CAREER CENTER
MISSION
STATEMENT
GOALS
PROGRAM
HIGHLIGHTS
&
STATISTICS
ANNUAL REPORT
2002-2003
Barbara Bedford, Director &
Career Center staff
September 2003
CONTENTS
PART 1:
DIRECTOR'S
INTRODUCTION
ORGANIZATIONAL
CHART
PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS
MISSION STATEMENT
UNIT GOALS
PART 2:
PROGRAM
CONSTITUENCY
HIGHLIGHTS
PART 3:
STUDENT
PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
PART 4:
PROGRAM EVALUATION
PART 1:
UNIT MISSION
&
PROGRAM
DESCRIPTIONS
The
primary mission of the Career Center is to assist registered UCSC students and
other designated clients through all phases of their career development. To
accomplish this goal, the Career Center staff works diligently to promote a
greater awareness within the world of work and the need for and nature of
career development over a student’s life span.
Additionally, the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher
Education indicates: Career services must promote learning and development in
students by encouraging outcomes
such as realistic self-appraisal, appropriate career choices, enhanced
self-esteem, critical thinking, clarification of values, intellectual growth, ability to communicate effectively,
leadership development, ability to work independently and collaboratively,
social responsibility that is satisfying and appreciation of cultural
diversity, and achievement of personal
goals, to name a few standards.
The
Career Center actively promotes these standards by effectively implementing a
variety of services and programs to meet the present and on-going career
development needs of our overall clientele, which also include employers both
for-profit and non-profit, faculty, staff, and the outside local, national and
worldwide community. These services and programs include:
·
Career Advising
·
Quality/Practical Internship
Opportunities
·
Part Time Employment both On
and Off-Campus, Federal Work-Study Program, Student Corps Temporary Service
·
Corporate and Business
Relations
·
Payroll Personnel Services
·
Information and Resources on
Careers and Further Education
·
Opportunities for Career
Exploration Through Experiential Learning
·
Job Search Services
·
Services to Employers
·
Consultation and Outcomes
Assessment
·
Career Development Workshops
·
State-of-the-Art Technology
·
Student Leadership
Opportunities
·
Student Appreciation Program
Other
essential student-centered services include individual, drop-in career advising
services, a variety of career fairs & special events, consistently updated
library materials, and career development workshops that offer a variety of
education/instruction. In addition, an
IMAC computer lab and state-of-the-art internet database computer services of
the highest quality are available for students such as the on-line part-time
jobs and internship Student Employee Request (ER) System, and the alumni Career
Advice Network (CAN) data base.
UCSC
students who seek a professional career must, upon graduation, enter the
professional world of work well educated, refined with comprehensive career
advice and quality/practical work experience.
For example, an internship, while attending UCSC, related to his or her
career goals would be ideal. Thus, the
student would be more prepared to meet the challenges of today’s highly
competitive job market. Students must be equipped to stand out amongst the
increasing number of job seekers. The
Career Center can play a critical role in helping students to develop the
proper skills and tools necessary to meet these challenges. The aforementioned
services and programs have been implemented to support our efforts to prepare
students for the world of work. These services and programs are continually
reviewed and enhanced for the purpose of sufficiently preparing UCSC students
for future careers.
Another
component of the Career Center’s mission is to maintain a highly visible,
state-of-the-art, student-centered, one-stop career services operation. In order to accomplish this specific
mission, the nexus between UCSC students, the faculty and the Career Center
Academic Advisory Board, is continually nurtured, as well as significant
outreach efforts to employers, now, and in the future. To reach the level of performance that will
attract visits from corporate America and the world, the Career Center
continues to find ways to roll out the red carpet for all employers that visit
UCSC. Therefore, the Career Center staff works effectively to attract all
potential clientele to our one-stop operation and to maintain a reputable,
welcoming environment that ultimately provides recruiters with the opportunity
to interact with qualified and highly educated students.
