Mahogany MooneyN.C. Central University’s Career and Professional Development Center (CPDC) is the one-stop-shop on campus building a bridge between students and their future careers.
“CPDC’s job is to educate, empower, and employ students, faculty, staff, and community partners,” Assistant Director of Experiential Learning Byron Dickey said.
Located in the New Student Center, the CPCD is led by Director Charles Jennings and six professional staff members: Assistant Director Jamaal Bowden, Dickey, Assistant Director of Employer Relations Monica Stuckey, Employer Relations Coordinator Chaz Glenn and Administrative Support Jennifer Brown.
According to CPCD, their expertise includes student engagement and marketing, career education, network exposure, event planning and budgeting.
CPDC has 12 Career Eagle Officers (CEOs), student employees who work in career development and marketing, as well as a graduate intern counselor in training.
This team includes Brayden Smith, a NCCU sophomore who serves as NCCU’s Thurgood Marshall College Fund Yard Ambassador.
“They’re divided into two groups so six reports to me on the career development side,” Dickey said. “They can do cover letters, interview prep, résumé development, workshops and training. The other six work to create content and push it out so other students can see.”
CPCD offers “tech tools” accessible to students, faculty and staff. According to Dickey, the center uses Handshake, an online management system, to share events, job opportunities and send out mass emails to graduate and undergraduate students.
An additional tool includes The Eagle Express Booth.
“NCCU is the first Historically Black College in North Carolina to provide a free professional photo booth making quality headshots accessible to all students, staff, and faculty,” Dickey said.
The resources provided by CPDC do not end there.
2015-16 Ms. NCCU Kourtney Daniel-Robinson created the Clutch Closet, a project designed to provide students with professional attire in a pinch. Over the last decade, the closet has developed into more, according to the center.
“It works like a boutique where students can come in and walk away with a whole outfit,” Dickey said. “We’re open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.”
Dickey also mentioned Bowden is working on efforts to gain more donations from clothing companies.
Similar to other departments on-campus, CPDC’s budget is based on the amount of money the center made the previous year.
“It changes, but we have seen an upward tick for the past couple of years,” Dickey said.
According to the CPDC, they host events and promotional opportunities that allow companies to buy tables and gain access to students seeking employment.
Under the current leadership, the center has dramatically increased their student and employer engagement and gained some notable achievements.
“We have tripled our numbers of involvement and engagement on campus from last year alone,” Dickey said. “At our first event we had about 827 students at our Career Carnival. That’s the highest it’s ever been in NCCU history.”
Dickey also said that R&B singer and song-writer K. Michelle, actresses Erika Alexander and Kim Coles were a few celebrities that have interacted with CPDC.
At NCCU’s Division of Student Affairs 2024 summer retreat, CPDC was recognized as “Department of the Year,” according to the organization.
Dickey began his career with CPCD in February 2022 and is the second employee in NCCU history to gain employment from an on-campus internship.
“This job chose me,” he said.
Dickey is a double Eagle with a B.A. in Music Business and a M.A. in Counseling Education. He decided to stay close to home after the passing of his father, but remained dedicated to a career in consulting.
Dickey interned with CPDC from May to November 2021 and completed 672 of the required 600 internship hours.
“I started building up my clientele list and it just grew from there,” Dickey said. “I’m a person that needs structure, but I don’t like doing the same thing every day and I get that with this job.”
For any student unsure about their post graduate plans, Dickey recommends reaching out for help.
“Your community and support system are stronger than you think,” he said. “I think by seeking help and clarity on some things you will discover you, what works best for you, and some healthy practices.”
CPDC also hosts many events throughout each academic year including résumé workshops, graduate school fairs, career panels, company site visits, tabeling and career fairs.
Follow CPCD on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Handshake at nccucpcd for more information.
