Thanks to generous private funding, a new Career Management Center has been proposed for the Coggin College of Business. The Center will be dedicated to career training and job placement in the corporate sector, and will serve as the perfect compliment to our students’ educational experience.

Students will be able to receive individual career counseling, peruse job postings, attend recruiting and networking events, obtain resume assistance, acquire network training and assistance, and work with a professional image coach, to name but a few benefits.

The greater Jacksonville community will also benefit significantly from the Center. Employers will be able to post job openings, conduct resume searches and view online resume books, attend career fairs and do online recruiting, as well as enjoy the advantages of connecting with various student groups.

Longtime friends to the Coggin College are helping to get the Career Management Center off the ground. Luther and Blanche Coggin, and David A. Smith/PSS World Medical each provided a gift of $100,000 which will be used for construction costs and technology for the facility. Reynolds Smith & Hills, under the leadership of Leerie T. Jenkins, Jr., is providing an in-kind gift to complete the architectural drawings of the Career Management Center.

“We are honored by the generous commitment of the Coggins, PSS World Medical, and Reynolds Smith and Hills to help fund this important new initiative,” said Dr. John P. McAllister, Dean of the Coggin College of Business. “This is an essential initiative that will provide our most important constituents the tools and resources they need to have a successful and lucrative career, and to serve as business professionals in the regional, national, and global communities.”

“Blanche and I are honored to continue our commitment to the college with this gift,” said Luther Coggin. “Our investment in this program is truly about the future for Coggin College students embarking on their careers. The Career Management Center will offer tools to help students and alumni as they build their careers.”

David A. Smith, CEO of PSS World Medical and a Coggin College of Business alumnus, agrees. “PSS World Medical is proud to support this crucial project. Professional training and placement of Coggin College students and alumni is good for our First Coast and students.”

The establishment of a Career Management Center will give the Coggin College a competitive edge for attracting the best and brightest students to UNF and to the Coggin College. The Center will also improve and solidify the connection between the business community, Coggin College, and its valued alumni.

Dean McAllister reported that groundbreaking on Phase I of the Career Management Center is expected for Summer 2006. For more details about the Center, please contact the Dean’s Office at (904) 620-2590.

TOP: Luther and Blanche Coggin

BOTTOM: Coggin College of Business Dean John McAllister with David A. Smith