The Clark Atlanta University – School of Business will benefit from a recently announced grant of $150,000 which will go to graduate and professional school registration as well as job placement.
On April 27th, President Ronald A. Johnson of Clark Atlanta announced that the college was selected as one of just 30 institutions across the country to be a part of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) Career Pathways Initiative (CPI).
The initiative is an effort of $2.5 million designed to serve over 66,000 students by increasing postgraduate registration, focusing on job placement, and improving the success of students in their new careers. Not only will the initiative focus on student’s needs and the needs of a changing workforce, but it will also focus on the faculty and administrative support at these schools.
The UNCF CPI was made possible through a $50 million commitment from Lily Endowment Inc. last October. Although the initiative is still in its planning phases, the ultimate goal will be to improve job placement outcomes for graduates from HBCUs (historically black college and universities) and PBIs (predominantly black institutions).
At Clark Atlanta, the CPI will be called the “CAU Panther Pathways Initiative” and will be built upon five main building blocks: 1) ensuring students have access to clear information about professional development and career planning; 2) changes to the pedagogy which can improve teaching strategies and educational outcomes; 3) faculty-supported research; 4) specialty training for faculty to optimize support of a student’s development and 5) improve the existing services of academic support and career planning.
Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF, commented on the important work of the initiative.
“UNCF is elated to invest in better futures for tens of thousands of students at these selected institutions; students who will become the nation’s future engineers, educators and entrepreneurs….we commend Clark Atlanta University as one of the 30 institutions selected to receive a planning grant.”