CAREER SERVICES 2020 Career Services 2020 is the new strategic direction of the Career Development Center at Middle Tennessee State University. CONTENTS: Background Summary of New Strategic Initiatives Status Quo Not Working Career Services Benchmark Survey Service Delivery Model Staff Re-centralization Rationalization Career Clusters New CDC Organizational Chart BILL FLETCHER DIRECTOR MARCH 2010
Page 2 BACKGROUND For the past two-and-a-half years, the Career Development Center has undergone a transformation of service, philosophy and mission. This transpired within its current framework (staff and structure). Throughout the 2009-2010 academic year, there was a convergence of issues that provided the CDC with a unique opportunity to make the changes necessary to better serve students and employers on career and employment related programs. Those issues include: 1. Beginning of the Student Affairs strategic planning process 2. Realignment of colleges and majors 3. An impending budget deficit of historic magnitude 4. Redefining of space in the KUC as the new Student Union is being built 5. Movement of the University from an enrollment funding model to a retention and graduation funding model 6. A severe recession with the largest number of unemployed workers in the U.S. since WWII. These issues provided the CDC with the opportunity to move more swiftly than is typical in higher education. The Center needed to create the vision of what it desired to be in the future, within the parameters of the current fiscal situation. These circumstances provided the opportunity to think outside the proverbial box. SUMMARY OF NEW STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Our strategic initiatives are listed in the following 5 areas: 1. Identification of areas where CDC should focus its time and resources (Core Areas). That is, what services should the Center provide? Twenty-two career-related areas were identified, reviewed and ranked. All were valuable and noteworthy The following were identified as priority areas: A. Campus Recruiting Program for entry-level, internship, and co-op positions. 1) Job posting system 2) On campus interviewing 3) Career/Job Fairs B. Student Employment Program - promoting on and off campus opportunities to students who are working their way through college. C. Job Search Program - teaching students the self-directed job search strategies and techniques necessary in a competitive marketplace. 2. Creating a service delivery model that emphasizes the student s responsibility in the career development and decision making process. Of the services/programs we have decided to focus upon, how will they be offered? Do we make seven staff accommodate the schedules of 25,000 students or 25,000 students accommodate the schedules of seven staff? The following are programs or services that will encourage students to take an active role in the career planning process. A. Virtual Career B. Publicity/Outreach Program C. Raider Professional Network D. Mock Interview Program
Page 3 E. Document Drop Program F. Peer Career Advising Program G. Walk-in Advising Program H. Individual Advising by Cluster 3. Centralization of staff in one location in the KUC. 4. Advising of students based upon a career cluster model instead of by major. 5. Getting the right staff in the right positions to ensure success in these areas. The CDC recognizes that it cannot be all things to all people, and there is a choice to either continue to do many things at a mediocre level or do a few things with excellence. This plan focuses on excellence. STATUS QUO NOT WORKING Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Appointments for the past 5 years have remained stable between 1400 and 1600 despite changes in the economy and increased marketing. 2008 09 2007 08 2006 07 2005 06 2004 05 Scheduled Appointments 470 1023 Unscheduled Appointments 810 541 1499* 1596 1406 Walk in Advising** 275 Total 1555 1564 1499 1596 1406 # Increase/Decrease 9 +65 97 +190 % Increase/Decrease.006% +4.3% 6.1% +13.5% 62.7% of all appointments were for resume/cover letter ONLY. 810 or 52.1% of all appointments were unscheduled (in-person, email or phone). 275 or 17.7% of all appointments were walk-in appointment. 470 or 30.2% of all appointments were scheduled. For students to be competitive in this recessionary market, or any market, requires more than a resume and cover letter. Advising Notes by Type Bill Karen Lucy Nicole Lewis Katy Nancy Other Totals Scheduled 3 30 16 91 96 64 170 0 470 Unscheduled 4 14 121 227 77 92 195 80 810 Walk in 19 37 42 27 38 40 72 0 275 Totals 26 81 179 345 211 196 437 80 1555 Unique Students 26 73 148 152 155 173 369 78 1174 % Total Appointments 100.0% 90.1% 82.7% 44.1% 73.5% 88.3% 84.4% 97.5% 75.5% Resume and/or CL Critique 9 24 129 199 107 105 325 77 975 % Total Appointments 34.6% 29.6% 72.1% 57.7% 50.7% 53.6% 74.4% 96.3% 62.7%
