NJCU recently hosted the , an annual event designed to provide minority students with strategies for becoming successful in both college and the corporate workforce. The keynote speaker, Lucida Plummer, the vice president of Diversity and Inclusion at Wyndham Worldwide, laid out the challenges faced by recent college graduates. 鈥淢any schools don鈥檛 put enough emphasis on the transition to the workforce,鈥 Plummer explained. 鈥淭he Academic Playbook has an emphasis on grades. When you go to a corporate setting the playbook completely changes鈥攁nd you can鈥檛 opt out.鈥
That playbook relies on resumes, appearances, public speaking skills, and an innate understanding of the culture of the office.
One NJCU student understands that playbook from cover to cover. Maggie Lugo, an accounting major, was one of 10 students accepted into Wyndham鈥檚 newly established mentoring program. The company was impressed with Lugo鈥檚 skills and work ethic鈥攕o much so that within a six-month timeframe she was offered an internship, an extension on her internship, and then a full-time junior accounting position within the firm.
Lugo, who still attends night classes at NJCU, first came to the school as part of the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), the NJCU branch of the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF). The EOF provides access to higher education for low-income residents who are capable and motivated, but lack adequate preparation for college study. In addition to receiving financial assistance, Lugo took advantage of the program鈥檚 tutoring and counseling services and, later, worked in the OSP as part of a work study program.
She was encouraged to apply to the Wyndham mentoring program by Louis Fein, her management professor. Lugo didn鈥檛 need much encouraging, however. 鈥淚 saw it as a great way to expand my knowledge,鈥 she says. That it did. She attended workshops, took webinars, and had luncheons with senior leaders in the company. But perhaps more valuable, the program taught her certain intangibles that aren鈥檛 easily covered in the classroom 鈥淚 learned how to work with different types of people I was not used to, time management, even how to properly introduce myself to others. Things I didn鈥檛 usually think about,鈥 she explains.
鈥淚 love my experience at Wyndham. I鈥檓 always learning something new,鈥 Lugo says. 鈥淎nd NJCU has been so significant in my life. Whenever I needed tutoring in math, English, grammar,鈥 she says with a little laugh, 鈥渕y professors have always been there for me.鈥