David,
A couple of weeks ago a member of the Service-learning listserv asked for
ideas and models for getting students to think/learn about public service
and non-profit careers. The resulting comments were collected by the
original poser of the question and now here they are below. I think they
might be of interest to the folks at UH involved with Work for a Change!
Please forward and/or share with them.
-Lloyd-
--------------------------------------------
Thanks to everyone who responded to my posting about supporting students
who are graduating and seeking jobs that make a difference. I know this
email is long, but many of you asked me to post the information I received.
I've taken the liberty of summarizing some of the ideas that were sent to
me privately -- they've been edited down in the interests of space.
Here's a quick summary of some of the specific things we're trying out at
Brown and some of the larger issues we're wrestling with:
* Over the years the Swearer Center, the Career Planning Office and
the Alumni Office have hosted numerous panel discussions bringing alumni
and other employers to campus to speak with students about thier
experiences -- these have ranged from museums, to publichealth, to advocacy
etc. There continues to be some debate about the effectiveness of these
conversations v. the amount of staff time involved in planning them. In
the late 80s we also hosted a Careers in the Public Interest Day that was
more like a day-long conference.
* Students need the right attitude. Part of what has happened here
is that students have come to see Career Planning as "corporate" and for
"recruiters" and complain that they don't have enough resources for those
interested in non-profits. While this criticism has some validity,
students need to understand that non-profits aren't going to recruit on
campus and there's never going to be a binder titled "Grassroots Jobs with
San Francisco Labor Unions" at the career office. I think we need to do
a better job of helping students understand how this kind of job search is
different and what kinds of resources the career office has that might seem
"hidden." Students need to take an entreprenuerial approach to using the
wide variety of contacts and resources available on a college campus and
not view the career office as the sole resource.
* We've started this year a series of workshops for students.
There's at least one every month. The first portion of the workshop is a
presentation of a specific strategy or approach or program and the second
half is open discussion of the presentation or anything else on their
minds. We've done workshops on understanding your options; clarifying what
you have to contribute and what you'd like to learn; and how to write your
resume; grant writing and funding in non-profits. These are all general
job search issues in any field, but we tailor the conversation to "jobs for
the common good" in each. These informal conversations have started to
build a community among students that they have found reassuring. Even
just talking about the timeline for applying -- that most non-profits only
advertise when they desperately need someone to start ASAP, so if they are
looking for a job at a community-based small non-profit they are not
likley to come across the job for them until close to graduation or even
after. This has also been a great way for staff from the Swearer Center
and Career PLanning to work together to talk about how to approach these
questions collaboratively. The workshops have resulted in concrete
handouts, tip sheets and activities that we can use and refine over time.
* We have started a private campus list serv for students and staff
from a vairety of departments. The list serv reaches about 70 people right
now and grows every week. Staff post specific job announcements, events,
etc. and students have a forum to ask questions to share contacts.
* A lot of career planning material focuses on specific
opportunities or on general advice -- we need to find ways to equip
students with strategies and skills specific to the non-profit sector as
well as leads on specific jobs. We are developing a web site that will be
linked to both the Career Planning home page and the Swearer Center home
page that will be the first stop for students thinking about these areas.
The page will focus on strategies, tools and questions to equip students
for the search as well as pointing them toward some concrete opportunities.
The format of the web lends itself really well to the twists, turns and
layers of explaining the job search process.
* I'd recommend Making a Difference While Making a Living by Melissa
Everett. (Bantam Books, 1995, $10.95) Presents some useful questions and
addresses making a difference in a wide range of sectors from business to
government to non-profits.
* Communciation among staff of different offices on campus is key.
What I'm finding is that as someone who has held a number of non-profit
jobs myself -- things that I find instinctual as a job seeker or employer
other staff on campus find newsworthy. We've started to have more
conversations among staff to exchange ideas, language, philosophy.
* Cultivating alums who have pursued non-profit work is an important
part of the equation. Often these are not the more prominent alums who
have been cultivated by the alumni relations office. We need to think
about how to reach out to these alums and bring them into this conversation.
I hope some of these thoughts are helpful. Let's keep this conversation
going. What follows are responses I've gotten from others.
