Lasell University recently received a three-year, $289,175 grant from the Davis Educational Foundation to support Career Readiness Through Connected Learning, an initiative that brings together professionally focused academic work with exploration and discovery in the arts and sciences.

The project is being led by Michelle Niestepski, associate dean of curricular integration and associate professor of writing; Dennis Frey, associate dean of curricular integration, director of the Rosemary B. Fuss Teaching and Learning Center, and professor of history; and Donnell Turner, director of Lasell’s Career Development Center.

“We thank the Davis Educational Foundation for funding Career Readiness Through Connected Learning (CRCL),” Niestepski, Frey, and Turner said. “CRCL will better prepare Lasell students for a fulfilling life after graduation by engaging students, faculty, and staff in a meaningful and holistic experience tailored for each year of a student’s development at Lasell.”

Key project activities include creating advising and career teams for each of Lasell’s five schools; providing professional development for faculty and academic advisors to integrate career readiness into Core Curriculum coursework; and reimagining existing career development experiences.

As part of CRCL, the annual fall Connected Learning Symposium will be rebranded to the Career Readiness Symposium to celebrate and showcase the career and life planning potential of Connected Learning. The virtual Symposium, scheduled for December 8, will be organized by the Career Development Center and Rosemary B. Fuss Teaching and Learning Center and will feature:

• Course-related presentations focusing on National Association of Colleges and Employers career-readiness competencies
• Life-lessons workshops that will provide students opportunities to learn about personal finance, insurance, and post-graduation housing
• Young alumni roundtables with recent graduates sharing information and advice about their transition to promising careers

The Davis Educational Foundation was established by Stanton and Elisabeth Davis after Mr. Davis’s retirement as chairman of Shaw’s Supermarkets. Through the years, the foundation has made grants of nearly $1.6 million to Lasell, including a $25,000 presidential grant for alternate academic delivery earlier this year.