Arlene Kaukus Named UB's Director of Career Services

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- After a national search, Arlene Kaukus has been named director of career services at the University at Buffalo. Her appointment is effective Feb. 1.

Kaukus joins UB after 30 years with the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, where she most recently served as the agency's president and chief executive officer.

As UB's director of career services, Kaukus will be responsible for serving the career planning needs of UB's undergraduate, graduate and professional student body, as well as alumni. Additionally, she will direct a strategy to encourage national employers to recruit more aggressively from UB's pool of highly qualified students.

"Arlene brings to UB several years of leadership and management experience, as well as hundreds of business contacts within Western New York," said Barbara J. Ricotta, UB's associate vice president for campus life. "We are impressed by her knowledge of the non-profit environment, her team-building successes and her expertise in building collaborative relationships with the community. This will be particularly helpful as we try to strengthen UB's role as a provider of skills in the knowledge economy."

UB's Career Services office is part the university's Student Affairs division. It offers job fairs, workplace-skill workshops and a job-listing database called BullsEYE, as well as job searching and graduate school counseling, reference file service, internships and mentoring, and testing services. UB Career Services also works proactively with local, national and international employers to promote UB students for internships, mentorships and job openings.

Rising through its ranks, Kaukus built the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County into one of the highest-rated United Way agencies in the country. She spearheaded successful organizational and policy change, and strengthened alliances between governmental and social service organizations throughout Western New York. She has proven expertise in facilitating teams and developing successful cross-functional programs.

Kaukus holds an MBA from UB, a master's degree in social work from Case Western Reserve University and a bachelor's degree in social work from Buffalo State College.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.