CAPS Labs offers career and academic advising

By Bryce Johnson •

The Center for Academic and Professional Success opened CAPS Labs, located in Mako Hall’s multi-purpose room, on Aug. 29.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., students can come and receive guidance on building resumes and cover letters, adding and dropping classes, switching majors, applying to internships and other services.

Viviana Faz, a second-year student in the College Student Affairs program, enjoys working there as a graduate assistant.

“I enjoy working with students, especially when we accomplish what they come into CAPS Labs for, whether that is them graduating a semester early, finding a class or helping them build a resume for an internship,” Faz said.

Kevins Metayer, Edge adviser and chair of CAPS’s graduate assistant supervisor committee, said the idea for CAPS Labs existed years ago within the Career Development office.

“This semester, we wanted to bring the idea back around of having a CAPS Lab where students can essentially come in and then receive assistance for a plethora of services,” Metayer said.

Cassie Arroyo, Edge adviser and co-chair of the graduate assistant supervisor committee, said that CAPS Labs is at Mako Hall, rather than at the CAPS office in the Horvitz building, so that staff could be closer to students. It also provides a different atmosphere than CAPS’s drop-in sessions, which are normally 15-20 minutes.

“The whole idea behind it was that we meet the students on their turf,” Arroyo said. “Having the ability to have a three or four-hour time span where students can come in just makes it a little bit easier for everybody.” Metayer remembers one of the first meetings held between a student and a graduate assistant in the CAPS Labs.

“We had a young lady come in for her resume critique and it was essentially what we envisioned the CAPS Labs to be,” Metayer said. “She was there for about 30 to 35 minutes, and she built her resume from scratch and added two of the experiences she had onto the resume. That’s really what we were hoping that CAPS Labs would be.”

Caitlyn Baris, graduate assistant and first-year student in the College Student Affairs program, remembers helping a student in the CAPS Labs.

“I once helped a student who was an exercise and sports science major, and he was looking for physical therapy volunteer opportunities. So I was able to give him all the resources that he needed to apply for some internships for physical therapy,” Baris said.

Karina Assanova, graduate assistant and first-year student in the College Student Affairs program, appreciates the experiences at the CAPS Labs.

“The thing that appealed to me in the CAPS office is the career side because since I’m an international student, I did not know much about the academic side in the United States,” Assanova said. “But I always liked to explore more about career development, interviews and the hiring processes.”

Arroyo encourages all students to come to the CAPS Labs, whether they’re alone or with a friend.

“A lot of students do come in with their roommate, or their friend or they’re walking by and they see it. So we do encourage everybody just to come in, as many people as you want at a time, no appointment needed,” Arroyo said.

For more information about the CAPS Labs Students can email caps@nova.edu