Page 4 A different way of looking at the topics covered in appointments is by the topic s frequency out of all appointment topics. # of Occurrences % of Total Topics Career Fair 25 1.3% Career/Major Exploration 157 8.0% Co op 15 0.8% Critique Cover Letter 127 6.4% Critique Resume 1139 57.7% Graduate/Professional School 30 1.5% Internship Search 71 3.6% Interviewing 36 1.8% Job Search 206 10.4% LJS 127 6.4% Mock Interview 29 1.5% OCI 2 0.1% Student Employment 9 0.5% Total topics 1973 CAREER SERVICES BENCHMARK SURVEY The following is from the National Association of Colleges and Employer s (NACE) 2009-2010 Benchmark Survey for four-year colleges and universities. Centralized vs. Decentralized Career Services 87.2% of institutions have centralized career services. For institutions over 20,000, the percentage of centralization increases to 89.5% Career Center Professional Staff Level MTSU student population = 25,188 CDC professional staff FTE = 7
Page 5 SERVICE DELIVERY MODEL The following services and programming will be readily available for students. These programs are designed to provide basic career information which, to date, has been provided through individual appointments. A. Virtual Career - Developing & delivering content online. This includes videos, podcasts, and webinars, etc. B. Publicity/Outreach Program - The publicity aspect will involve a more concentrated effort to market how services are available to students. The outreach aspect involves a more coordinated effort to partner with faculty and student organizations on programming as well as regularly scheduled programming. C. Raider Professional Network - In conjunction with the Alumni Office, the CDC has been building a database of alumni in Lightning JobSource who can provide career advice to students. D. Mock Interview Program - The web cam mock interviewing program has grown in use by students and especially by faculty using it as part of classes. Now that use has grown, we will upgrade to a more robust program. E. Document Drop Program - This will be the first point of service for students requesting assistance with resume and cover letter critiques. Simple critiques make up 63% of our individual appointments. Many of these are made without the student having never visited our guides on the web site. F. Peer Career Advising Program - A frequently used program at most major university career centers. We will have 5 paid Peer Career Advisors (students) trained to assist students and conduct presentations and orientations. G. Walk-in Advising Program - This program has been in place for two years and is designed to help students with brief questions. H. Individual Advising by Cluster - This is designed for students who have taken an active role in other CDC programs or have unusual circumstances calling for a more advanced level of advising. The individual advising is based on the career cluster the student is interested in going into and not the student s major. STAFF RE-CENTRALIZATION RATIONALE 1. As one-person offices, the satellite offices are not staffed to provide effective services to students in a timely manner. If coordinators are in appointments or giving class presentations, students stopping by their offices go un-served. 2. It is difficult for the CDC to develop career programs when staff are scattered across campus. Providing career programming in the main office would require staff to be readily accessible. For example, 63% of coordinator appointments are for resume critiques only. A Document Drop program in the centralized office would provide effective and efficient service to students. Such a program cannot be administered by staff from across campus and would require them to be centrally located. 3. Students frequently come to the KUC for service. With our current satellite (decentralized) model, students are referred to their coordinator across campus. Given the issues stated above in item #1, students often end up getting the run-around. 4. The majority of the questions that students come in with do not require a one-on-one appointment with a professional staff member. These can be effectively addressed though a centralized service delivery model with staff coordinated programs and/or a peer career program.
