Employers have characterized Baruch students as ‘willing to chew through walls,’” says Associate Dean of Students Patricia Imbimbo, PhD, director of the Starr Career Development Center (SCDC) from 1995 through 2016.
But Dr. Imbimbo is the first person to tell you that such anecdotes—although heartening—don’t provide quantifiable evidence that Baruch is succeeding in its mission of fostering social and economic advancement.
So when the 2017 “Mobility Report Cards” study took the world of higher education by storm, she couldn’t have been happier. “I felt validated,” she says. “Finally, what I know about Baruch and our students the world knows.”
A Starr Turn
For two decades, Imbimbo, a licensed psychologist and one-time math major, collected data on the career outcomes of Baruch undergraduates. That enterprise was made infinitely easier and more accurate in 2006, when a multimillion-dollar naming gift from the Starr Foundation financed, among other advances at the SCDC, the purchase of state-of-the-art tracking technology. “Numbers have always been my friend,” says Imbimbo, “and now the numbers are Baruch’s friend as well.”
Continuing this tradition is Ellen Stein, PhD, SCDC’s new director and, previously, longtime associate director under Imbimbo. The Starr team continues to promote Baruch as a source of top student talent for prospective employers.
Alumni Ensure Success
At the Starr Center, opportunity is alumni driven: Baruch alumni post internships and jobs, recruit on campus, lecture in and visit class- rooms, return for networking events, and mentor through Executives on Campus. “Increased alumni engagement on campus helps students envision their potential careers and build professional relationships long before graduation,” says Janet B. Rossbach, director of alumni relations and volunteer engagement.
Imbimbo lauds the support Baruch alumni provide: “It’s amazing to see the ripple effect of alumni success.”
“Finally, what I know about Baruch and our students the world knows. Our students and alumni are simply remarkable.”
—Patricia Imbimbo, PhD, associate dean of students and Starr Center director, 1995–2016
The Future
Assuming data equals enhanced understanding, what effect will the influential “Mobility Report Cards” study have on Starr and Baruch? Says Stein, “You can’t sit back and say it is done. The data is leading us in the right direction.”