Throughout the academic year, the OSPGD  delivers programming which helps students and graduates understand and articulate the value of their liberal arts education, acquire life skills, and gain exposure to the variety of experiences and careers they may want to pursue during and after college.  Below you can learn more and explore a selection of some of our recurring programs and events. OSPGD's calendar of events  details some, but not all of our programs, workshops, and information sessions.  Students can learn more about events via our emails, newsletters, and Handshake.

Established by a gift from Brett Harwood '71, the Harwood Leadership Seminar is a year-long sophomore seminar that provides its participants with a greater awareness of their unique strengths and talents while developing their leadership capabilities for opportunities during and beyond college.

The two Seminar cohorts meet over the course of the academic year learning and practicing strengths-based leadership, effective communication and public speaking techniques, conflict navigation practices, cohesive team building, goal-setting, and social change initiatives.

Applications for the seminar open in July.

The Life After College Success (LACS) Seminar is a semester-long program  which prepares sophomores and juniors for success beyond the classroom by:

• Teaching them how to articulate the applicability of their liberal arts education and experiences to providers of summer and post-graduate opportunities,

• Connecting them to a powerful network of 10+ years of LACS alumni, while teaching the students how to identify, initiate and develop relevant connections with a  broader network,

• Providing opportunities to meet and hear from speakers of influence from diverse fields about their post-graduate challenges, successes, and advice,

• Enforcing valuable skills and competencies, regardless of whether the student's post-graduate destination is graduate or professional school, employment or fellowship opportunities, and

• Helping participants conceive and develop an action plan for and beyond your junior year. 

Juniors may apply and participate in the fall or spring session.  Sophomore sessions are held in the spring.   Applications for both sessions are announced in July.

Hosted in partnership with Academic Departments, College Houses and student clubs and organizations, OSPGD is pleased to offer several theme panels each year featuring alumni across majors and fields.  Previous themes have included:

• W.O.C./We Own Control: Alumnae of Color Panel

• Improving Mother Earth: Careers Relating to the Environment

• Alumni in Fashion

• Change Agents: In and Beyond the System

• Out at Work

• Science at Work

• Public Culture/Public Spaces

• What's for Dinner?

Declaration Celebration 

Sponsored by the Office of Student & Post-Graduate Development (OSPGD) in collaboration with the Sophomore Class Caucus, Office of the Provost and F&M Alumni Association, the Declaration Celebration marks the academic milestone of major declaration by bringing together alumni and faculty to welcome sophomores into their new academic communities and demonstrate that the career pathways which flow from every major are many.

Offered in the fall and spring to seniors, the Senior Boot Camp is an all-day intensive program to help job-seeking seniors identify and secure their post-graduate plans before graduation.  During the Boot Camp, seniors identify a range of potential job opportunities, strengthen their networking skills, clean up and leverage their social media accounts to make professional connections, refine their resume and cover letters, and practicing their interviewing skills with the assistance of F&M alumni, parent, faculty and professional staff volunteers.   

Occurring during True Blue Weekend, the Summer Experience Fair, features sophomore through senior students who present to peers, families, and the College community about their summer internship, off-campus study, volunteer and service, and off-campus research experiences.

OSPGD's annual Job & Internship Fair attracts 70+ local, state and national employers offering full-time, part-time and seasonal employment as well as internship opportunities.   The Fair gives students the opportunity to practice networking skills while articulating thier experiences and liberal arts education.  

What better way to learn about industries than to immerse yourself in them?  This is the premise behind OSPGD’s Immersion Trips, during which F&M students visit organizations and potential employers, receive the insider perspective on what it takes to break into and thrive in particular fields, and attend networking receptions with F&M alumni, parents and friends of the College. From finance in New York, to think tanks in DC, the theme and location of the trips differ each semester and cater to the varied interests of our liberal arts students.