Page 6 5. The one coordinator, one college model creates inequities in workloads among the coordinators. The restructuring of the colleges is not going to alleviate this problem. It would defeat the purpose of a satellite model to have a coordinator for one college housed in another college. In addition, the new Career Cluster advising model (discussed later) would replace this model. 6. Most colleges do not currently recognize that they have an entire Career Development Center working with their students. They only recognize their career placement person. Thus we are inefficiently running 5 mini career centers. The coordinators become diverted to assignments not centrally related to their primary job functions and/or performing roles that should be conducted by other staff in the Career Center. 7. A centralized operation would allow the CDC to collaborate as a cohesive staff to better focus on its three targeted areas: Campus Recruiting Program, Student Employment Program, and Job Search Program. CAREER CLUSTERS The Career Development Center will provide career advice and programming to students based on a career cluster structure instead of an academic major structure. Students will be challenged to take a proactive approach in developing their career goals instead of relying on a degree to define their goals. The following information on the 16 Career Clusters comes from the States Career Clusters Initiative (SCCI). More information is located at: www.careerclusters.org. This organization is an initiative established under the National Career Technical Education Foundation (NCTEF) to provide Career Clusters as a tool for seamless transition from education to careers in this era of changing workplace demands. This national initiative intended to help states and schools organize their programs and guidance activities around clusters of similar occupations. What is a Career Cluster? Career Clusters contain occupations in the same field of work that require similar skills. Students, parents, and educators can use Career Clusters to help focus education plans towards obtaining the necessary knowledge, competencies, and training for success in a particular career pathway. The 16 clusters format is used by the U.S. Department of Education and encompasses all 970+ occupations identified by O*net and the SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) codes. Why Were They Developed? The cluster philosophy increases learner awareness of career options so that they may make better informed decisions. It also increases learner understanding of the structure and function of businesses so they can be more productive, value-added employees. Career Clusters identify the knowledge and skills both, academic and technical, for a broad career cluster that will allow all learners to pursue a wide range of career opportunities from entry level through management and professional levels. The organization and structure of Career Clusters provides a place for all learners, linking them to their career goals. Vocational education prepared some learners with a narrow set of skills for a specific job. That no longer meets the needs of learners in today s changing and demanding job market, especially those learners who wish to move past entry-level employment. Partnerships formed between the States, secondary, postsecondary education, and employers provide for curriculum integration and contextual learning opportunities that reflect career goals and interests of all learners. This relevancy creates the motivation for many learners to stay in school longer and enroll in more challenging courses.
Page 7 Why 16 Clusters? The most important criterion in establishing a cluster structure is ensuring a place for all occupations. If there are too few clusters, the knowledge and skills identified as important for learners to achieve become too broad, making it difficult for learners to focus. If there are too many clusters, the knowledge and skills become so specific that schools are unable to provide sufficient curriculum opportunities. The established 16 Career Clusters organize occupations into similar groups. Career Clusters identify the knowledge and skill requirements and organize them into two levels. The first is the foundation level (consisting of Knowledge and Skills common to all occupations/career specialties within a Cluster) for all learners interested in the broad category of occupations within a cluster. The second is the pathway level (consisting of Knowledge and Skills common to a subgrouping of occupations/career specialties called a pathway), where cluster occupations are more narrowly grouped. What Are the 16 Clusters? 1. Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources 2. Architecture & Construction 3. Arts, Audio/Video Technology & Communications 4. Business Management & Administration 5. Education & Training 6. Finance 7. Government & Public Administration 8. Health Science 9. Hospitality & Tourism 10. Human Services 11. Information Technology 12. Law, Public Safety, Corrections & Security 13. Manufacturing 14. Marketing 15. Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics 16. Transportation, Distribution & Logistics Additional Information U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Codes, (23 Job Families) http://www.bls.gov/soc/major_groups.htm. U.S. Dept. of Labor, O*net Online, Find Occupations, (16 Career Clusters, 23 Job Families, 21 Industries) http://online.onetcenter.org/find/. Tennessee Board of Regents, Tennessee Career Information Delivery System (TCIDS), (16 Career Clusters), http://tcids.tbr.edu/display_clusters.php.
Page 8 NEW CDC ORGANIZATIONAL CHART Staffing Changes: Moving an additional staff member into the Campus Recruiting area to further dedicate more resources to this area. Reclassifying one position to handle all of our technical and communications by creating and delivering career content and programming online through videos, webinars, podcasts and other electronic media. Moving a staff member into a Publicity and Outreach role to increase collaboration across campus, implement inaugural Peer Career Advisor Program of trained and paid paraprofessional student staff, and increase faculty, staff and student awareness of programs. The elimination of 3 positions was necessary to fully fund one position which was paid out of another college, fund the Peer Career Program, reclassify one position, and provide budget savings to the Division as a part of the current fiscal situation.