Kareem Calliste is the new Assistant Director for the Center of Career and Professional Development. Calliste is a New York native born and raised in Brooklyn and attended Lincoln University where he received two bachelor degrees in political science and secondary education. He then went back to Brooklyn after he graduated Lincoln in 2003.
Due to financial reasons, Calliste decided to leave Brooklyn and return to the Keystone State, where he attended to graduate school at Widener University. After graduate school, he want- ed to start his career in Pennsylvania where he got a job as a career counselor at Pierce College in Philadelphia. He then became the grant administrator for the college and later an academic adviser. Before coming to Cabrini, Calliste was also a pro- gram supervisor at Pierce.
Calliste is an avid sports fan and follows everything from Formula One Racing to football.
Being a New York sports fan and moving to Philadelphia was one of the biggest challenges that Calliste found with the move. He brings some of his New York pride to his office with a sign that says, “everyday I thank God for making me a Yankees fan.” Calliste’s advice to students is to take advantage of his office. He looks forward to getting to know the Cabrini family better and hopes to see the faces of new students in his office soon.
Calliste’s job on campus is to be an assistant to Nancy Hutchison, director of The Center for Career and Professional Development Center. Calliste and Hutchinson oversee the office and make sure the staff is doing the right thing and making sure the students are satisfied with their services. Just because they are directors, does not mean that they do not work with students.
“The office really helped me a lot,” sophomore Giorgio Courtis said. “They are helping me get an internship for the future.”
A new year means new faces in the Cabrini community. One of those fresh faces is administrative assistant for the Center of Career and Professional Development, Susan Fazio.
From Collegeville, Pa, Fazio attended Temple University as a dance major, but had other experiences that led to her becoming an administrative assistant.
“I have a background in non-profit and corporate and I was interested in finding some- thing between those two fields,” Fazio said.
Another factor that influenced Fazio’s decision to work at Cabrini was the reputation of the school and the accounts of her friends who went here.
“I liked Cabrini a lot because my friends went here for college, so I was familiar with it,” Fazio said. “I loved the campus, and everybody said how great the people were.”
The Career and Professional Development Center is located on the second floor of Widener Hall.
“We work with first-year students and subsequent years helping students decide upon a major and informing them of what they can do with there major as far as career options,” Nancy Hutchison, the director of the center, said. Hutchison has been the director for 26 years.
“We run a very robust internship program and we encourage all students to have at least one to three different internship experiences, so when they graduate, they’re really marketable… they have real world experiences,” Hutchinson said.
Fazio, who is only around eight weeks, has definitely been taking initiative and thriving in her new position.
“Susan is wonderful and she’s really welcoming,” Hutchison said. “She can run this of- fice. She takes care of all of us and makes sure we know what to be doing and has great ideas and suggestions.”
Also new to the center, assistant director Kareem Calliste , has also been inspired by Fazio.
“Susan actually came in be- fore me and I would say she’s a great asset. She’s helped me a lot, especially with the little things,” Calliste said. She knows what it’s like being new because it’s not a distant memory to her so she helped me by passing on knowledge.”
“If you can help even just one student find out what they want to do and leave college prepared then that’s success,” Fazio said. One step at a time.”
