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Sandia National Laboratories expands employee development through graduate academic partnership

Sandia National Laboratories is expanding professional development opportunities for employees through a graduate academic partnership with ASU's W. P. Carey School of Business.

Raquel Harris

2026-08-05

Sandia National Laboratories and Arizona State University first started collaborating in 2013 to advance renewable energy research. Since then, Sandia has expanded its ties throughout the university, including working with the W. P. Carey Career Services Center and the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering career center. In 2024, Sandia established a graduate academic partnership with the W. P. Carey School's Graduate Programs Office.

What started out as a typical prep meeting before a career fair, turned into a conversation about the school's graduate academic partnership opportunities. Andrew Kassir (MBA '25), a senior business operations analyst with Sandia National Laboratories, met with W. P. Carey staff to discuss an upcoming career fair that Sandia was participating in. "As we were talking, I shared that I was interested in pursuing an MBA, and they put me in touch with Brandi," Kassir says.

Partnership benefits

Brandi Caruthers, director of corporate outreach and community engagement, leads the graduate academic partnership initiative for the W. P. Carey School of Business. She explained to Kassir how the school's Graduate Programs Office partners with organizations to provide their employees with exclusive benefits for our top-ranked graduate programs — at no cost to the organization.

One of the exclusive benefits of the partnership is additional cost savings through waiving application fees and providing scholarships for employees, ranging from $2,000 to $25,000 for W. P. Carey graduate degrees designed for working professionals. "The graduate academic partner scholarship, coupled with Sandia's tuition assistance program, made a huge difference in me being able to afford pursuing an MBA," Kassir says.

Positive impact for Sandia employees

While in the MBA program, Kassir decided to enroll in entrepreneurship and leadership electives. Not only did he find these courses helpful for his role at Sandia, he would also apply those learnings directly to a venture that he and a classmate, Layla Gabir, started.

"While in the MBA program, Layla and I started a business creating yoga mats," Kassir says. "We were able to take advantage of the entrepreneurship courses and faculty who were right there helping us along the way to launch Flow & Lay."

Kassir and his business partner were part of Arizona State University's Venture Devils community through the Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute Venture Devils Demo Day, as well as the W. P. Carey School of Business New Venture Challenge and Accelerator Program. "This would have never happened if we didn't go to ASU and start our MBA," Kassir shares.

Beyond the classroom, Kassir adds that the MBA strengthened the skills he relies on every day in his role. The program expanded his strategic thinking, leadership perspective, and business acumen. Kassir says, "Completing my MBA has made me a stronger Sandia professional, which has helped me contribute more effectively to Sandia’s work in service of the national interest."

Kassir graduated with his MBA at the end of 2025 and now works with Nick Fresquez, a recruiting and talent acquisition specialist at Sandia, to spread the word about the graduate academic partnership to fellow employees. "Internally, we've received a lot of great feedback," Fresquez says. "We usually have about 20 to 30 people who are interested after each graduate academic partner information session."

Not only do employees appreciate the exclusive benefits of the partnership but Sandia appreciates partnering with a college that aligns with their core values. "It has been a wonderful opportunity to work with a college that cares so much about a partnership," Fresquez shares. "Professional growth opportunities are very impactful when it comes to the health of an organization."

How to establish a graduate academic partnership

Establishing a graduate academic partnership is a simple process that doesn't require a contract or memorandum of understanding (MOU). Becoming a partner involves a minimal time commitment, starting with a simple intake form. At Sandia, Fresquez collaborates with the human resources team and Kassir, to help raise awareness about the partnership and share experiences with fellow Sandia employees.

Whether you're looking to support employee development, build recruiting pipelines, or create meaningful collaborations with higher education, W. P. Carey offers a variety of impactful partnership opportunities for organizations. Contact the school to learn more.

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