Keeping PACE With Today’s Expectations
By HOWARD DUKES
Melainey Lowe’s academic plans appeared set when she entered Saint Mary’s College.
However, as often happens when students test their early ambitions, those plans evolved. Lowe, now Director of Football Operations for the Indianapolis Colts, immersed herself in her initial major, found clarity, and ultimately shifted direction.
“I started my first two years of college on the pre-med track,” recalled Lowe, an alumna from the Class of 2021. “I thought I was going to become a physician’s assistant. Right around my sophomore year, I decided it wasn’t the path for me.”
With the help of her academic advisors, Lowe switched her major to marketing and finance, but she was still trying to figure out how to align her interests and skill set with the job market.
Lowe was a high school athlete who hoped to work in the sports industry in some way. Clarity came when Lowe started working as an equipment student manager for the University of Notre Dame football team.
“I worked with them for three-and-a-half years, and that really helped me in this career path,” Lowe said. “Notre Dame football helped tremendously in getting my foot in the door, but my Saint Mary’s education is what has allowed me to continue to elevate in the industry.”
She took an internship with the team after graduating from Saint Mary’s. Her time with an elite collegiate team certainly helped Lowe refine the skills that contributed to her rise in title and pay, but Lowe also credits the assistance of her advisors and faculty at Saint Mary’s. Her friend Molly Hart ’20, who graduated the year prior and who worked in the Vanderbilt football program, served as a mentor.
“The faculty taught me how to speak and conduct myself in a meeting, have confidence, manage multi-million dollar budgets, use business law to manage and review contracts and most importantly, stay true to who I was and the values Saint Mary’s and my family instilled in me,” she said. Today, she oversees the football operation and coordinates logistics for the Colts.
Lowe also mentors Saint Mary’s College students who are interested in a career in sports. Working through Career Services within the new Prikkel Advising, Career, and Experience (PACE) Center, Lowe and other alumnae from multiple industries return to their alma mater to share their experiences with current students.
The PACE Center is a part of the Avenue Experience, which ensures that Saint Mary’s students receive academic advising, career counseling, mentoring, experiential learning, and holistic support from orientation to graduation and beyond. A generous donation from Jennifer Mathile Prikkel ’95, her husband Patrick Prikkel, and their family, made the PACE Center possible (see sidebar).
“One of the most impactful aspects of the PACE Center is that we’re bringing together academic advising and career advising under one roof,” said Sarah Gallagher Dvorak ’99, Dean of Enrollment Management and Marketing. Dvorak said many of the young women who come to Saint Mary’s as first-years may not have a major, nor do they know how to decide on a career path.
“Within the PACE Center, students have their own team of advisors who help them explore their strengths and where their passions lie, and ultimately decide on a major,” she said.
Karen Chambers, Dean of Student Academic Services, said a student can drop by the PACE Center to find help selecting their classes or if they are struggling in a class. Academic advisors are available year-round with the tools to help students develop and identify their interests.
“And then of course, we can help align their coursework with their goals, providing guidance on internships, career paths, and graduate study,” she said.
Megan Halteman Zwart, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, was instrumental in facilitating the structure and programming of the PACE Center. She said that Saint Mary’s long ago secured its reputation for career services that go far beyond traditional resume building and career fairs. Now academic and career counseling are fused in a more holistic way in the PACE Center. This new model supports today’s students in ways that meet the current employment market.
“We know from research that students demand a much more integrated approach to their career planning, and this includes more access to experiential learning opportunities and alumnae mentoring,” she said. The PACE Center connects students to experiences like job shadowing, study abroad programs, professional mentoring, and faculty-student research partnerships, as well as traditional internships. “Having intentional access to opportunities that expand learning beyond the classroom allows our students to have real-world experience long before they enter the job market,” Zwart said. As reported in the College’s 2025 First Destination Survey administered to graduating seniors, 92 percent participated in at least one professional preparation experience.
According to Director of Career Services Stacie Jeffirs, ramping up the practice of connecting students to alumnae through industry-specific networking events like the February event attended by Melainey Lowe and other alumnae will lead to greater outcomes. Having led career services at Saint Mary’s for 18 years, Jeffirs says the College’s graduate outcomes are already above the national average. The class of 2025 First Destination Survey reports that 95 percent of Saint Mary’s graduates are working full-time, pursuing graduate school or additional education, or participating in post-graduate service programs. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), a US-based organization that bridges higher education and the workforce, reports the national average of public and private institutions is 86 percent.