The new
Bay Tree Conference Center, located next to the Career Center, continues to be
one location that provides an aesthetically pleasing, professional environment
for student interaction with employers who visit the campus for the purpose of
offering workshops, conferences, and job interviews. In the future, the Career Center would like to have the
capability to provide students with the opportunity to interview with major
businesses not only in Santa Cruz and the Bay area, but outside the US, via an
electronic interview process using videoconferencing technology.
The
Career Center continues to offer students the most up-to-date career advice in
the form of high quality information on how to develop an appropriate career
path. In 2002-2003, the advising staff increased by 1.00 FTE. Obtaining additional advising staff will
support our current endeavor to provide new and continuing graduate students
with enhanced/increased graduate programs and services.
The goal is to keep pace with the forever changing technology here, at the Santa Cruz campus and the world. On one hand, the demand for Career Center services, due to growth in student population, has been rewarding, on the other hand, extremely challenging. The Career Center staff will endeavor to accomplish its current mission, barring any unforeseen occurrence that may mandate a change, for example, budgetary limitations. The Career Center staff looks forward to a continued long-term partnership with the leadership of the Division, campus administration, and our student/employer clientele.
Barbara
Bedford,
Career Center Director
Please refer to "C Ctr Org Chart-2002-03" (separate attachment, Power Point file)
Administration & Director
·
Business Operation
·
Technology Enhancements
and Maintenance
·
Research and Assessments
·
Outreach/Publicity
·
Developing and
Maintaining Partnerships
·
Student Employment
Compensation
·
Development of New
Programs/Policies and Procdures
·
Professional/Staff Development
·
Student Regent Recruitment
·
Bay Tree Building 3rd
floor & Conference Rooms
Career Advising
·
Drop-In and Individual Advising
Services/Graduate student advising/services
·
Workshops (standard, special focus,
departmental, college)
·
Service Orientations
·
Career Resource Library/Computer Lab
·
Graduate Reference Letter Service
·
Educational Placement Services
·
Career Advice Network
Internships Programs and Services
·
Chancellor’s Undergraduate Internship
Program (CUIP)
·
Professions Training Program (PTP)
·
Kauffman Entrepreneur Program
(PTP-EG)
·
PTP/COSMOS
·
University of California Center,
Sacramento (UCCS)
Corporate & Business Relations
·
Career Job Fairs/High Tech, Non
Profit, Last Chance
·
Local Jobs Development
·
Regional Jobs Development
·
Multicultural Career Conference
·
Graduate School Information, Graduate Fair
·
MonsterTRAK & NACELINK
·
Reception
·
Partners for Progress
·
Student Employee Recognition program
(SERAP)
On Campus Employment
·
PPS Training and Support (courses and
on-line)
·
Work-Study Programs and Services (on
and off-campus)
·
Non Work-Study Employment
Coordination (on-campus)
·
Electronic Employee Request &
Student Job Listing Service
·
Web base Policies and Procedures
Manual
Student Corps
·
On Campus Temporary Student Staffing
Service
Bay Tree Conference Center
·
Camps-wide Conference Facility
Oversight
·
Oversight of 3rd floor Bay
Tree Building
The Career Center’s mission is to provide comprehensive quality programs and resources preparing a diverse student/alumni community to successfully meet today and tomorrow's challenges by: offering financial support through practical and career related work experience; providing individual career advising, graduate student services, workshops, resource materials and special events to assist students with life planning; developing employment opportunities and fostering partnerships with on and off campus communities; enhancing services through innovative technology, program development and continuous updating of resources through research and analysis.
