COLLEGE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES | NEWSROOM
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- Villanova’s College of Professional Studies Announces New Agreement with Williamson College of the Trades, Assisting Skilled Trades Workers on Path to Bachelor’s Degree Villanova University's College of Professional Studies (CPS) has entered an agreement with Williamson College of the Trades in Media, Pennsylvania to provide Williamson graduates additional access to degree and professional education programs at Villanova. This new partnership marks the first for the University with an institution that exclusively offers trade-based education, and will grant Williamson graduates and alumni a merit-based tuition reduction for students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Currently, CPS has existing partnership agreements with over a dozen community colleges and associate degree-granting institutions in the Greater Philadelphia area.
- Create a Better Performance Review Cycle: Goal-Setting and Feedback That Drive Growth If you work in HR, you’ve seen how quickly unclear goals and inconsistent feedback can derail a performance review cycle. You’re often asked to step in after expectations have already drifted and conversations have gotten tense. Goal-setting and feedback sit at the center of performance management, coaching, talent development and motivation, the very areas where HR leaders are poised to create the most impact.
- Leading Change at Scale In most organizations, process improvement still sits in a corner—siloed, underfunded and occasionally tapped when KPIs start slipping. Experienced Black Belts recognize that reactive fixes aren’t enough—instead, they work to embed continuous improvement into the very fabric of how the organization operates.
- Digital Marketing Training is the Smartest Career Move You Haven't Made Yet Whether you’re a creative professional, an aspiring strategist or someone ready for a career reset, digital marketing training offers a unique combination of relevance, adaptability and immediate ROI. The best part? You don’t need to start from scratch—you just need to upskill strategically.
- Mastering the Full Contract Lifecycle The government contracting landscape is undergoing significant transformation. From rapid technological advances to new regulatory updates and heightened performance expectations, contract managers across federal, state and local agencies face increasing complexity in a market that saw more than $759 billion in federal contract spending in FY2023 alone. Navigating this developing environment requires not just experience—but strategic upskilling.
- DMAIC Explained: The 5-Step Lean Six Sigma Method That Improves Processes Learn what DMAIC stands for and how this 5-step Lean Six Sigma method helps professionals improve processes, reduce waste and drive measurable results.
- What to Do When the Job Market Feels Impossible Feeling stuck in your job search? Discover why it’s so hard to get hired right now—and how professional education can help you move forward with confidence.
- CPS Graduate and Former Villanova Basketball Star Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to Deliver Student Address at Villanova's 2025 Commencement Jeremiah Robinson-Earl '25 CPS, a former member of the Villanova University Men’s Basketball team, has been selected as the student speaker at Villanova’s 2025 Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 15. Robinson-Earl, currently a member of the New Orleans Pelicans in the National Basketball Association (NBA), completed his degree in General Studies online through the College of Professional Studies (CPS). This marks the first time that a CPS student will deliver the student address at Villanova’s Commencement ceremony.
- Think AI Will Replace HR? Think Again. As technology reshapes the workplace, it's not automation but human insight, strategy and ethical leadership that will define the future of HR--and the professionals who lead it.
- Meet the CPS Class of 2025 Every year, the College of Professional Studies is proud to celebrate a graduating class, compromised of students of varying ages, from different backgrounds and different pathways to their degree. This year's graduates are no exception, with the Class of 2025 excelling in the classroom, in their careers and in their efforts to better the world around us. This page includes several stories of the members of this class making an impact.
- Evening of Celebration 2025 Villanova University's College of Professional Studies (CPS) held its annual Evening of Celebration, recognizing students who have completed their studies at Villanova. CPS was pleased to recognize its students' accomplishments, including 48 bachelor’s degrees, six associate degrees, and eight members of the VUnited Scholars program.
- The Changing Role of the Instructional Designer The instructional design and learning experience design (LXD) landscape is shifting, again. As organizations adjust to hybrid work models, rising upskilling demands and an ever-expanding ecosystem of digital tools, learning and development professionals are entering a new era. It’s no longer enough to build content. Today’s instructional designers must architect learning experiences that are measurable, adaptive and learner-centered.
- Hard Lessons, Soft Systems The post-pandemic landscape promised recovery. Instead, it delivered a reckoning. Just as supply chain leaders began to recalibrate after COVID-19 revealed the limits of lean operations and underinvested digital infrastructure, a new wave of geopolitical and economic turbulence has emerged—this time, driven by tariffs.
- From Strategists to System Navigators Across the government and government-adjacent sectors, contract managers, procurement professionals and vendor operations teams are experiencing a slow but seismic shift. What was once a domain of negotiation strategy, regulatory acumen and institutional memory is now being parsed into decision trees, automated risk scoring and clause libraries managed by AI.
- HR Generalist vs HR Specialist Human resources is no longer confined to paperwork and policy—it’s a central driver of business strategy and employee experience. As organizations navigate remote work, shifting labor laws and rising expectations around engagement and retention, HR roles have grown more specialized and impactful. Discover which path best aligns with your career goals.
- Faculty Spotlight: Marvin Meissner, MBA Marvin Meissner, MBA brings decades of industry experience in Lean Six Sigma and Quality and Process Improvement to the CPS classroom. With a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and an MBA from Syracuse University, he spent 30 years working for a multinational corporation in roles spanning engineering, quality, education and training before shifting focus to teaching in higher education.
- Thinking of Hiring a Firm? Read This First. What every self-employed professional should consider before outsourcing their marketing.
- Villanova University Offers New Textbook Access Program to Save Students on Class Materials Villanova University and the College of Professional Studies (CPS) seek to offer adult students a chance to earn their degrees at an elite university at a reasonable cost. However, the cost of textbooks and course materials has sometimes made that more difficult. Moving forward, credit students in the College of Professional Studies will be able to leverage a new textbook access program designed to make textbooks and other course materials more affordable.
- The Role of HR The human resources department plays a pivotal role in attracting, retaining and developing top talent. A truly successful organization will focus on employee experience and implement strategic HR initiatives to foster a positive work culture, enhance productivity and achieve sustainable growth.
- Building Project Success More than just a tool for efficiency, project management is a strategic driver of business outcomes. By ensuring projects are delivered on time, within budget and to the desired quality standards, project managers play a critical role in organizational success. As companies increasingly recognize the value of structured project delivery and efficient resource utilization, skilled project managers have become indispensable assets in the modern workplace.
- The Transformational Leader The modern workplace demands leaders who can do more than manage tasks - it needs visionaries who can inspire transformation, drive innovation and nurture the next generation of talent. In today's professional climate, the ability to lead transformational change with high-performing teams has become more valuable than ever.
- Lean Six Sigma 101 Lean Six Sigma is a continuous improvement methodology that combines two established strategies: Lean and Six Sigma. These methods create a comprehensive framework that drives organizations toward streamlined processes, reducing costs and increasing customer satisfaction, among other benefits.