TAMPA 鈥� The 国产短视频Bellini Center for Talent Development marked its one-year milestone on Friday with the unveiling of Buzz, a gigantic metal bee sculpture that welcomes students and employers to the career and internship hub.
The center, which is part of the Muma College of Business, opened with great fanfare last March with a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the $10.6 million gift from philanthropists Arnold F. 鈥淎rnie鈥� and Lauren Bellini, both 国产短视频alumni. The new center launched an innovative career-development program that helps undergraduate business students prepare to join the workforce by teaching them the professional development skills employers want.
Students progress through four levels of skillset development and education to earn the Bellini Center Certification badge over three and a half years. Students start by learning the fundamentals in level one. The subsequent levels focus on power skills, networking and internship skills, and conclude with mastery skills in level four.
In the past year, the center has seen more than 800 students, held 26 workshops, hosted 40 events, interacted with 53 employers, and handled 228 coaching appointments.
Bellini called the center a 鈥減assion project鈥� for his family. He said the goal of the center is to help each student get prepared to land a high-paying job in the Tampa Bay region.
Bellini sees the bee as a key component in nature and in business. The bee is considered a building block in nature and without the bee, the pollination and vibrance of the environment would not exist.
Friday鈥檚 unveiling showcased 鈥淏uzz,鈥� a large metal bee sculpture designed and constructed by renowned metal artist Dominique Martinez and his crew at Rustic Steel in Tampa. The center uses the bee as a symbol of its goals and student success.
During the center鈥檚 executive advisory board meeting on Friday, Cyndy Sanberg executive director of the Bellini Center, gave board members an overview of the center鈥檚 progress.
In November 2022, the Riley Education Foundation made a $500,000 gift to the Bellini Center for Talent Development to fund the center鈥檚 operational software. As part of the multi-year gift, the center started using the Quinncia software, an interactive AI-based platform that can provide before and after scores on resumes and interview skills, so students can see where to improve.
The software has the power to quantitate a resume and interviewing skills, Sanberg said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to teach you how to be a better intern,鈥� she said.
The program is scheduled for a full launch in the fall 2023 semester where the program's platform, called Bellini Connect, will be integrated into Canvas and courses.