Goal:
Enhance strategies to increase
faculty interaction:
The Career Center staff will continue to partner with faculty. The Career Center has developed an Academic Advisory Board that consists of eight faculty members and six Career Center staff. A student member also serves on the board. The Academic Advisory Board is charged with the responsibility of collaborating and recommending effective methods in which to provide meaningful career exposure, internship opportunities, mentoring programs, Career Center interaction in the classroom, and continued collaboration with the UCSC Academic Career Pathways program. Currently, the Academic Advisory Board meets quarterly. During 2000-2001, the Career Center established a strong partnership with the Economics Department Lecturer and Faculty Member Bob Shepherd. Consequently, this faculty partnership resulted in a “Meet the Firms” career event where UCSC students had an opportunity to meet with four of the top accounting firms in the US. This year the number of firms will increase to eight. Out of this event, some student career placements followed upon graduation. To continue this type of partnership with faculty on campus, a recommendation of a new partnership with the School of Engineering’s Dean Kang and staff has been proposed by the Academic Advisory Board. Meetings were scheduled, in 2002 – 2003, to begin strategic planning on how to enhance our outreach methods to students and employers, and to more aggressively develop career and internship opportunities in the academic area of Engineering and Information Science. In 2003 –2004, the Career Center developed a School of Engineering Internship data base, and partnered in the production of a TV commercial highlighting Engineering students. The Commercial will air six months. The success of these new endeavors will be reported on in our next annual report.
Goal:
More effective feedback:
The Career Center staff continues
to enhance its efforts to receive comprehensive and effective feedback from our
student clientele. The Career Center will seek out students to offer advice via
surveys and innovative evaluation processes.
The goal is to identify more effective methods of interaction with students
that will provide feedback for the Career Center Director on a quarterly basis
to offer comments, suggestions regarding the Career Center. Another goal is to enhance and develop a
stronger relationship with the Alumni Office for the purpose of establishing a
better measurement of success by collecting data related to career employment
trends 5 to 10 years after graduation of UCSC students.
Goal:
To stay in alignment with
Student Affairs strategic goals:
The Career Center goals continue to be in alignment with the majority of the divisional goals; student-centered ways of doing business, graduate student services, student and staff wellness, quality customer service, diversity, leadership, state-of-the-art technology, student retention, maximizing student financial support, and overall enriching student life before and after graduation by integrating academic and practical life/work skills.
Goal:
To effectively distribute existing resources in support of unit
budgetary operation:
The goal is to continue to be frugal with resources. Resources will be distributed on a priority, need-by-need basis for each of the Career Center's specific areas of oversight: Administrative, Advising, Corporate and Business Relations, Internship Programs, On-Campus Part-Time Employment, Student Corps and the Bay Tree Conference Center.
Goal:
To increase partnerships:
There are many opportunities to partner with staff and faculty to enhance the current services and programs provided by the Career Center. For example, the Career Center seeks increased partnerships with UCSC Faculty, including Provosts and Deans. The Career Center also seeks to continue enhancing our partnerships with staff from the Alumni office, COSMOS program, Student Life Services, Colleges, campus-wide technology staff, etc. Partnering with off-site businesses, corporate and non-profit organizations in the community, Bay area and nationwide is a continuing goal. The Career Advice Network (CAN) has been upgraded and we continue to increase our partnerships with UCSC graduates and alumni by providing networking opportunities.
Goal:
To enhance strategies to
increase diversity efforts:
We will continue to put on special events such as the Multicultural Career Conference for the diverse representation of UCSC students. With the move to the 3rd floor of the Bay Tree Building, the Career Center continues to work closely with our neighbors, the Ethnic Resource Centers. In addition, our relationship with EOP has grown greatly. Career Center advisers assist in the Annual California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education. The Chancellor's Undergraduate Internship Program (CUIP) consistently attracts a diverse student population. Recruitment of CUIP positions that attract a diverse population of students will continue to be a strategic plan for meeting the increasing need. The Professions Training Program (PTP) serves a diverse population. Three components ensure a diverse population: 1) Students with work study financial aid allocations are served by the Professions Training Program in the social sector, 2) Relationships with on-campus programs which target underrepresented populations are cultivated, 3) Positions which attract a diverse population of students are actively recruited. These three strategies in the PTP program will continue. The newest outreach efforts to promote diversity include the campus COSMOS outreach program. This program consists placing of highly skilled, motivated local high school students who are interested in math and science in internships at corporations locally and in the San Jose bay area.
