Merging two offices, URI has created the Center for Career and Experiential Education to help faculty, students, and alumni access the training needed for today’s job seekers. The former offices of Experiential Learning and Community Engagement, and Career Services and Employer Relations, have come together to foster state, public and private industry partnerships related to employment, internships, and career development.

The Center’s first director is Kimberly Washor ’96, who previously served as director of Experiential Learning and Community Engagement, and is the University’s liaison to the Governor’s Workforce Board, Department of Labor and Training, Rhode Island Student Loan Authority and URI Business Engagement Center.

Jayne Richmond, dean of the University College for Academic Success, says Washor “has been a driving force in the internship office since 2003, building it from a local internship program into one with more than 20,000 local and national opportunities for URI students.”

Washor has also been an important participant in the development of bRIdge.jobs, a new program of the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority and its College Planning Center of Rhode Island, which focuses on connecting employers and students in Rhode Island.

Job one for Washor in her new post is infusing the URI freshman experience with career prep that includes early exposure to internships. “My goal is to provide a thread of career education throughout the curriculum,” she explains, “so students are able to actualize what it is they hope to become based on a greater understanding of who they truly are.”