Hi Betty Sue
What a perfect example of how to use resources in the community plus count on your alumni to improve your school and placement. Your comments also demonstrate how easy it is to network throughout the community. Faculty and staff need to be encouraged to maintain memberships and affiliations in professional and community organizations. Someone needs to track these memberships as well. In that way, if you want something to be announced about the school, you have great networking vehicles to make that happen.
Thanks, Susan
HI Christine
Thanks for sharing information about your relationships with staffing agencies. Can you tell us how you developed the relationships in the first place? How to retain them? Record keeping? Pitfalls?
Thanks, Susan
We use several different sources for obtaining guest speakers, advisory board members, job fair exhibitors,etc. One on my favorite is to invite a former graduate that I helped find a job several years ago to speak with classes,serve on our advisory boards etc. Some of these graduates are now the ones doing the interviewing and hiring our graduates. They always want someone just like they were when they graduated, someone that can grow within their company! We are very active in several organizations including Birmingham Society for Human Resources, Birmingham Metro Chamber of Commerce, Homewood Chamber of Commerce, Alabama Association of Colleges and Employers. We also have different program directors, staff members and others active in the different organizations for each major we teach. All help with making sure we are training for what the industry needs now and in the future.
As Placement Coordinator for a business college, I have established a working relationship with various staffing agencies. Representatives from these agencies are more than happy to participate in our Network Programs. They give valuable insight on what employers need, look for and expect in a prospective employee. There is also input on our curriculum from this, as to what skills we need to teach. This becomes a win-win relationship. We graduate well prepared students and our staffing agencies utilize our graduates to fulfill their clients' needs.
Christine Jimenez
Hi Wendy
Tracking info and compiling results is a challenge but vital to department success. It's best to get away from manual data collection as soon as possible. You could use ACCESS as it is an easy database to use. I am at the Career College Association conference. I'll check for some suitable software among the exhibitors. Problem is most software for schools is very complex. That's why we suggest ACCESS or similiar. Best wishes, Susan
HI Mitzie
Your comments show the value of outside community and industry resources. You also demonstrate the need for having a huge number of people to draw upon. You can never have enough advisors or industry representatives. It takes asking everyone to particpate in your career center programs. What are you doing to ensure you have a large population of industry experts to call upon? Best wishes, Susan
Guest speakers from our Advisory Committee, Human Resources contacts, Office Managers, etc. are a valuable resource and one that should be utilized more frequently. Graduates working in field are also a very valuable resource. We invite them to speak in our "Spirit Assembly" which occurs each phase and also "Orientation" for new students. Graduate speakers are highly inspirational and motivational for students at any stage of their training. I'd like to bring both employer and graduate speakers into the classroom more frequently to reinforce and/or establish the connection between the curriculum/classroom and the students career goals.
Hi Kim
Great idea to draw on resources of professional organizations. In addition to gaining a rich source of speakers, you may be able to show students the value of joining such professional organizations. Career services departments are responsible for helping students get jobs and also to keep them. Being a member helps students feel like a professional and as employees keeps them up to date with their industry plus helps them network. So good point about the organizations. Best wishes, Susan
Hi Todd,
Great to hear that you have people from professional organizations to staff your advisory boards. That is an excellent source for people and other schools should take note since it is always a challenge to have enough advisory board members to do all that is needed. The restaurant can be a way to draw members of the community to be on your boards as well. They can give good input as well as people from your industry. Best wishes, Susan
Hi Jennifer
It is a challenge to keep a bank of advisory board members. That's why it is a good idea to ask everyone - current and future employers. Also staffing agencies. All employers can be a source for new enrollments too. Former grads can also help with placement of your students. Sounds like you have a great career services department.
Best wishes
Susan
Finding active advisory members can be a challenge, but when you do, WOW! They are crucial to assisting all departments within the school. Plus, they are a great source of free advertising for your school. We always try to get former grads involved in providing these services as well. We have found that many times a former grad can really portray to the students how realistic their goals are and can be. Many times they have 'walked the same road' and obviously survived.
We are involed in several professional organizationa plus the advisory boards for each program. This gives us regular contact with professionals in each program area. Most are willing to participate on advisory boards as well as speak to classes. We also have a culinary school restaurant that we use to intice and treat employers who speak to classes.
Each program has an advisory board. Career Services has established relationships with the members of the advisory board. Through these relationships we are able to provide quality speakers to our students.
We are also members of several local and statewide organizations. These organizations have allowed us to meet many people who are qualified to speak to the classes.
As far as the approach, most employers are more than willing to speak with our classes. They have good information and are eager to share it with the graduates.
Hi Suzanne...
As we have just created our placement department, we are finding it quite a challenge to track all that you have mentioned. The tracking is recorded manually in the students'academic file and employer information in a separate binder. Would you be able to advise a good software program or effective process that would assist us in our efficiency?
Thank you.
Wendy
Hi Susan,
The placement department does share the information with the admissions department. However, the admissions department prefers for the placement department to speak on such matters. The admissions department will provide generalized information, and prospective students are introduced to the placement department during their tour of the campus and program department. Because our placement office is located in the program department, we have the opportunity to speak with and respond to any questions that prospective students may have.
Suzanne
Great that so much information is tracked. Are you sharing the information with the admissions department. They can use the hard facts when talking to prospective students. After all that's why students want to enroll - to get a job. Susan
Jennifer
You brought up great points about an effective advisory board. There needs to be an agenda, a structure to the board including types of areas each member represents, and also buyin by all stakeholders. Susan
Suzanne
Your advisory board sounds great and your staff makes great use of them. Agree that a school can always use more board members. They come and go and you need good representation. Susan
Hi Jennifer,
Our program director is responsible for setting up the advisory board meetings. The placement staff attends the advisory board meetings to enter into any discussions regarding employment and to field any questions the board has regarding placement. I usually bring my current placement records and any questions I have for the board as some of them do employ our students and graduates.
Our advisory board has about 12 members. We are looking to expand it though to include new employers in our locale. We have a set agenda for the meeting. The format for the most part includes information college/program expansion, goals that have been set by the college for the program's upcoming year, discussions of graduates and job placement, and any new developments that are of importance.
Suzanne- I was wondering who sets up your advisory board meetings and how much time does your placement staff put into preparing for the meeting?
How large are your advisory boards and how are they structured? Is it a set format every time or do you discuss different topics?
We too have advisory boards for each program, but the Placement Department isn't always an acitve participant.
