PIP 2019 - 2020
The Career & Internship Services Office continues to meet the career development needs of our students, providing a number of services that assist to enhance students’ career readiness from resume preparation to career assessments, from networking techniques to creating a personal brand. This past year we began implementing our Career Readiness Program, partnering with the Business Club and 4 employer representatives. During the 19/20 academic year, we plan to conclude the Career Readiness series and evaluate its effectiveness, obtaining feedback from both the student participants and employers. We will share our information and materials with the academic departments, so they can help support our efforts.
The Guided Pathways model supports early and frequent contact with the Career Services Office in order to start students on the right path, retain them, and complete their college education. Partnering with the Admissions and Advising Office to reach students early on is critical. We will continue to enhance our outreach efforts through social media and through career meet-ups. In addition, we will use our work study student and our intern to help us promote our office and its services. The Faculty Advocacy group has proven to be very effective in reaching more students and connecting them with our office. We are committed to continue working with the Advocacy group and are looking to increase the number of faculty who make up this group.
External partnerships with the business community, the One-Stop Career Center, and economic development agencies are critical to connecting our students to the world of work. Not to be overlooked are SUNY Orange alumni, who can also provide valuable career advice, mentoring opportunities, and job leads. We will explore the opportunities of working with our alumni association to enhance services provided to our students.
For the past two years we have utilized Career Coach, a software program which helps students and prospective students, determine the career and major that is a good fit form them. It provides the most current, local data on wages, employment, job postings, and associated education and training. It makes the connection between the students' plan of studies and their ultimate career goals which are major factors in student retention and completion. We are looking to continue funding for Career Coach.
Unemployment continues to drop in Orange County and our Career Fair participation has been dwindling from a high over just over 1,000 people in 2009 to a low, last year, of 351, which included community members and alumni. This coming year we will explore the concept of smaller, targeted career fairs by industry throughout the academic year, rather than one large fair one time a year. We’ll survey academic departments, college administration, employers, and students to determine which venue will work best for our College and students.
The PIF Applied Learning grant will come to an end at the end of the Fall/19 semester, which means that the Internship Developer and the paid intern, funded by this grant, will be lost. As the College embraces the Guided Pathways model and places increased emphasis on career development and applied learning opportunities for students, it needs to re-evaluate the staffing pattern for Career Services. The retirement of both the Director and Assistant Director, after the Spring/19 semester, makes it possible to reconsider the staffing pattern and make changes that better serve our students. Hiring a third professional, staffing the office with paid interns, or career peer advisors will help enhance the services provided to our students. We will also begin the process of upgrading the Typist 1 position. It is our belief that the current job title does not accurately reflect the level of work performed by the individual in this job and we will begin the process of upgrading the position to Senior Secretary, Administrative Assistant or changing it from Civil Service to Staff & Chair.