Wheaton offers pathway to professional success

Compass curriculum program, LEAPS, helps bridge students to careers

Wheaton’s Compass curriculum aims to help students make connections between knowledge and practice, so they are equipped to take on the careers of tomorrow.

Liberal Education and Professional Success (LEAPS), one optional component of Wheaton’s Compass curriculum, provides a pathway to assist students in identifying and developing in-demand skills in various fields.

To date, Wheaton has approved LEAPS in the following areas: content marketing; criminal justice and criminal justice reform; design and fabrication; food industry: food science, business, language and culture; galleries, libraries, archives and museums; global fashion industry; social research; and teaching second languages. Students who sign up take courses, engage in experiential learning and enjoy mentorship from the Wheaton community, including alumni.

Haley Luce ’24, who signed up for the LEAPS in galleries, libraries, archives and museums, said she first learned about this opportunity through Associate Professor of Museum Studies and History of Art Leah Niederstadt and Dean of Library Services Megan Brooks.

“My professional goals lay in between museum work and academia in the field of classics, my major. Knowing that there is a middle ground that I can work on strengthening at Wheaton inspired me to sign up,” Luce said.

Over the summer, she took “Introduction to Museum Studies” with Niederstadt. For the LEAPS-required experiential component, she worked in the college’s Permanent Collection, which holds more than 8,000 objects. Among other tasks, including rolling textiles and rehousing medieval stained glass, she traced the ownership history. She also got to trace the history of ownership of ancient Greek ceramics, determining that they originally were given to Wheaton in 1931 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The museum had a surplus of pottery that was donated by the Greek government in 1930 following an excavation in Athens, Greece.

“Stories like this fascinate me, and the chance to be able to uncover them myself is something that I find truly irreplaceable from my time here at Wheaton. Professor Niederstadt, the professors of the Classics Department and the library staff have been the most supportive academic resources I have ever had,” Luce said.

Mentorship is another key part of a LEAPS program. Greta Phillips ’09, an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher with more than 10 years of experience at Newton Public Schools, said she was thrilled to find such a unique way to give back to Wheaton and stay connected. As the program builds, she hopes to serve as a resource for students. Earlier this year, she discussed her career and experience with students in an education course over Zoom.

“I know as a student I would have enjoyed being connected to alumni in a field of interest and hearing real experiences from past grads,” said Phillips, who majored in Hispanic studies. “The ESL career is a very fulfilling one. There are lots of opportunities working in public schools K–12 in many different ways, all of which make a big impact on students and their families.”

—Laura Pedulli