THE O’DONNELL CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Charlotte and James V. O’Donnell ’63 Center for Professional Development provides career-related services and initiatives designed to enrich business students’ academic experience and support pursuit of professional goals. Thanks to the generosity of Charlotte and James V. O’Donnell ’63, the Center delivers opportunities to learn about yourself, career paths, and the business world by engaging with practitioners and applying what you learn in the classroom to the real world. The O’Donnell Center’s mission is “To provide each VSB student with distinctive opportunities to develop foundational skills and experiences that empower them to identify and pursue their unique professional goals and position them for lifelong success."
BACKPACK TO BRIEFCASE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CURRICULUM
Professional Development is a critical component of business education. VSB’s Backpack to Briefcase (B2B) initiative engages students in professional development activities from first through senior year. B2B is an innovative program, integrating career development into the core business curriculum throughout the four-year academic program, supplementing students’ participation in traditional academic courses and providing holistic preparation for success as professionals.
CAREER PROGRAMS
VSB’s O’Donnell Center for Professional Development collaborates with VSB academic departments and Centers of Excellence, student business societies, the Villanova Career Center, and other campus offices to sponsor, co-sponsor and/or provide support to more than 100 career events each academic years. The programs are designed to help business students gather information and contacts that will lead to well-suited academic and career path decisions.
EXTERNSHIPS, INTERNSHIPS AND CoOps
Experiential education is an integral part of the VSB curriculum. Every undergraduate student is encouraged to participate in externship/leadership programs and complete at least one business internship CoOp experience as a means of gaining real-world experience and applying knowledge gained in the classroom.
STUDENT BUSINESS GROUPS
VSB is home to a wide array of active student professionals (also known as “Business Societies) and honor societies, as well as service groups. Membership provides students with opportunities to gather information on a specific industry/profession, connect with employers, network with students who share similar professional interests, and/or serve your peers. Additionally, membership may lead to leadership opportunities within societies.
VSB MENTOR PROGRAM
The VSB Mentor Program brings VSB students and alumni volunteers together in one-to-one relationships to support the student’s career and professional development goals. All student mentees and alumni mentors opt in and are paired based on the student’s primary field of interest, desired work location and mutual areas of interest.
VSB Deloitte Student Group Fund
The VSB Deloitte Student Group Fund is available for all VSB Business Societies and is to be used for Professional Development experiences!
Villanova Career Center
The O'Donnell Center partners with the Villanova Career Center, which offers comprehensive career development and job search resources to students and alumni of the university.
Corporate Involvement