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Dec. 12, 2023
Grads to Cross the Stage and into New Jobs
On Friday, 1,015 graduates, including 670 bachelor’s degree candidates and 345 master’s degree candidates, will receive their degrees from The University of Tampa at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall.
Emma Triano '23 accepted a job as a special education teacher. Photo courtesy of Triano
On Friday, 1,015 graduates, including 670 bachelor’s degree candidates and 345 master’s degree candidates, will receive their degrees from The University of Tampa at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall.
Among them is student challenge speaker Emma Triano, who has accepted a job as a special education teacher at Coleman Middle School in Tampa.
Triano’s mother has been a special education teacher for over 30 years, she said, and she planned to follow in her footsteps.
“I am very passionate about working with students of all abilities,” said Triano, an elementary education major.
From New Jersey, Triano said she chose UT because of the “amazing location.”
“The college has so much to offer, and I wanted to move to Florida,” she said.
She will miss the campus, including hammocking in Plant Park, going on walks and going to the pool, she added.
Ava Marconi, an international business and management major, secured a job as a social impact specialist with UKG, a technology company that provides workforce management and human resources management services.
Ava Marconi '23 was offered a job after she completed an 11-week internship with technology company UKG. Photo courtesy of Marconi
Marconi was offered a job after she completed an 11-week internship with the company and completed over 20 projects with two separate teams under the Belonging, Equity and Impact Department.
The Belonging, Equity and Impact Department focuses on making UKG a place where unique identities and perspectives are sought out, celebrated and well-represented, according to Marconi.
Some of her successes during her internship included: researching different ways the company can improve social impact and presenting findings and recommendations to leadership; planning 15 volunteer events across the global employee base; and coordinating and executing the onsite visit of 20 students with a partner company.
In her job, Marconi will work on the same team. She will undertake a variety of social impact-related tasks in the areas of nonprofit partnerships, employee engagement and corporate giving.
Some of her responsibilities will include working with the social impact team to grow strategic partnerships and programs; managing corporate giving and increasing employee engagement and volunteerism; building and maintaining relationships with members of the community, key individuals and partner nonprofit organizations; and overseeing messaging to ensure a consistent social impact story is being told across all platforms.
Marconi will be working in her home state of Massachusetts, at the headquarters in Lowell.
She said she would most miss UT’s picturesque campus.
After graduation, cybersecurity majors Johann Mendez and Joseph Sullivan will join the team at ReliaQuest.
Sullivan, who was hired as a tier 1 cybersecurity analyst and will be tasked with investigating security incidents, said that as a part of Root@UT, a cybersecurity club on campus, he was able to meet ReliaQuest members who visited, allowing him to network.
“Certifications are very important if you want to land technical roles,” he said. “I hold both CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA CySA+, which helped me stand out from a crowd of applicants.”
His advice to current students who may still be looking for a job is that certifications show your potential employer that you have the motivation to continue learning outside of class or your required responsibilities.
Mendez held a remote position as an IT associate at Miles IT over the summer and throughout the semester. Mendez, too, was in Root@UT and said said some of the curriculum assignments at UT allowed him to better market himself to recruiters.
For more details on the Dec. 15 commencement, visit ut.edu/commencement.
UT Graduates by the Numbers
Total graduates: 1,015
Countries represented: 8
Percent of graduates from Florida: 55
Countries represented: 8
Percent of graduates from Florida: 55
Undergraduate students
Total bachelor’s degree candidates: 670
Summa cum laude (GPA 4.0): 5
Magna cum laude (GPA 3.75 or higher, but less than 4.0): 73
Cum laude (GPA 3.5 or higher, but less than 3.75): 125
Most popular undergraduate majors: allied health, finance and marketing
Graduate students
Total candidates: 345 With highest honors (GPA 4.0): 42
With honors (GPA 3.9 or higher, but less than 4.0): 29
MBAs awarded: 48
Total candidates: 345 With highest honors (GPA 4.0): 42
With honors (GPA 3.9 or higher, but less than 4.0): 29
MBAs awarded: 48
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