College leaders and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno were on hand as AIC unveiled its improved and refurbished career center this week.
At a ceremony at the Schwartz Campus Center, officials touted the newly-renovated Saremi Center for Career Development, which offers services from career planning to mock interviews to job fairs.
According to the college, the center will offer new and enhanced programming to better connect students with careers in the region and beyond – thanks to a gift awarded by AIC alumnus and trustee, Kevin Saremi.
Center director Tricia Love-Walsh says the 2023 donation that made it all possible followed another gift from 2010, which also transformed the facility that bears Saremi’s name.
“We moved from the concept of placement - just finding a student a job - into career development, where we give the students the tools that they need to succeed,” Love-Walsh said regarding the previous donation, which led to the center being renamed after Saremi.
Both donations came decades after Saremi met his wife, Deborah, while they were studying at AIC. The two later landed careers with the help of what was then known as "The Placement Center" at the college.
Speaking with WAMC, Saremi says the work that goes into helping a graduate find a job out of college has only evolved in the years since.
“When my wife and I graduated from here 40-some-odd years ago - there's been a big difference, the transformation is just amazing,” he said. “I think the whole idea/concept of matching students with employers has changed. Back then, we were just looking for a job - now, it’s really career development.”
Now a co-founder of a real estate firm as well as president of an educational company focused on health and wellness, Saremi says he and his family plan to continue helping the college with developing the local workforce — a mission emphasized by AIC President Hubert Benitez.
"Our graduates stay here and impact the local workforce - that's critically important because AIC is preparing the diverse workforce for Springfield and for the region," Benitez told WAMC. "So, what we do with career development is try to encourage students not only to support the communities where they come from, but go back and serve.”
Mayor Sarno echoed that sentiment, calling attention to the importance of students being able to making a living soon after graduating.
“You get that education, but then you got to make the money, because you got to pay those college tuitions and pay the bills,” the mayor told the campus community during the unveiling. “And sometimes the synergy isn't there, and AIC is putting that synergy there for your education, that you'll be able to go into the workforce and be able not only to provide for yourself, [but] provide for your family, and give back to the community. I think that's extremely important.”
Sarno received an honorary degree from the college in 2016. He also noted his youngest daughter, Chiara, graduated from AIC in 2022.
Referring to the gift as a private donation, college officials did not detail the size of Saremi’s contribution.
According to the college's career outcomes page, an estimated 96 percent of the class of 2022 was reported as either being employed or pursuing further education.
A breakdown of the numbers shows 58 percent of the students were employed after graduating, while the remainder continued pursuing a graduate degree.
