LSU Opens Olinde Career Center

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

For students of the Louisiana State University, finding a job just got a little easier. At the start of the month, the university officially opened the new Olinde Career Center in the heart of Student Union.

The ribbon cutting ceremony for the new facility was held on Tuesday, Sept. 2. LSU officials, students, sponsors and corporate partners attended the event.

The construction of the Olinde Career Center started in May, 2012. LSU did not disclose the cost of the project. It was developed without state or University funding, which means it did not lead to an increase of student fees. Instead, the project relied on donations. The new center is named after the Olinde family, whose large donation made construction possible.

The Olinde Career Center brings together LSU’s career services operations in a single location. According to the university, the two-story, state-of-the-art facility will provide assistance to more than 12,000 students each academic year. It has 17,000 square feet of space, and includes staff offices and student services, as well as many other features.

The Cale P. Smith Student Financial Management Center will help students become more financially responsible. There are 22 interview rooms for the On-Campus Interviewing Program; the Humphrey T. Olinde Executive Conference Room; a passport office; and a 40-person Carreer classroom, to help develop and prepare students to enter the workforce and accommodate employers recruiting on campus. LSU is also the first school in U.S. to feature the innovative “Dress for Success” interactive technology, a touch-screen exhibit that will teach students how to select the appropriate work attire.

“This is a great day for our students. This is a great day for our graduates. This is a great day for our corporate partners,” LSU President and Chancellor F. King Alexander said in a statement for the press. “Thank you all and our donors so very much – Dr. Olinde, the family – for making this come to reality, which will have long lasting inter-generational impact for decades to come.”

“Thousands of promising careers will start right here at LSU and right here at the Olinde Career Center,” Stephen Moret, secretary of Louisiana Economic Development, added. “Through this center, LSU will be able to enhance its economic development impact on the Baton Rouge area and our entire state, while helping thousands of students to explore their career interests and land great jobs.”