________________________________________________________
In the volunteer program we try to connect volunteer
experiences with future careers by doing an intake during the first
visit. Suggestions are then made for types of placement in the
local area. Sometimes suggestions are made to create their own
experience as an emerging service leader.
In seminars presented by Career Services, as well as through
individual consultations, they also explain the connection and ways
to utilize service experience.
Debra E. (Debi) Swarner
Area Coordinator for Housing and Volunteer Programs
Eastern Mennonite University
1200 Park Road, Harrisonburg, VA 22801-2462
Office Phone: 540-432-4301
e-mail: swarnerd@emu.edu
________________________________________________________
We have (or have had) an "alternative careers" center on the University of
Michigan (ANN ARBOR) campus (why should these be "alternative"??) and I am
incorporating some exploring and planning into the last third of my
international grassroots development course for those who want to work for
a better world either nationally or internationally. Since it's a
relatively small class (24) I am arranging site visits in Detroit, inviting
graduates who are now in "make a difference" jobs locally, and doing some
exploration and brainstorming around the many "alternatives to peace corps"
and US based agencies that students could apply to.
Helen Fox
English Composition Board, 1128 Angell Hall
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1003
Phone: (313) 936-3145, FAX: (313) 764-2772
hfox@umich.edu
________________________________________________________
Students that are very involved in community service are aching for some
guidance in finding
jobs/careers that relate to the work they are doing now - especially in an
environment that is so geared towards the corporate world. We have done
some work in the past with Career Services, such as presenting a panel on
alternative job opportunities called "Making a
Difference" This has included fellowship opportunities that are service
related, Americorps/Vista etc. We are also currently organizing a panel for
our Community Services student council members with several individuals who
have interesting related careers. I also use email bulletins to post any job
positions that come my way. We have just started talking about the need to
do even more
and enhance the resources/guidance we provide for students. We may look into
the possibility of hiring a work study student to organize and coordinate
this.
Sara Clash
The Tucker Foundation
Dartmouth College
6154 South Fairbanks Hall
Hanover, NH 03755-4005
sara.clash@dartmouth.edu
________________________________________________________
In 1989 and '90 I worked with a coalition of people in Burlington, VT who
put together an annual event
called "The Larger Context: Jobs for Social Progress in the '90's" The
event was
a large job fair that was open to the public and organized by a variety of
people at different colleges in the area. At the time I was working in the
Service-Learning office at Trinity College of Vermont. The other folks
involved were
from the University of Vermont, Champlain College, a community college,
some career
counselors and the Vermont Student Assistant Corp. (VSAC is the VT
financial aid
organization).
Many of the service-learning and career development offices involved did
some workshops with their students ahead of time and we all recruited and
advertised to
our students and to the local community. Many companies and organizations
participated
as recruiters. I think that they were contacted for a variety of reasons
(some were non-profit, educational, etc. and some were listed as socially
responsible companies in various publications). Because this was in
Vermont, Ben & Jerry's provided some funding. We did local fundraising and
charged fees
for the tables at the fair.
Suzanne Sullivan
Assistant Director,
Student Development & Campus Activities
Purchase College/SUNY
735 Anderson Hill Rd.
Purchase, NY 10577
phone: 914-251-6335
e-mail: suzannes@brick.purchase.edu
________________________________________________________
I am the public service career counselor at Stanford's Careeer Planning and
Placement
Center. We produce a Public Service Career and
Internship Fair every winter quarter, averaging around 800 students and
65-70 nonprofit and government employers with full-time jobs for graduating
students as well as paid or substantive internships for undergrads. One of
the primary goals of the CPPC is "To balance our corporate image..." -
which means expand students' perceptions about the world of work, the
viability of public service careers, etc. We're always working on new ways
to do that, but it's a vein which runs through all our handouts, panels,
etc.