“As Career Services melds into the PACE Center, it will yield even more opportunities and better outcomes for students,” Jeffirs said. “The increased capacity for career services with the addition of career advisors and elevating the focus on the importance of career development is unlike anything that we have seen before at the College.” In the few months since the PACE Center opened, Career Services has hosted four networking and recruiting events with alumnae from business, healthcare, environmental studies, and nonprofit sectors. “Students are already recognizing the new opportunities available to them,” she said.
“The transition from academic achievement to professional advancement is among the goals of the PACE Center,” according to Zwart. “Undergraduate research and conference presentations are among the strongest predictors of graduate school acceptance and early career success. National studies show that students who participate in faculty-mentored research are significantly more likely to enroll in graduate programs, and presenting at professional conferences strengthens applications by demonstrating scholarly engagement, communication skills, and emerging leadership within a field.”
Elevating the focus on the importance of career development is unlike anything that we have seen before at the College.
- Stacie Jeffirs, Director of career services
The PACE Center is located in remodeled space at the northwest corner of Le Mans Hall, and is accessible through Reignbeaux Lounge as well as a soon-to-open new external entrance. In addition to a suite of academic and career advising offices, the PACE Center also has a large conference room where students can meet with mentors and attend programming, and smaller private rooms where students can conduct mock and virtual interviews—and where employers can conduct in-person interviews. The PACE Center also has a lounge space, a coffee bar, and a new 24-hour professional headshot booth for students, faculty, and staff.
Chambers said the PACE Center intentionally includes these flexible, collaborative spaces for programming and events to help students achieve their goals. There is a flow to the space that provides professionalism and an intentional focus on success.
“When students arrive in the PACE Center, we want them to know they can seek out high-impact experiential learning and, career assessment tools, find alumnae who can mentor them, and find an internship,” Chambers said. “These are essential to helping students achieve success in whatever they choose to do after graduation.”
President Katie Conboy spoke at the PACE Center’s January 23 dedication ceremony, noting that the day represented more than a ribbon-cutting.
“More deeply, it’s about a conviction that a Saint Mary’s education must prepare women not only to graduate but to step forward with confidence into lives and careers that we know are going to be complex, evolving, and consequential,” she said. “That conviction is a part of our DNA. It was shared with us by our founders and sponsors, the Sisters of the Holy Cross, who are called and who call us to read the signs of the times and respond.” Conboy added that this conviction inspired the work of those who planned the PACE Center and the work that will be done there.
Donor Jennifer Mathile Prikkel said today’s students often feel enormous pressure to quickly define their futures. She understands that pressure can be overwhelming, particularly in their first months on campus. “The PACE Center offers them something different—guidance at a less frenzied pace,” she said. “Helping students uncover who they are, imagine the life they hope to lead, and build a path forward rooted in their unique gifts and callings.”
The PACE Center also reflects the qualities that make Saint Mary’s College extraordinary, Prikkel said, fulfilling the promise of discovery that Sister M. Madeleva Wolff, CSC, made to the women of Saint Mary’s. “The PACE Center embodies that promise.”
Click here to learn more about the PACE Center and its experiential learning opportunities.
May 11, 2026
How a Donation Makes Dreams Come True
A transformational gift in 2023 has resulted in the establishment of the Prikkel Advising, Career, and Experience (PACE) Center, recently dedicated in Le Mans Hall. A donation to the College by Jennifer Mathile Prikkel ’95, Patrick Prikkel, and their family as part of the Ring Out Ring True campaign for Saint Mary’s College, will impact generations of women.
The PACE Center offers academic and career advising, as well as access to experiential learning opportunities like internships. It also connects them to other resources like study abroad, summer research, and professional conferences. According to Megan Halteman Zwart, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, participation in these opportunities can depend on resources beyond tuition. The PACE Center’s resources, a network of scholarships, grants, and endowed faculty chairs, will provide all students with access to these resources.
“Students do groundbreaking work in our classrooms and labs, but sharing that work beyond campus often depends on resources like travel and conference fees that aren’t affordable for everyone” said Zwart. “Expanding endowed support helps make sure that when students earn these opportunities, they can fully participate in them.”
She added that the Ring Out Ring True campaign, which will publicly launch on June 6, will “help more students carry their learning into professional and scholarly communities in meaningful ways.” This summer, a new Dean of Career Integration will join Saint Mary’s to direct the PACE Center.
