Introducing: Connecting Classrooms to Careers
Students inquired and the college responded. The primary request from student focus groups over the past two years was for the college to provide a better bridge to employment. Come this fall, there will be three new courses focused on helping students set themselves apart in today’s job market with the concept of connecting classrooms to careers.
SBS 1960: Planning Your Career and SBS 2960: Transfer Career Plan are one credit, half-session classes that will cover the dimensions of career planning including self-discovery, exploration, goal setting and implementation. Over each of the seven-week courses, students will take a free Myer Briggs Personality Test that will determine each of his or her strengths and weaknesses and how they can be used to a student’s advantage. Additionally, they will learn how to build a better resume and cover letter. These courses will feature guest lectures on topics such as what employers are looking for in the workplace and how to better your interviewing skills. And although they are marketed to incoming freshmen interested in the social and behavioral sciences, each course can help anyone who wants to learn more about how to take what he or she has learned in class and apply them in real-life experiences.
According to a 2011 survey done by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), internships are an integral and important part of the college-recruiting scene. It also states that students who work as an intern tend to get jobs faster, have greater job satisfaction, and are paid at a higher salary. With that in mind, SBS 4910 is the third course being offered for the first time this fall. The class is designed to help CSBS students connect their academic studies to practical applications by offering academic credit through work experience. It will help students develop professional skills, gain hands-on experience, and evaluate their career opportunities. An internship will range anywhere from one to six credits, depending on the number of hours students work each week.
In addition, if a student is working in a job or on a project that is directly related to his or her job, he or she may apply for an internship through the program as long as it meets certain requirements. Gina Shipley, the CSBS director of advising and inclusion and the teacher of both of the two introductory courses, says, “What I really love about this program is that the college is providing internships to students where there was previously a gap. Internships provide students not only a bridge between the theory of the classroom and the world of practice but also a sense of personal and social efficacy, increased business contacts, and a better knowledge of the job market, connecting classrooms to careers.”
Although the course does not have any prerequisites, students cannot add the course to their schedule without an internship in line. Shipley elaborates, “Students need to either already have a job, or have an internship secured with a business or organization. However, if they don’t, we can help them find one before the start of the semester by figuring out what they might want to do, any interests they may have, how it relates to their major, and then use that to see what connections within the community the college has.”
With her extensive background in human resources as well as her long-standing ties with the college as both a scholarship donor and a CSBS Advisory Board committee member, Renee Morita is the intern program coordinator of Connecting Classrooms to Careers. She is in charge of the business aspect of the program—making connections with businesses and lining up internships in various areas for students to take advantage of during their time at the U. “With all the networking I’ve done in the past, this is the perfect opportunity for me to be able to help students. This is important to me because I think students are our future. They’re going to be our leaders, and the impact of that is incredible,” she says.
Along with gathering internships on their own, Morita and Shipley are working alongside other departments and colleges that already offer internships such as the Hinckley Institute of Politics, the department of economics, the college of business, etc. to offer a wide variety of internships that are readily available to students. Morita says, “We want to find internships for any and all students who are interested in doing one, so we’re collaborating with each of these departments to make sure we find the right internship for the right student.” Shipley adds, “Our emphasis is that even though some departments already offer internships, they don’t fit every student’s needs. Our overall objective is to bridge that gap.”
Morita and Shipley believe implementing these courses will ultimately benefit the university, community, and the students. Shipley says, “Studies show that universities with internships have higher recruitment rates and greater connections with the community. Employers gain advantage by using student interns and getting first choice of the best students who are learning top-notch things in the classroom and are able to carry them over in the workplace.”
All three courses are now available through the University’s Campus Information System in the fall 2012 class schedule under Social and Behavioral Science. For questions about the internship program, please contact Renee Morita at renee.morita@csbs.utah.edu.