Florida Memorial’s history and traditions reach back to 1879. Their legacy of determination and accomplishment makes them the only surviving historically Black university in southern Florida. Florida Memorial is a culturally diverse institution, transforming lives and creating a future for people from diverse backgrounds.

Transformation funding has fostered growth strategies for the university’s career development center known as the iROAR Lab (intentional Readiness for Occupational Acquisition and Retention). The Lab now includes a staff of four professionals dedicated to career development, including a new director, a career readiness coordinator, an education technologist and a program assistant. Expanding the team will enhance creativity and innovation in event conception, coordination and execution.

Over the past few months, the Lab saw an increase in student engagement and enhanced the student experience by creating a career fair for graduate and undergraduate students in March 2022. About 100 students and 23 companies participated in the fair.

This turnout was due to more on-campus visibility, the efforts of an increased team and extended event times. In addition, through the iROAR Lab, the Career Pathways staff is strengthened and ready to meet and exceed objectives in providing experiential learning that will impact student outcomes.

Facilitated through the Institute for Capacity Building, the institution is now a UNCF cohort member in the HBCU Transformation Project, a first-of-its-kind effort to improve student enrollment, graduate success and institutional effectiveness rates at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.