25th Annual Conference
The First-Year Experience
Career Services
Services and
and Employment
Employment
Career
Resources that
that Impact
Impact Retention
Retention
Resources
Montgomery College: Three Campus Community College +
5,400 Students
14,000 Students
5,500 Students
Plus:
• School of Art and
Design
• Off Campus Sites
….and 166 distant
courses with
2,941enrollments.
Career Services/Employment
Resources
Defined
Definition: Career and Employment
Resources
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Career counseling and assessment (group and
individual)
Job search assistance
Career infusion through curriculum
Class presentations/workshops as requested by faculty
and staff
Workshops (ranging from job search assistance: résumé
and interviewing skills, to career decision making)
Job Fairs
On-campus recruitment
Career resources management
Major related career fairs
Job database/résumé exchange oversight
Why do Students Need
Career/Employment Services?

Rising College Cost
 48%
college qualified HS grads prevented
 22% excluded completely

Record number of students plan to work
 Number
of hours worked impact degree attainment
 Family income positively correlates with degree
attainment
Why Students Work!
Self Sustainment
 Pay for Rising Tuition Cost
 Offset Federal, State & Local Budget Cuts
 Avoid Debt – Latino Students
 Résumé Enhancement

Financial Aid: Not Enough!
1979 Pell Grants covered 99% of student
needs
 2003 Pell Grants covered 66%
 Perkins Loans facing all but elimination
 Loans, grants, federal work study, need
and merit based aid
 Expected Family Contribution……right!

Result: Student retention down
Career/Employment Resources
Helps Retention
Short and long range goal clarification
 Better jobs, less work hours needed
 More time to earn higher GPA
 On-campus jobs not for everyone
 Addressing risk factors

Building Career/Employment
Programs

Tie program outcomes to mission and
concerns of the college/university
 Speak
the institution’s language of “retention”
“persistence” and other revenue enhancing
terms.
 Develop strategic plans
Building Career/Employment
Programs
Collaborate with other departments
 Public
Relations/Marketing
 Institutional Research
 Financial Aid
 Student Life
 Counseling and Advising
 Academic Committees (Assembly)
Outreach
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Students
Business Community
Web Sites
Brochures
Newsletters
Reports
Faculty & Staff
FYE
Targeted Classroom Presentations
Developing Need Based Services
and Resources
Varied hours of operation
 Modes of service delivery
 Cultural sensitivity
 Content

Evaluate
Are students getting what they paid for?
 Can you correlate your services with
student success?
 How do services impact the priorities of
the institution?
 Does the institution know about your
services?

Areand
YourEmployment
Students Planning
or Darting
theirthe
Future?
Career
Services
Caninto
Point
Way!
No one achieves their dream without a goal
real enough to taste,
a reason strong enough to move mountains,
a strategy as specific as a roadmap,
and a willingness to take action no matter
what the circumstances.
-Anonymous
References
• Astin, A. W. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental
theory for higher education.
• In Shields, N. (ED.), (1994). Retention, academic success, and
progress among adult, returning students: A comparison of the
effects of institutional and external factors.
• Bean, J., & Metzner, B. (1985). A conceptual model of
nontraditional undergraduate student attrition. In Shields, N.
(Ed.), (1994). Retention, academic success, and progress
among adult, returning students: A comparison of the effects of
institutional and external factors.
• Boehner, J.A., & McKeon, H. P. (2003). The college cost crisis:
A congressional analysis of college costs and implications for
America’s Higher Education System.
• Farrell, E.F. (2005). More students plan to work to help pay for
college: Record percentages of freshman also expect to take on
high debt. [Electronic] Retrieved February 2, 2005, from
http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v51/i22/22a00101.htm
References
• Lace, W.W. (1986). Non-traditional approach. In Shere, C.
(Ed.). (1988)). Who is the adult learner? The Journal of College
Admission (1988), Fall). Pp. 18-27.
• Lederman, D. (2006). Flat, frozen or facing extinction,
[Electronic] Retrieved February 8,2006, from
http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/02/07/edbudget
• MacKinon-Slaney, F. (1994). The adult persistence in learning
model: A road map to counseling services for adult learners.
Journal of Counseling & Development (72), pp. 268-275.
• Madrid, A. (2003). Educating the largest minority group: What
are the biggest issues concerning Latino students that colleges
will confront in the near future? [Electronic] Retrieved
February2, 2005, from
http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v50/i14/14b00601.htm
• Reynolds, J. (1996), Fall). Cognitive development theories can
be tools in our classrooms. University Studies Today (1), pp. 34.