When Career Becomes a Presidential Priority: One Career Leader's Partnership Playbook (feat. Joe Catrino)

What does it actually look like when a university president makes career a strategic priority — and how does a career services leader make the most of it?In this episode, host Meredith Metsker sits down with Joe Catrino, Executive Director of the Center for Career Design at Dartmouth College, for a candid look at what's possible when career services has a seat at the highest table on campus.Joe joined Dartmouth in early 2025, stepping into a rare situation: a president who had made career one of her core institutional pillars. In just over a year, he's nearly doubled his team, helped close a $30 million fundraising campaign for student internships, and built a partnership with President Sian Beilock that has become a model for executive-level collaboration in career services.In this conversation, Joe shares how that partnership actually works — from the structure of their regular meetings and the impact reports he brings, to the business plan he built to align his center's goals with institutional priorities. He also offers practical advice for career leaders who don't have direct presidential access yet and want to start building those relationships from the ground up.Key topics include:What it looks like when a president is genuinely committed to careerHow Joe structures his regular meetings with President BeilockThe business plan framework he built with Dartmouth's advancement officeHow to connect career center outcomes to institutional prioritiesWhy Joe spent his first five months on a listening tour before building anythingPractical advice for career leaders who don't have presidential access (yet)Learn more about the Dartmouth Center for Career Design*: careerdesign.dartmouth.edu*Dartmouth's virtual career center is powered by uConnect Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community