Welcome to Professional Enrichment The professional enrichment program at the Cotsakos College of Business is designed to prepare and transition students for a highly competitive and demanding twenty-first century job market. Our Professional Enrichment Program is a degree requirement for business majors, including economics. The program will re-launch with incoming freshmen in fall 2022. Desired Outcomes and Design of the PE Program The desired outcome of the CCOB PE program is to improve the career readiness of CCOB graduates and have a majority of CCOB graduates perceived by the business community as job-market ready in terms of their soft skills. The program is designed to provide business majors with access to personal and professional development opportunities so that they graduate ready to perform to employers’ expectations in a variety of entry- and middle-level administrative and management positions. Through the programs CCOB majors: Identify career opportunities and develop career and professional development plans Enhance their personal responsibility, and collaboration, networking, interpersonal, technology, and communication skills Gain experience as leaders and team members in group initiatives Develop balance and resilience, and Develop the foundation for lifelong learning. Guiding Principles The PE program is a co-curricular requirement for CCOB majors. Individual parts of PE requirements can be waived at the request of the student’s advisor and with approval from the department chair. Include a variety of PE activities from several “buckets” (see below) characterized by various features such as listening vs. observing vs. doing; duration and substantiveness. Provide benchmarks for activities to be completed and outcomes to be achieved by specified timelines. Require a reflection component for most PE experiences. Yearly Program Goals Year 1 Students successfully transition to WP, develop a sense of belonging at WP, and prepare to meet the challenges they face at WP. Year 2 Students become actively involved and socially integrated into the life of WP. Year 3 Students prepare and implement plans for a successful transition to their next steps as they continue to examine the world of work and assess the fit between their academic training, personality, abilities, and interests to determine career options. Year 4 Students finalize plans and preparation for transition to their next steps – career, graduate school, business ventures. Visit the link below for the complete Professional Enrichment Program details: Professional Enrichment Plan Details For More Information Contact Professor Elizabeth Ekmekjian Professional Enrichment Consultant, Cotsakos College of Business EkmekjianE@wpunj.edu