Goal:
To enhance methods in which to
measure unit achievements:
The Career Center continues to meet the goal of effectively tracking the progress of its programs and services by means of statistical/annual reports that are produced each fiscal year. Methods of measurements include: tracking, statistics, distributing surveys and evaluations, and analysis of that data. For example, the Career Center tracks the number of Career Center web site hits on an on-going basis. Another way to collect data is upon viewing electronic job listings, students are requested to complete a survey. The Internships Program uses a California Matrix Model to track student progress towards the goal of meaningful professional employment. The Advising team surveys students upon graduation and all Career Center, Career workshops are evaluated. The Corporate and Business Relations team compiles extensive data related to the job market via benchmarking and comprehensive surveys. The Payroll Personnel System (PPS) team compiles significant annual on-campus data via surveys and campus Development Support Services (DSS). The Student Corps program measures the number of jobs and placements per pool of student workers and distributes an evaluation quarterly to both students and campus employers. Annually, the campus community is surveyed regarding use of the Student ER System. Other measurements include comparisons between other UC Career Centers, annual increases in activities or statistical data, and incremental increases or decreases in benchmarking practices and standard measurements.
Goal:
To continue to utilize technology in a highly proficient manner:
The Career Center has made an investment in the future by using the latest technology. The goal is to maintain a start-of-the-art technology status. When the Student Employee Request (ER) system was implemented, a couple of years ago, our standards were high. Thus, we can interface with other developing systems, particularly the AIS system to exchange data in real time. With the Career Center's systems direct exchange data between AIS and PPS there is more opportunity to develop reports which give a better picture of statistics and trends in student employment and system use.
The Career Center's ongoing mission is to bring student employment services and other information to students via a streamlined web interface. Also, the goal is to upgrade on a three to five year cycle (see technology highlights section of this Annual Report, for more details regarding technology upgrades and overall enhancements).
Currently, the goal is to continue with MonsterTRAK.com. They are utilized by more than 500,000 employers to feature a variety of jobs on-line. MonsterTRAK houses the largest database of full-time, part-time, and internship opportunities throughout the United States. InterviewTRAK for College MonsterTRAK is essential to the success of our On- Campus Recruitment (OCR) program. The Career Center has enhanced and expanded job search options for our UCSC students by joining the National Association of Colleges and Employers, (NACE). NACELINK is a college based data system that provides an additional source of job opportunities for our UCSC students.
Goal:
To increase collaboration with
on-campus units:
The Career Center’s on-going goal is to continue forging positive collaborative efforts with Financial Aid, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Student Life Business Office to allow the most efficient processing of payroll and business transactions possible. For example, the process to develop a method to pay stipends to high school students for their participation in the COSMOS program was developed through this collaboration. Also, collaboration with University Extension provides a “Non-Profit/Entreprenuerial” course for the Professions Training Program which is not available elsewhere. The Advising team collaborates with the colleges and divisional departments regularly. The Career Center Student ER System training is done in collaboration with supervisors and Service Centers. The Student Corps program hope hopes to collaborate with CATS and the campus community to establish a future Web/Technical Corps program.
Goal:
To increase fund-raising efforts:
With limited budgetary resources, the goal is to step up our fund raising efforts. Recently, the Office of the President granted funding in the amount of approximately $39,900 to the on-campus Career Center Professions Training Program (PTP)/ COSMOS program. The goal is to maintain an ongoing Career Center/COSMOS partnership. The program places high school students in internships related to science and math. These young high school students are potential future UC students.
A Kauffman grant provided over $60,000, cumulatively, in
funds to promote a nonprofit off-campus (PTP) entrepreneurial internship
program for UCSC students. The new
“Partners For Progress” (PFP) program is a revenue generating program that
enhances services to selected employers and increases their visibility on
campus to optimize their recruiting efforts.
Any (PFP) collected funds will be utilized to supplement the cost of
nonprofit fairs, and other Career Center pertinent programs and services. In addition, we will continue to apply for
future grants and gifts from local businesses and others who partner with
UCSC’s Career Center.
