Guttman Community College has been awarded a grant for $302,512 from the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation to support the Early Career Experience Program. This Program aims to improve industry alignment, partnerships, and work-based experiential learning in the IT, Business, and Liberal Arts degree pathways. The Early Career Experience will support the development of a team of Internship Managers and Career Peer Coaches to offer Guttman students the kind of experiential learning that builds career competencies and opens access to new professional networks and opportunities.
Over the past five years, ramping up even more as a result of the uneven pandemic economy and labor market, there has been a clear and consistent call for students of color, low-income students, and first-generation students to participate in internships early and often. This demand has been layered in national and local contexts, but often misunderstands the context and lift of internship development at the early states and at community colleges. Rarely, if ever, does this demand come accompanied by the extensive resources needed to make this happen, or grounded in evidence-based approaches to support student success. Dr. Larry Johnson, President of Stella and Charles Guttman Community College states that “The Petrie Early Career Experience Program will put the right resources in place to meet this critical demand and share lessons learned with local and national audiences about what it takes to offer our students the very work-based experience that builds critical career readiness skills and opens the door to the kinds of experiences and networks that lead to greater economic mobility.”
The Carrol and Milton Petrie Foundation
The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation is a private, independent grantmaking foundation that began active operation in 1998. The Foundation’s grants support colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations as they work to improve education and career outcomes for low-income New Yorkers. The Foundation’s goal is to ensure that all New Yorkers, particularly those from marginalized communities, have the resources and opportunities needed to reach their goals in school, work, and life.
About Guttman
As one of the CUNY’s most innovative institutions, Guttman Community College has a proven record of graduation rates that far exceed the national average. Since Guttman’s opening in 2012, more than 1500 students completed Associates degrees. Over 1100 have transferred to four-year colleges in CUNY and SUNY to complete baccalaureate degrees.