At Newman University, students take a guided journey that can carry them from their first semester to graduation and beyond.
That journey is called Navigator, a four-part program that blends career preparation with Newman’s mission of service and purpose.
“Navigator is part of student success,” Director of Navigator Lawna Kurtyka said in a recent episode of “The Newman Bond” podcast. “What we want to do in Navigator is create an experience that helps students transition to college life, then into graduate school, the world of work or whatever the next steps may be for them.”
Four stages of Navigator
Unlike many universities, which typically offer a single orientation course, Newman’s Navigator program continues through every stage of the college experience. Kurtyka said that structure sets it apart.
“At a lot of universities … it’s really only for that first semester,” she said. “Here at Newman, students take four courses that follow them throughout their four years. And in those, we try and build the individualized, personalized services that maybe you wouldn’t receive sometimes at a larger university.”
The program is built around four classes: Flight Planning, Lift-Off, Destination Check and Launch.
Building skills, confidence and community
The program responds to the challenges today’s students face. For many students, the COVID-19 pandemic limited their ability to socialize and be part of a group, Kurtyka explained.
“Anything we can do to provide those students with foundational skills of collaboration, understanding their purpose and setting goals … will only be to their benefit when they get out into the job market,” she added.
Navigator helps students discover both their “why” and “how,” by prompting students to reflect on their vocation and purpose.
For biology and pre-dentistry major Keegan Schreiber, the four-year course projection, development of mission statements and vision boards have been a “huge blessing.”
“Those really helped me focus in on what I wanted to do while I was here as well as my future career,” the sophomore said.
Students also say the program builds their soft skills and resumés.
“I’ve had a lot of students tell me, ‘I didn’t think that I could get up in front of people and really speak’ or ‘I didn’t think that I could create the kind of goals that I’ve created,’” Kurtyka said. “It really builds their ability to see themselves in a different light. And I think a lot of times that’s what college is for.”
Jenna Ju, a sophomore biology major with a pre-medicine concentration, emphasized the benefits Newman students receive by participating in Navigator.
“It’s not just about career growth, it’s about self-growth as well,” she said. “Networking helped for my career, but it also helped me as an individual, learning to reach out to other people, ask for help and talk to others as well.”
Navigator also emphasizes mentoring, which gives students valuable experience to carry into their careers. Students can apply to serve as peer guides for the Flight Planning stage, working alongside faculty and sharing their own stories with new students.
“We’re there to act as a buffer between the professor and students so they feel they have somebody they can come to,” said peer mentor and education major Jocelyn Edwards.
Kaylee McNeill shared that while peer mentors weren’t an option at the start of her Navigator journey, it is rewarding to help future students receive that extra support.
“We want to be another friendly face for them,” McNeill, a theology major, said. “It can be very overwhelming even going to a club event with a lot of people you don’t know. So having at least one familiar face to help students get involved on campus and make new friends is important.”
Fellow peer mentor Joe Davis, a biology major, praised Newman’s unique approach when it comes to preparing graduates.
“I have friends at WSU, KU and K-State, and I think Newman’s Navigator program is definitely unique,” Davis said. “The more effort you put in, the more you get out of each class, too.”
Tailored paths
Not every student completes all four courses. Nursing, education and allied health majors meet later requirements through coursework in their fields, while seminarians only take Flight Planning. Transfer and adult students may also follow different paths depending on their needs.
Even with these variations, Kurtyka said, the program’s impact remains the same: preparing students to live out Newman’s mission of transforming society.
“We want them to understand how their own personal mission aligns with the university’s,” Kurtyka said. “Then they can go out into the world and explain that, and put themselves a step above everybody else who maybe hasn’t had the opportunity to go through a program like this.”
To hear more about Navigator, listen to the full “The Newman Bond” episode, “Lawna Kurtyka (Navigator Program) – The Newman Bond,” available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Through workshops, career planning sessions and real-world projects in Navigator, I feel more prepared and excited to take on future opportunities and begin my professional journey.
Andrea Fuentes ’25
Explore the Newman Navigator program
Newman faculty and staff designed the Navigator program to help students succeed and prepare them to live our mission when they graduate.