Anne Greenblatt
Stanford CPPC
________________________________________________________
Here at the Carlson Leadership and Public Service Center at the
University of Washington, we have begun working with the Center for Career
Services on workshops for students. During summer orientation, we gave
one each week to incoming freshmen called weaving education and
experience. The purpose of that workshop was to break down the barriers
between classroom learning, community service, and career exploration
through internships and jobs. During the quarter now, we are openning
those up to all students on a biweekly basis. Beyond those, we have a
clearinghouse that lists a number of paid, full-time positions within the
education, government, nonprofit, and business sectors. There are also a
number of publications out here that list activist/public service
positions, like Sound Opportunities, and quite a few places on the
internet too. We also are host to the AmeriCorps campus representative.
Michael Jennings
________________________________________________________
At our Community Service-Learning program at Trinity College of Vermont
we believe three key goals are to (1) help students develop their sense
of civic and social responsibility and become servant leaders, (2)
consider careers in service or socially responsible endeavors, and (3)
regardless of their future careers, maintain service to the community as
a significant part of their daily lives. One way we do this is by having
the directors of Community Service-Learning, Career Development and
Campus Ministry work together in a loosely organized "Team" (we call it
the Career/Service/Ministry team for lack of a catchier name) on certain
projects. For example, in March we plan to have interested students go to
Boston for three days for a combined job shadowing/community
service/ministry trip. Sort of an Alternative Break trip which
incorporates job shadowing. Another project is a combined service/career
fair the second week of school in the fall. We also collaborate on
projects such as Hunger Banquets and one-day service projects so students
can see the roles careers and faith can have in these.
Bruce Darwin Spector
Director, Community Service-Learning & Leadership
Trinity College of Vermont, Burlington, Vt. 05401
(802) 658-0337, ext. 331
BruceSpector@juno.com
________________________________________________________
I wanted to pass along my own thinking about a
course I'd like to develop that would attempt to present students with a
rich context for thinking about their working lives, and how they will
contribute through them to the world. It is quite global in approach,
but a perspective I find sadly lacking. I am lifting from an old email
message to a colleague, so please excuse the format.
Kim Johnson Bogart, Director,
Carlson Leadership and Public Service Center,
University of Washington
> > A course that examined the emergent societal trends that will pose
> > challenges for higher ed and work force (even redefinitions of them as
> > well as their relationship) could provide a powerful and
> > thought-provoking conceptual context for students to do some serious work
> > on preparing themselves in a fairly global way. It could put careers in
> > the context of education, and higher ed in the context of the civic and
> > material challenges of our world. Possible features of these emergent
> > trends to address: globalization/internationalization and the cultural
> > and communicative competencies this will demand; technology as tool,
> > facilitator, and shaper of information, information access, loci of
> > decision making; continuously evolving/learning organizations rather than
> > factories; change as stable feature; major shifts in the roles government,
> > business, and service sectors play, etc., etc.
> > This could lead students to think in terms of issues,
> > competencies, and skills, to see the intersections among areas of study
> > and to recognize interdisciplinarity even when it is not explicitly
> > employed, and to recognize careers as ways of acting/effecting in the
> > world rather than as individual ends in themselves.
________________________________________________________
We've invited representatives from the various
post-graduation volunteer corps to come talk to our students in a panel.
That was heavily attended and very enlightening, and there was lots of
informal discussion afterwards. We include service
occupations as part of a discussion in our freshman career planning
course (an elective). Also, an excellent book is Good Works, A Guide to
Careers in Social Change, edited by Donna Colvin, New York, Barricade
Books, 1994.
Oney Crandall
Director, Center for Public Service
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, Washington 98447
Crandaie@PLU.edu
206-535-7652
________________________________________________________
Are you aware a book that just came out from Jossey-Bass in 9/96,
Service-Learning in Higher Education? Irene Fisher, Director of the Lowell
Bennion Center
at the Univ. of Utah wrote a wonderful chapter in it about working with
students to make career and lifestyle choices using the values they acquired
through service in college. You can order the book by calling the publisher at
(800) 956-7739.
Barbara Jacoby
Commuter Affairs and Community Service Programs
1195 Stamp Student Union, Univ. of MD., College Park, MD 20742
301-314-5274 http://www.inform.umd.edu/OCA 301-314-9874 (FAX)
________________________________________________________
Kathleen Connolly
Assistant Director, Community Development
Swearer Center for Public Service
Brown University Box 1974
phone: 401-863-1143
fax: 401-863-3094
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Swearer_Center/