PART 2:
PROGRAM
CONSTITUENCY
&
HIGHLIGHTS
Barbara Bedford, Career Center Director
Career
Center Team Program Managers:
Pete Norton,
Programmer Analyst
Joan Walker,
Advising Services Manager & Adviser
Cyndi Edinger,
Business, Administrative & Student Corps Manager
Judy McLaughlin,
PPS Manager & Administrative Hiring Specialist
Nannette O’Connor,
Off-Campus Employer Relations Manager
Barbara
Silverthorne, Internships Manager
BUSINESS AND
ADMINISTRATION
The Career Center Business and Administrative team is comprised of four individuals: the Career Center Director, the Assistant to the Director & Non Work-study Coordinator, the Business, Administrative & Student Corps Manager, and the Programmer Analyst/Computer Consultant. Three of these individuals assist the Career Center Director in the facilitation of the operational needs of the overall Career Center, including administrative processes, budget, special programs, facilities and technical support.
Business &
Administration
In the area of Business and Administration, the Career Center has achieved some new successes in implementing a programmatic budgeting structure to highlight the many activities that take place within all seven programs: Advising & Career Development, Bay Tree Conference Center, Student Corps, On-Campus Employment, Corporate & Business Relations, Internships, and the Director's Administrative program. Please note, one of the areas of oversight includes the newly added program that the Career Center has been assigned to manage, the Bay Tree Conference Center which includes overall maintenance of the 3rd Floor of the Bay Tree Building. The Career Center has assumed this responsibility since July 2001.
Web site "hits" are counts governed by a lot of variables, however, they can be used to show statistical trends. Career Center web pages are consistently ranked among the top ten of pages listed on the www2 web server. The following numbers were logged on the web server this year:
· 187,280 Jobs page
· 119,850 Career Center main page
· 14,779 Employer page
· 10,582 Staff page
New Web Applications:
The Career Advice Network program consists of members who are UCSC alumni, faculty, staff, parents and friends nationwide. CAN members help share career insights and personal experience in their perspective fields. It is a way to connect current students and alumni to knowledgeable professionals for the purpose of conducting research into potential careers.
The new system has been fully implemented and has been a great success. There are currently 750 member records posted, 631 of these are new since June 2003.
Features:
The Career Center Advising Team is composed of four career advisers, the internship coordinator and the resource center/graduate school program coordinator. Career advisers are responsible for general advising and outreach, creating and conducting workshops, and serve as liaison to departments and colleges. The internship coordinator compiles internship opportunities, provides specific advising on internships and general drop-in advising, and conducts workshops. The resource center coordinator assists students with resource questions, orders books/newsletters, and maintains the library. In addition, as graduate school program coordinator, she coordinates the fall Graduate/Professional School Fair and maintains the Graduate/Professional School Reference Letter Service (GRLS). The Advising Services Manager/Natural Sciences Career Adviser supervises team members.
A new career adviser position, specifically for Master’s and Ph.D students and postdoctoral fellows was added to the Advising Team thanks to the recommendation of the Student Registration Fee Committee. The career adviser began in this new position in mid November. Fall and winter quarters were spent in outreach to students, departments and Graduate Studies. Workshops specific to this population were held in the spring quarter. A student poll was conducted to determine what services and programs were most requested and needed by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The results of the poll are displayed in Attachment D.
As of early March, the resource center coordinator/graduate school program coordinator position was vacant. The duties of that position have temporarily been completed by the Advising Services Manager. The position will hopefully be filled in August or September.
Regular (standard) workshops on selecting an internship, applying to graduate school, interviewing, the job search process and resume development were held throughout the academic year. These workshops were evaluated on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being excellent. Overall, student rating of the regular workshops was 4.68.
