Absolutely; South Florida has a high demand for dual language professionals in all areas.
Helga M.,
Have you met with much resistance from incoming students and how well did your Admissions Reps adapt with this policy?
Ann Cross
Helga M.,
Do you find that at the same time, if you can bring them up to a communication level acceptable for business, that the demand for Spanish speaking employees is high in your area?
Ann Cross
Our institution also offers healthcare degrees, and to avoid taking risks with any type of dishonesty within the life of the student, its imperative for applicants to provide a background check certificate. This procedure its explained during the orientation phase and continues through the enrollment process with emphasis on changes and its disclosure.
Our institution has a dual language based model (English/Spanish. Most of our students have a language barrier and to supplement the academic with the labor component we offer workshops, and meeting opportunities (such as English Café) to allow students to practice their weak language in a safe and productive environment.
Zipporah,
Sounds great. What kind of resources do you provide these students with regarding educating them on the steps they will have to take to overcome some of their background challenges when entering the world of work?
Ann Cross
Elizabeth,
Sounds like a very comprehensive approach. What other best practices can you share for helping those with employment barriers related to their backgrounds? Do you work directly with employers to partner with them on assisting these grads with employment opportunities?
Ann Cross
While our institution does not have a large concern with dishonesty on applications, we are an insitution granting degrees within the healthcare professions where criminal records, including driving tickets, can impact licensure and thus employment. We have recently revised our New Student Orientation. Now we directly relate achievement of the end goals(degree completion, licensure, employment) to the decisions student's make along the way. We talk about things to do and things to avoid to be successful. While Career Services is part of the Orientation, the message is delivered by alumni, current students, faculty and administrators across the campus. We followed with a family open house so families can be part of the student support system. Our first attempt was well received.
Thankfully not all of our students have done this on their employment applications. However, the individuals that did were able to apply to new companies. They told the truth about their barriers and were able to gain employment. In an effort to counter act, mis-truths on applications for institution acceptance, we have implemented several check points; such as websites that check for barriers and mandatory background information turn in for those whom have questionable barriers.
Zipporah,
This is a really tough situation. How well have your students responded to this situation? Do others on this thread have a problem with students being dishonest on their applications? If so, how has your institution handled it?
Ann Cross
The most common barriers that affect my students are dishonesty in the application process to both enroll in school and when applying to potential employers. The students that have fallen into this category stated that they did not have to inform either our institution or their prospective employer of their prior record (criminal or motor vehicle)because they felt it was old or they just did not want to disclose in an effort to hide the truth. In order to alleviate this issue our institution has implemented criteria's that mandate Criminal Record history be turned in prior to enrolling and during the Placement Program introduction, the importance of honesty is stressed to students, as well as, the consequences that result in not being truthful.
Julia,
What has your institution put in place to help mitigate these struggles?
Ann Cross
Managing a family, work, and learning in another language are some of the barriers our students have faced.
Also the time they hhave to dedicate to study besides attending the school physically.
Connie,
Which soft-skills are you specifically training your students on, and is the training formalized? If so, what publication or resource are you using to offer formalized training in this area?
Ann Cross
We train in healthcare. The majority of our students are female, single parent households, unemployed or under-employed and many with no previous work history. Because our population is very diverse, We often encounter challenges in culturally taught behaviors. One of our biggest challenges has been in assuring that we provide a high level of soft skill training that sticks with them throughout their careers. Staff concentrates on these areas from day one throughout training.
Kendra,
This is an interesting point of view. In your experience, what have you found successful in addressing these fears?
Ann Cross
