A Decade of Opportunities

Nadia Taeckens had her sights on becoming a doctor since early in her college career. “I really hope to be a pediatrician who works closely with my local community, uplifts them, and just helps ensure that everyone has equitable access to care,” says Taeckens (B.S. ’26), who studied psychology and was a member of the College of LSA’s Health Science Scholars Program.

As she began the rigorous application process to pursue her dreams in medical school, Taeckens leaned heavily on a resource she had learned about during first-year orientation and had benefited from in many other ways over the course of her time at U-M: the LSA Opportunity Hub.  

The applications are extensive, so as Taeckens put her materials together, she leveraged many of the Hub’s tools, such as the Hub’s professional headshot booth and the interview rooms, where she did a practice interview with a medical school admissions representative. She felt like the Hub helped her confidently move forward toward her goals.  

Now, Taeckens attends Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine program in Grand Rapids—in part thanks to the support she gained from the Hub. “LSA and the Opportunity Hub have really opened doors for me by just providing me so many great professional resources, whether that be scholarships, whether that be career programs,” Taeckens says. “I’ve really grown, and now I feel prepared for medical school and the future beyond that.” 

More than a Career Center

The Hub launched 10 years ago as a way for students in the liberal arts and sciences at U-M to explore career opportunities in the many potential fields their academics, strengths and interests could lead them to. Since then, the Hub has served tens of thousands of students. 

As the Hub hits a milestone 10-year anniversary, the College of LSA and its faculty, staff, and partners are celebrating its evolution over the past decade. The Hub has expanded far beyond just a career center for LSA students; it encompasses coaching, interactive classes, alumni-hosted internships, internship scholarships, and relationship-building opportunities with graduates and prospective employers. 

LSA students have engaged in more than 35,000 career interactions, according to its 2021–2025 Impact Report; this number is double the figure from the Hub’s prior five years. It has given more than $4.4 million in student internship scholarships. And it has nearly 3,500 curated employer and recruiter relationships. 

“For a decade, the LSA Opportunity Hub has given our students a distinct advantage as they enter the workplace, helping them translate the power of a liberal arts and sciences education into meaningful careers,” says LSA Dean Rosario Ceballo. “Its tremendous success reflects the dedication of the Hub team and the generosity of our alumni and employer partners, who together have opened doors, expanded access, and empowered more than 20,000 students to pursue their professional aspirations with confidence.”

The Making of the Hub 

There wasn’t much of a blueprint for how to create the Hub when it began under former LSA Dean Andrew Martin. But Hub leaders knew that while other disciplines, such as business or engineering, inherently provide tailored career help, that’s often missing in liberal arts and sciences programs. 

“Other colleges and schools have ‘career’ baked into the academic experience, so students are learning it in multiple areas,” says Amber Strickland, the Hub’s managing director of career exploration and engagement, “whereas in LSA, it’s typically not a part of the curriculum.  

“With the liberal arts being as broad as it is,” she adds, “you can major in communication and then end up working in finance, depending on how you’re structuring your pathway. That’s really the critical element of having this resource.”  

To fight common misperceptions about finding and building a sustainable career with a liberal arts degree, creators behind the Hub developed an innovative, customized, holistic career development resource just for LSA students. 

The Hub’s mission, at first, was relatively straightforward: getting LSA students in touch with professional possibilities. 

“The focus was really on helping students to develop their professional identity based on what they were learning in the classroom, and bridging it to the world of work,” said Joslyn Johnson, assistant dean of student development and career initiatives. “It was more of a vision in the early phases.” 

Evolving Priorities 

As the years went on, the Hub began to find ways beyond internship support to help LSA students translate their education into a framework for professional options and to direct their passions into post-graduate paths. 

And as the labor market evolved, leaders advanced the Hub along with it—ensuring that an LSA liberal arts and sciences education and the skills that are learned could always be leveraged across sectors. 

The Hub now encompasses career-related resources, including: 

• Experiential learning opportunities such as on-site, employer visits
• Professional skill-building through applied liberal arts courses that help students prepare for internships; 
• Student-mentor pairing; 
• Coaching sessions; 
• Workshops and recruiting events; 
• Internship scholarships; 
• Always-on access to job and graduate school application tools; and
• Free professional headshots.

Even having an extensive physical footprint on campus allows for the Hub to be there for a student’s many other needs while at U-M. 

“I call it a beautiful marriage between a career center and an integrative learning center,” Johnson says. “It's literally like surround-sound for students.” 

