About
At a Glance
The Career Development Services provide services for students, alumni, and employers. Our services include career coaching, resume development, experiential learning coordination, career readiness workshops, career assessments, field studies, and a variety of other services.
Our VISION
To implement innovative programming that prepares Benedict College students for lifelong success in diverse local and global communities
Our MISSION
To transform student scholars into career-oriented, civic-minded, professionally qualified talent who represent #TheBESTofBC.
The Career Development enhances students’ personal and professional growth throughout their matriculation and into their career field of choice by the plethora of care services that are afforded to students and by establishing business and community partnerships for the college.
We not only provide career skills, but services to ensure that students are career ready. Our focus is on:
The Student, Who are you? What are your strengths? What is your calling (passion) and how does it connect to the world?
Facilitating Interactions: We are here to create an atmosphere for meaningful student interactions where student-employer networks can connect, experiment, and grow. These networks consist of students, faculty, alumni, employers, businesses, organizations, and the community. Synergistic campus employer interactions, i.e. various workshops, info sessions, and advisory councils, provide curricular enhancements that can create intimacy, and more company site interfaces (shadow, mentor, job, internship, coach, special programs).
Mentoring and coaching in a more personalized way: We are here to prepare the student to navigate their path of personal and career development. Post-graduation, the relationship should continue as we serve alumni with lifelong learning, well-being, and mindfulness tools as they navigate their way into a future where their opportunities are endless.
The Service-Learning Program strives to empower Benedict College students to become citizens who are committed to making the world a better place. The program provides academically sound activities that are designed to engage students in optimal educational practices to expand knowledge, increase academic potential, enhance personal leadership and actively immerse students in the current program of study. The experience allows students to explore their intellectual curiosity, build confidence, and create habits that will allow them to become lifelong learners.
Benedict College is committed to using its faculty, students, and administrative resources to provide service to improve conditions in the African-American community. Consistent with this emphasis, Benedict College students are required to engage in service-learning activities designed to affect change and build leadership through academic-based opportunities that enhance students’ intellectual growth, civic responsibility, and career exploration.
"What a remarkable time we live in and what an especially exciting time to be a student! You really can do anything or be anything, If you have the imagination and the desire."
What a remarkable time we live in and what an especially exciting time to be a student! Citizens traveling into space, self-driving cars, telecommuting, and smart … well smart everything. Our reality has transformed so drastically in just the last several years that young people have more opportunities to do more things in a shorter period of time than any generation in history. You really can do anything or be anything, If you have the imagination and the desire.
Think about it, your parents could not have dreamt of the possibilities for you in your lifetime. Opportunities generated by information and innovation and powered by growing markets and inclusivity. Vast change also brings risk, uncertainty, and anxiety. When transformation is constant, how does one prepare? How many jobs, careers or employers might one have? How does one prepare for the disruption of everything?
The answer: Utilizing curiosity, personal growth, and lifelong learning. At the Career Development Center, we direct and coordinate career-related development services, activities, events, and workshops on campus while establishing experiential business and community partnerships for the College. These services enhance students’ personal growth and professional development through their matriculation and into their career field of choice.
We also provide a forum for ongoing professional development after you’re hired through networking, ongoing professional development workshops, and career services and events. We’re here to assist you and to challenge you as you navigate this exciting new world.
Program Staff
MR. BRIAN LOVE
Executive Director of Career Development Services
Brian Love has spent over 20 years at Liberty Mutual and Nationwide Insurance in corporate development as a manager, regional manager, and director. And the last 15 years as a Director, and Academic Program Manager in executive education and workforce development with The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business, and at the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
At Benedict College, Mr. Love is responsible to oversee the Professional Career Development Services. While developing and implementing new approaches to a Guided Pathways Career model. Its intent is to use career mapping to Increase the students’ career fluency and strengthen career readiness, by integrating career services, including service-learning, co-curricular and experiential learning with employer workforce needs. After attending the University of South Carolina, Mr. Love was awarded a BA from the University of New Hampshire.
MRS. SONYA JOHNSON, Career Development Manager
Mrs. Sonya Johnson currently serves as the Career Development Manager for Career Development Services. She has worked in several capacities for the college for over 21 years in both Academic Affairs and Student Affairs. Mrs. Johnson holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resources Development from Webster University and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Columbia College. She is a licensed Social Worker as well as a certified Career Development Facilitator. Sonya currently serves on the South Carolina Association of Colleges and Employers Executive Board and is the New Membership Co-Chair. She previously served on The South Carolina Governor’s Board of Working Women under the direction of Governor David Beasley. When she is not at work, she enjoys her time with her family and friends, traveling and sightseeing. Click here to schedule an appointment!
MS. KATRINA L. PITTS, Service-Learning Program Manager
Ms. Katrina L. Pitts is the Service-Learning Program Manager of Benedict College’s Career Development Services. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Administrative Information Management from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Arts Degree in Computer Resources and Information Management from Webster University. Ms. Pitts is charged to consult with and provide resources to faculty, staff, students and community partners on the development and implementation of service-learning initiatives to achieve the college’s mission of service and civic engagement. She also serves as the Advisor for Sister Act, a student-led outreach initiative geared toward promoting sisterhood among all women at Benedict College. Click here to schedule an appointment!
MS. ANGELA M. WOODARD, Program Coordinator
Ms. Angela M. Woodard is the Program Coordinator of Benedict College’s Career Development Services. Ms. Woodard’s primary responsibility is to identify prospective employers and contacts in industries that align with Benedict College students’ skill-sets and career goals. She is also responsible for organizing career planning and preparation programs including group sessions, workshops, in-class lectures, mock-interviews, and other career development events to supplement other career readiness objectives. Ms. Woodard builds upon her previous coordination efforts for programs such as AmeriCorps and New Student Orientation among others; to develop and implement innovative, research based programs in career readiness, leadership, and service. She received a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Education from Benedict College and a master’s degree in Computer Resources and Information Management from Webster University. Click here to schedule an appointment!