Spotlight On: Fulbright College Career Services

Have you met the Career Services team at Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences?

Erica Estes

As part of the college’s Office of Student Success, the team’s leader, Erica Estes, has actively helped our students find successful careers and internships for more than 14 years.

And now, so are the team’s two newest members – Michelle Pribbernow and Xavier Smith.

Together, the trio offer students career guidance and resources, cultivate relationships with potential employers and companies, create the weekly Career Insider email blast, and coordinate on-campus employer visits and information sessions, panels and career fairs.

It’s a big job, as the college is comprised of more than 8,700 students seeking a multitude of degrees at all levels in the fine arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences.

The team’s much-needed expansion was made possible by a $556,906 grant from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, which also allowed the central U of A Career Development Center to add a new position, too.

Michelle Pribbernow

In Fulbright College, Michelle Pribbernow was hired this fall as the college’s new associate director of employer relations.

“But she’s no stranger to the U of A or Fulbright College,” Estes said. “Michelle has been working on campus in various recruitment and career counseling roles for the past 14 years. And she is currently completing a doctorate from the college’s Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies program.”

Estes said in this new role, Pribbernow will primarily focus on cultivating relationships with organizations and hosting student networking opportunities for our fine arts, natural sciences and mathematical sciences areas.

“Both the arts and science and technology sectors are incredibly vibrant in northwest Arkansas,” Pribbernow said. “And I’m excited to help develop opportunities for connection between students and the organizations in the region.”

Pribbernow has been at the university since 2007 and received her bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame in anthropology with a minor in classical civilizations, and her master’s from University of Pittsburgh in anthropology. Her hobbies include traveling, playing the hurdy gurdy and dancing for the TerraNova Troupe dance company.

Xavier Smith

Xavier Smith was also hired this fall as a career counselor particularly dedicated to serving Fulbright College’s underrepresented students this academic year.

“He recently completed his master’s degree in counseling and has done amazing work with the Honors College and other campus departments before joining us,” Estes said. “Xavier will provide career counseling appointments in-person and virtually and will create career education content to engage students electronically.”

Smith said he is committed to “meeting students where they are, and I am extremely excited to help students work toward developing career competencies while they learn how to craft their unique stories. I look forward to interacting and collaborating with students along their career journey.”

Smith’s position is temporary and will end June 2022, but in the meantime, Estes encourages students to take full advantage of his ability to counsel them in the following areas: resume reviews; cover letters; mock interviews; job, internship and graduate school searches; exploring majors and careers; life design; and LinkedIn and Handshake profile reviews.

Estes said that in addition to being able to work with the team on their career aspirations, the popular Career Connections (ARSC 3103) class is being offered to students again in spring 2022 on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:05-4:20 p.m.

“This course is a great opportunity for students to learn how to use the life design framework to craft their next steps, network with professionals, and prepare competitive application materials,” she said.

Estes, who serves as director of employer relations for the college, also taught the class for the past three years, which she said includes several guest lecturers and activities designed to help students hone in on and realize their career aspirations.

Angela Williams

Estes said the course will have a new instructor this spring – Angela Williams, who also recently joined the college’s Student Success team as a Teaching Assistant Professor.

Since Career Services is a big part of the college’s overall Student Success team, Williams will bring her extensive background and expertise in career services to this new role, too – teaching Career Connections, and also two sections of a new course she is designing, the Professional ePortfolio.

During her time with the U of A, Williams has served in multiple key roles, including in Student Support Services as an academic counselor and later its director, as director of the University Career Development Center, and most recently as assistant vice chancellor and executive director of the center.

Williams, who has also earned three degrees from the U of A – Bachelor of Arts in psychology in 1988, a Master of Education in counseling education in 1991 and her Doctor of Education in adult education in 2006 – said she is looking forward to taking on a new challenge in this teaching role.

“I am excited that this new role will allow me to continue to assist students with their academic and career success preparation,” Williams said. “One of the overarching goals of this position is to support students in their creation of a professional ePortfolio to demonstrate career readiness and mastery of U of A learning outcomes. Creating an ePortfolio can help students tell their stories and reflect on skills they have gained in and outside the classroom.”

“[In this course, students] will learn to present and demonstrate how their knowledge and skills can be applied to different areas of work. The time spent creating their ePortfolio is good preparation for employment and graduate/professional school interviews,” she added. “We also hope to give special attention to support under-prepared, under-represented and first-generation students.”

Estes said she can’t wait for Fulbright College students to take Williams’ courses and work with Smith and Pribbernow.

“Overall, it’s a very exciting time for Career Services and really our college’s entire Student Success team,” Estes said. “I am so excited to work with such amazing professionals and to have more of our students from across the college meet them soon, too, and explore our expanded services.”

Students can schedule appointments with Smith through Handshake, the U of A’s student career platform, or by calling the U of A Career Development Center at 479-575-2805, or reach Williams, Pribbernow and Estes by email.