey Cooper and Robyn Dizes. Although they both provide career coaching and develop and facilitate our workshops, each woman has specific areas of expertise that can help students and alumni better prepare for new and changing careers.

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Philadelphia community, meet Peirce College: First Ambassadors Club meeting a success

Peirce College's Stephen Ampersand with two 

members of Peirce's Ambassadors Club

There are a lot of exciting things happening at Peirce College, one of which is the new Ambassadors Club. I've invited Stephen Ampersand, a Peirce graduate, to share his experiences and some details about the new initiative that he is facilitating. Read on for his guest blog post and welcome to Peirce Connections, Stephen!

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Degree completion for adult students: Navigating the work-life balance

The path to degree completion is not always a smooth one -- for college students of any age. For working adults who balance family, job, and school, that path is oftentimes interrupted by the birth of a baby, a new work schedule or increased workload, the loss of a family member, or other everyday-life stress.

Yet, there are significant economic and social gains for all of us in helping more adults attain degrees in higher education. These concepts are framed well in a 2008 report from the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL). The report notes that:

“There is a strong and growing argument for higher educational attainment in the United States. The benefits of an educated citizenry include higher wages and greater productivity as well as increased economic opportunities, social mobility, quality of life and civic engagement. Higher levels of education are associated with decreased reliance on government financial assistance. Also, growth in personal income -- influenced by higher levels of educational attainment -- yields greater returns to a state in the form of tax revenues.”

The benefits are significant enough that resources and assistance for adults looking to complete their degrees have been developed at the grassroots level, by those in the public and private sectors, and by non-profits -- oftentimes in concert with each other. Some great examples here in the Philadelphia region are Mayor Nutter’s PhillyGoes2College initiative and Graduate! Philadelphia, a joint venture of the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board and the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

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Peirce IT gets the PhillyGoes2College office online

On Feb. 23, I was fortunate enough to join President Mergiotti at the PhillyGoes2College (PG2C) ribbon cutting and launch. Echoing the sentiment of Jim’s post, in which he shared his impressions of the event, I wanted to share my appreciation upon hearing Mayor Nutter express his thanks to Peirce College for taking fast action to support the initiative. This is a direct quote from the speech he gave that morning:

“I want to make a special mention here. Peirce College, within apparently a couple nanoseconds -- I don’t know actually how long that is, but it’s quick -- responded with six computers, immediately made available to the office to help us provide the kind of services that we need.”

It was very kind of the Mayor to thank us for moving quickly to provide computer equipment and technical support to the PG2C offices. It is our pleasure to work with a program that has such incredible potential. However, what I zeroed in on was his reference to “a couple nanoseconds.” Fast is never fast enough in the IT world!

IT needs to remain nimble, as we work in an arena that is constantly changing. These days it would be nearly impossible for any program, service, or idea to get rolling without technical support, PG2C being a perfect example. From basic infrastructure and hardware, to technical support from my fellow IT people, programs like this need us to be quick on our feet so they can meet the needs of the people they are trying to serve.

Searching online for a school that might be the right fit for you, researching its programs, downloading the application -- none of these steps in the college process would be possible without current technology and software, well designed and useful programs, and technical resources that keep things running smoothly.

I look forward to seeing where PG2C goes now that they’ve hit the ground running!

Event space in Philadelphia: The Peirce College room rental program

A recent reception held in Peirce College's outdoor courtyard

Are you an event planner? Need a place to hold a group meeting? Are you organizing a conference?

If you're responsible for planning a corporate or personal event in Center City, Philadelphia, and are in search of the perfect spot, consider Peirce College. We have an extensive room rental program and a lot to offer groups for their presentation, conference, and banquet needs.

• Newly renovated event space. Peirce offers banquet rooms for groups of up to 120 people, meeting rooms for groups of up to 180, and classrooms/training rooms for groups of up to 40. We also offer two open atriums and an attractive outdoor, secured courtyard for receptions.

• State-of-the-art technology. Our event and meeting spaces feature laptops, desktops, printers, projection systems, high-speed wired and wireless internet, wireless PA system, and podiums with internet.

