Center for Student Engagement

Engagement Spotlight

Center for Student Engagement: What does it mean to be engaged?

Engagement can take many shapes and forms, and sorting through all the opportunities can be overwhelming. The Center for Student Engagement is here to help you keep things simple: from building more intentional relationships with faculty, to seeking service opportunities and being more academically involved, we can help you find engagement opportunities that make sense for your goals, interests and time. To schedule a Student Engagement Meeting with one of our staff members and build an individualized engagement plan, visit go.fiu.edu/meetcse. Prefer to do some browsing on your own? CSE gets it! That’s why we also encourage you to visit go.fiu.edu/engage to use our customizable search interface for engagement opportunities at FIU. Whatever route you take, remember: College is not a spectator sport – get involved!  

“Your College Experience is in Your Hands”

 

Engagement Spotlight

Career and Talent Development (CTD) is the FIU student and alumni career resource with the priority on you!

CTD is dedicated to helping both students and alumni make their career goals a reality. We offer one on one career coaching, professional development workshops, practice interviews, choosing a major, resume writing, practice interviews, personality and interest assessments and career transition to name a few! The dedicated staff is at your service to help you move your career in the right direction. What makes CTD different is a professional team who is invested in the success of each student at FIU. 

Pierre Funderbunk, a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Global Affairs, worked closely with Nelly Leon, Assistant Director for CTD at the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. He notes that “Nelly has been a great asset to the program as well as to my professional and career development. Because of her guidance and advice, I was able to land an internship with Miami-Dade County Public Schools and with the Peace Corps through the Washington Center located in Washington, D.C. Upon graduating from the MAGA program, I had the chance of a lifetime to interview with Raymond James Financial in St. Petersburg. The morning of my interview, Nelly was on the phone with me going over questions the interviewers may or may not ask and just giving me interview tips and tricks! I greatly appreciate all of her hard work and dedication to students. I highly recommend FIU students use the resources available at the career services department!"  

Taylor Diaz-Rogers, an advertising and marketing major alum, says that she never took advantage of the services that CTD has to offer until her junior year. She notes that while her shyness made her hesitant and intimidated to visit the office and speak with a career coach, she is beyond glad she did. “I didn’t know where to start, but from the day I walked in, my experience has been nothing but excellent. With the help of my career coach and the rest of the CTD staff, I was able to land an internship in Barcelona for that following summer! It’s amazing how something that seems so simple, such as editing your resume with an advisor, can make such a huge difference. There are so many resources available for students and helpful staff to guide you every step of the way. From Handshake, internship fairs, job updates, resume critiques and mock interviews through resources alone you can thoroughly prepare yourself for any short term or long-term goal.” Diaz-Rogers has since relocated to Los Angeles for her dream internship with Sony Pictures. “I sincerely have to thank CTD for helping me achieve so much for my future, in such a short amount of time. Anything as simple as tailoring a resume for a summer job, to as complex as figuring out a plan for your future after graduation, you are in good hands. Career and Talent Development is undeniably one of the greatest resources FIU has to offer."

Engagement Spotlight

Undergraduate research is “an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline” Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR).

Although CUR indicates that undergraduate research makes an impact in an undergraduate’s field, undergraduate research can make an impact everywhere. This is because research is everywhere, in any discipline. Undergraduate research not only contributes to one’s discipline but can also contribute to everyone’s lives. Take a look at the impact our very own undergraduates have had.

Justin Franco was an Honors College undergraduate majoring in Biomedical Engineering. In his senior year, he joined the Advanced Research and Creativity in Honors (ARCH) program and started his own research project on “The Role of Mapping.” Justin researched how maps depicting South America in the 19th and 20th century were utilized to make boundary claims. He presented this research at the annual Florida Undergraduate Research Conference at Florida Atlantic University. Afterwards, Justin completed a summer internship at Mayo Clinic where staff were amazed with his ARCH project. He is now currently pursuing a MD/PhD at University of Toledo. Even when undergraduate students complete research outside of their major, it can still make a huge impact in their lives.

Another alum is Claire Scott-Bacon. She completed research in how media impacts jury decision-making. Her research showed how media portrayed the environment in courthouses as well as how people perceived juries. She was looking into how crime shows (e.g., Law & Order and CSI) could influence jury decision-making in actual trials. Her research provided her with the opportunity to work with FIU Psychology and FIU College of Law. She presented at the Florida Undergraduate Research Conference at University of Tampa where she met with a DEA agent who was interested in her research. This meeting happened when she went to get coffee after her poster presentation and met with the DEA agent’s wife. As an undergraduate, she was invited to the American Psychological Association (APA) to present and publish her research. Now, she is completing her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. She is an intern at the Country Metro Homicide Unit and has thought about pursuing a JD in the near future. It’s your turn! Are you ready? Start you journey today.