The Hub’s many partners have driven much of its success as it embeds more deeply within LSA. 

Speaking with a variety of stakeholders provides avenues for students to connect to the industry while they’re still in the classroom, hear firsthand knowledge of what it is like to be in a certain career or role, and establish how to structure their university experience to prepare for a similar trajectory. 

“Our employers are great resources. Our mentorship program is a critical component of what the Hub does,” Strickland says. “Our alumni are unmatched.” 

A New Alum, Already Giving Back

Rachel Gordon (B.A. ’26) says she’s grateful she could use those resources at the start of her senior year—and as a new grad, she’s already giving back.  

Gordon, who earned her degree in the spring in cognitive science, completed a tech internship the summer before her final year at Michigan. While it was a good experience, it left her with more questions than clarity about what she wanted to do after graduation. 

She loved the intersection of business, psychology, and entrepreneurship, but she needed direction, and hadn’t pursued much help earlier while at Michigan.  

“Coming into my senior year, I felt very confused about a path forward,” Gordon says. She was worried because she came to the Hub later than her peers, but recalls that it “made me feel very welcome and very on track for what my goals were, which I really, really appreciated.” 

Gordon explored Hub career coaching, as well as professional and personal goal-setting. She established goals for approaching her job search while also balancing extracurricular activities, leadership roles, classes, and keeping up with friends. She also worked with Hub mentors to ensure her values aligned with the companies where she sent applications.  

“I really appreciated that they could work with me where I was at,” Gordon says. “A lot of people don’t realize the LSA Opportunity Hub isn’t just for resume review and job interview prep. I learned the Opportunity Hub also has relationships with employers, and I was connected to a wider network of opportunities.” 

Gordon now works as a people business partner analyst at BNY, one of the Hub’s many longtime employer collaborators. She has already been able to visit campus as a company representative and talk to students who are in the same shoes she was just one year ago. She shares her own experience with them, crediting her current role largely to Hub guidance.   

“What I love about the Opportunity Hub is they’re genuinely just there to help you,” Gordon says. “For the people who may feel like they’re behind, it’s never too late to start.” 

Today and the Next 10 Years

As the Hub continues to grow, one of its priorities is engaging with students throughout their university careers. Many LSA students visit the Opportunity Hub as they approach junior year and start to think more seriously about post-graduation. 

But administrators encourage students to come in much sooner to benefit from its full menu over the course of their time at U-M. 

“We’re a resource for you as soon as you get here. We want to help you start to build up an authentic network, so it doesn't feel like you’re trying to force something later on,” Johnson says. “We want to help you understand the different resources that are available to you.”  

The Hub’s leaders hope it will eventually be as popular as the Cube on campus, regardless of whether a student is sure about their path or has an idea about what they want to pursue; has a formatted resume or needs to start from scratch; isn’t sure if they’re ready to meet with a mentor or wants some direction in selecting a major. 

“You don’t have to have it mapped out,” Strickland says. “We give you the space and the guidance and the resources to just explore and find out what your questions are. A lot of students don’t know what they don't know until they start to explore what resources are available to them.”  

At the same time, the Hub’s strategy moving forward includes being more proactive and more visible across the college.  

“We’re not going to wait for you to come to the Opportunity Hub. We want to be in all the different spaces where you’re going to be,” Johnson says. “We want to be in the classroom, we want to make sure we’re connecting with your academic advisors—any place that the students are going to touch, we want to make sure we’re developing relationships and inroads into those spaces.”  

Another key mission is accessibility. The goal is to have resources for students to understand their pathway does not have to be linear, that there are many different opportunities, and that support can be tailored. 

“It can be overwhelming, especially for a student who has not had that touchpoint, like our first-gen students, who may not have had a solid foundation on how to structure their academic experience to gear it towards a career outcome,” Strickland says. 

Students currently attending, applying to, and considering U-M in the future are facing an ever-changing academic and professional environment, one full of uncertain challenges and immense opportunities. Artificial intelligence, geopolitics, economics, and flexible working are all influencing job options for students globally. 

As such, the Hub has robust plans to expand and integrate further into the very fiber of LSA and to help students vigorously meet those challenges and opportunities. 

“As we are looking forward, the work is still ever evolving,” Strickland says. “What we know today may not be true tomorrow. We really have to stay up on the trends and understand what is happening, and keep our hand on the pulse of the industry.”

Photography by Mike Drake and Paige Korner, LSA Opportunity Hub