• Flexible catering packages. Unlike hotels, which typically offer a limited number of fixed-priced catering menus, we can cater your event to your specifications, whether you just want soda and water, or you need a three-course meal.

• Proximity to public transportation. Located on Pine Street just off the Avenue of the Arts in Center City, we're conveniently situated close to PATCO and SEPTA stations, with plenty of public parking nearby.

Peirce College's historic location in Center City, Philadelphia
is an ideal event space with close proximity to a number of hotels

• Walking distance from a number of hotels. The Doubletree Hotel, The Bellevue Hotel, Radisson Plaza Warwick Hotel, Hyatt at the Bellevue, Holiday Inn Express, Sofitel, and The Latham Hotel are among the accommodations that are a short walk or cab ride from the Peirce campus.

Cost of the rental depends on the space, but all expenses include an event coordinator; access to technical support personnel; set-up and breakdown of equipment; housekeeping; security; and easels, flipcharts, and whiteboards.

Additionally, all rooms are ADA-accessible.

Peirce College's event space in Center City Philadelphia includes banquet rooms, meeting rooms and
classrooms/training rooms

For more information visit: http://www.peirce.edu/Rentals/Default.aspx

Below, find downloadable PDF diagrams of the individual spaces we offer:

Large Theater Layout
Small Theater Layout

Large Banquet Layout
Small Banquet Layout

Large Conference Layout
Small Conference Layout

For availability and pricing, please contact me, Vito Chimenti, at 888.GO.PEIRCE, ext. 7368 or email Rentals@Peirce.edu.

Peirce College welcomes three new trustees

On behalf of all of Peirce College, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new trustees, Renée Byng Branch, Dr. Al Dinson, and Geoffrey R. Haefner. All three were elected to our Board of Trustees during our board meeting on Thursday, Feb. 25.

The continued growth in size and diversity of Peirce College's Board of Trustees is significant for the College and our students and alumni. Each trustee brings unique experience, insight, and ideas to the table that will help not only with the Peirce College strategic planning process, but also help ensure that we are providing the programs, resources, and services that are required now, and into the future, for students and alumni of Peirce.

A full press release with detailed information about each new trustee is included below. Going forward, Peirce Connections will begin publishing profiles of and interviews with our Trustees in an effort to familiarize students and alumni with their backgrounds and the work of the Board itself.

Some highlights for each new trustee:

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Peirce Ambassadors to engage Philadelphia community, spread message about value of continuing education

Peirce College held its first Ambassadors Club meeting last night on campus. Stephen Ampersand from Peirce's Admissions Office will talk more about the club's focus and goals in the coming days, but I wanted to share some of my impressions from last night's meeting.

First, a little background. For many of the students that attend Peirce, whether at our campus in Philadelphia or online, their time at the College often turns into a life-changing experience. Many of these students turn into wonderful mentors and true ambassadors for Peirce College and continuing education. We decided to formalize some of the great things these students were already doing by forming the Ambassadors Club.

The first meeting with the Ambassadors Club typified one of the great characteristics of Peirce -- the engagement of all factions of the community. It was delightful to find so many students genuinely enthusiastic about their Peirce experience and, most significantly, willing to share it with others. It seems that whenever we ask our student body to support the institution, there is always a very positive response.

When we spoke about their roles as ambassadors representing the College, they quickly identified with the win-win-win scenario we strive for. The College wins because it will extend the reach of its mission; the ambassador wins because Peirce becomes even more well known and well regarded by serving a broader base of people, making their degree more recognizable and valuable in the eyes of employers and others; and the community-at-large wins because more citizens attain college degrees, making the workforce and our city stronger.

I continue to be enthralled with the prospects of how powerful a unified Peirce is for students and the community. Yesterday evening with the ambassadors was another example of how we can leverage our experiences and skills to give the College a stronger presence in the elevation of the area's degree attainment level. Kudos to the folks in our Admissions and Marketing/Communications groups for organizing this new and highly important initiative.