In addition, the advisers worked with departments, colleges and student organizations to sponsor special workshops. Workshops were conducted for STARS, EOP, the Ethnic Resource Center, Psychological Counseling Services, and the UCSC Inn. Fifteen workshops were held for departments, ten for colleges, and ten special workshops for the general student population. During the summer, advisers conducted four Choosing a Major workshops for undeclared freshman during Summer Orientation, three workshops for the COSMOS program, four for UCLEADS, and one each for CAMP and Upward Bound. Eight class workshops were planned and conducted by advisers at faculty request. These included four job search workshops for Earth Sciences, two workshops for the Master’s degree program in Education, a Choose a Major workshop for Engineering 1, and an overview of Career Center services for a graduate Ocean Science course. In total, 120 standard or special workshops were offered in 2002-03.
The number of clients served in advising sessions this year increased by 10.5% from last year. The number of regularly scheduled drop-in advising appointments dropped by about 5%, however, the number of individually scheduled, longer appointments increased by 38%. This is a trend we have seen developing for the last few years. Students prefer a longer advising appointment with a specific adviser.
In addition to drop-in advising at the Career Center, remote drop-in advising was initiated at Baskin Engineering one afternoon per week to meet the needs of computer science and engineering students. An informational bulletin board was created at Baskin to build greater awareness of Career Center services.
Overall attendance at regular and special workshops was up by 43% from 2001-02. This was mainly due to an increase in attendance at the Choosing a Major workshops held during summer orientations (attendance more than doubled from the preceding year). Attendance at academic year regular and special workshops (excluding summer orientation) was up by 15%.
A new event was implemented in the winter quarter called “Meet the School Districts.” Representatives from seven school districts came to meet with candidates from the MA in Education program to discuss their districts and possible job openings. About 60 MA students attended the event.
Updating resources for students was another major task. New handouts on career development and the job search were developed and existing information was updated. Most information is available on the Career Center’s web site. The Career Center library was revamped with current editions of career books. Underrepresented areas were enhanced including numerous resources for graduate students.
The Advising Team also was active in college, university-wide and community events. In addition to tabling at such events as the Summer Orientation Resource Fairs, the Advising Team served as coordinators of the Multicultural Career Conference held in late January. One adviser conducted a resume workshop for EPC; another adviser gave a career workshop for students and parents of Pacific Collegiate High School.
Outreach to on-campus and off-campus individuals was down by 22%. This was due mainly to the cancellation of Banana Slug Day.
The October Graduate and Professional School Fair attracted 118 graduate and professional schools and approximately 420 students. Unfortunately, the fair was held on the same day as the staff/lecturer strike. It was surprising that the attendance was as high as it was.
Team members enhanced and expanded their knowledge and skills by active membership in professional organizations including the Western Association of Colleges and Employers (WACE), the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), CAEE, Network, PCAPLA, and the Liberal Arts Connection (a northern California consortium of career advisers). Two advisers attended the International Career Development Conference in Irvine; several members of the team attended on-campus training and development classes; two members attended a careers in art conference.
A survey was conducted in winter quarter to assess the effectiveness of drop-in advising sessions and advising services. In addition to monitoring the quality of advising services, demographic information was collected. The results of the survey are detailed in Attachment C.
A few statistics should be highlighted. Approximately 33% of the individuals seen during drop-in advising were seniors. About 33% of the respondents indicated their ethnicity as one of the following: African American, Asian, Mixed Heritage, Filipino, and Latino/Chicano. These percentages are almost identical to 2001-02. The major reason for student visits was for resume review followed by assistance with the job/internship search and general career advice.
The overall rating of advising services (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being excellent) was 4.8 with 83% of the respondents checking 5.
For the first time, the advising team took on the supervision of a graduate counseling intern from Santa Clara University Master’s degree in Counseling program during the months of June and July. The intern participated in advising sessions, workshops, and assisted with administrative tasks along with creating new informational handouts.
Advising Summary - 2002-03
Number of
contacts/participants Appendix
A
|
Advising Sessions |
2001-02 |
2002-03 |
|
Summer |
419 |
408 |
|
Fall |
914 |
1001 |
|
Winter |
916 |
1034 |
|
Spring |
762 |
883 |
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL ADVISING SESSIONS |
3011 |
3326 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|