Joe Testani has been named assistant dean and executive director of the University’s Gwen M. Greene Career and Internship Center. The appointment was announced by College Dean Richard Feldman. Testani will join the University in June 2015.
“Joe is a strategic and innovative thinker whose experience and enthusiasm will benefit our students immensely in their career planning and objectives,” said Feldman. “He recognizes that building strong relationships with internal and external constituents is of key importance to providing exceptional internship and career services, and he has a strong understanding of the evolving global marketplace and how it informs placement strategies and opportunities.”
Testani succeeds Burt Nadler, current director of the Greene Center, who announced his intent to retire last year after 16 years in the position. Nadler will continue to assist with the transition to new leadership and officially retire this spring.
Testani is currently director of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Career Center, which serves a population of 32,000 undergraduate and graduate students, as well as 150,000 alumni. Throughout 15 years of career services experience, he has worked at the University of Richmond and Yale University and held leadership roles in several professional associations, including the National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE) and the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS).
“I feel fortunate to be joining the University of Rochester community and look forward to representing Gwen M. Greene Career & Internship Center to our students, alumni, employers, and all our other key stakeholders,” said Testani. “The role of today’s career services office is to facilitate connections and create a community that educates and supports students as they plan and develop their careers. I am excited to be leading and a part of that process at the University of Rochester, along with the excellent staff at the Gwen M. Greene Career & Internship Center. I look forward to engaging all our stakeholders in a discussion on how to make this office a leader in career services nationally.”
Testani is skilled at developing and implementing targeted metrics to monitor career patterns and outcomes for graduates. At VCU, he initiated the Career Outcomes Working Group, which led to adoption of The Outcomes Survey. In partnership with other pilot universities, The Outcomes Survey looks at the first year of new college graduates to understand how they are using their major in their career and where they have located.
At VCU, Testani also developed and led the Career Council, an institution-wide collaboration to coordinate career services, resources and efforts for various constituents.
In 2014, he was selected to participate in the Fulbright International Education Administrators seminar in Germany, where he joined 20 other higher education administrators from throughout the United States for a two-week program focused on career services, alumni relations, development and international education.
Testani graduated from Binghamton University and received a master’s degree in higher education administration from Indiana University.
The University’s Greene Center is currently focused on career coaching and counseling, internship and job search planning, and graduate and professional school advising for students and alumni. Several programs offered through the Greene Center connect students and alumni for career networking opportunities throughout the nation with a growing effort on international opportunities. All services are currently offered for students from freshmen through senior year and beyond with new efforts geared towards graduate students and alumni. The Greene Center also focuses their energy on employer development and alumni engagement efforts to grow internships and jobs for University students and alumni.
