MEC-­‐CCA Annual Meeting Minutes October 17, 2014 Oakland University Attendees: Ahmed Abdelgawad (Central Michigan University), Tom Askew (Kalamazoo College), Patrick Bennett (Oakland University), Maneesha Reddy Beeravolu (Oakland University student), Tracy Fahl Castle (Wayne State University), Louay Chamra (Oakland University), Parmeshwar Coomer (Monroe Community College), Wendolyn Davis (Central Michigan University), Anthony DeLaRosa (University of Michigan – Dearborn), Amith Diwakar (Oakland University student), Carmen Etienne (Oakland University), Cathy Ferman (Schoolcraft College), Kimberly Frey (St. Clair County Community College), Bernadette Friedrich (Michigan State University), Nancy Forrest (Grand Rapids Community College), Janice Gilliand (Henry Ford Community College), Donald Jordan (Schoolcraft College), Jung Koral (University of Michigan – Dearborn), Seung-­‐Jin Lee (University of Michigan – Flint), Steve Lewis (Alpena Community College), Jennifer Makas (University of Michigan – Dearborn), Vinnie Maltese (Monroe Community College), David McDonald (Lake Superior State University), Ezella McPherson (Wayne State University), Charles Moreau (Albion College), Garth Motschenbacher (Michigan State University), Namrata Murthy (Wayne State University), Hassan Mohseni Namegi (Henry Ford Community College), Alexandra Oakes (Eastern Michigan University), James O’Connor (Oakland Community College), Sebnem Onsay (Oakland University), Stephen Parker (Chrysler Corp.), Jason Pennington (Oakland University), Joseph Petro (Western Michigan University), Mark Provoast (Michigan Technological Institution), Britni Reese (Oakland University student), Carolyn Rimle (University of Detroit-­‐Mercy), Tom Spendlove (Baker College – Flint), Connie Srogi (Oakland County Government), Wayne Thibodeau (Oakland University), Megan VanderMale (Grand Rapids Community College). Opening: 9:00 a.m. Carolyn Rimle, the outgoing chair of MCC-­‐CCA, opened the meeting by referring to the forms sent out regarding the leadership of MCC-­‐CCA. She asked the group to consider who they would like to nominate for leadership roles for the next two years of MCC-­‐CCA. She also asked Jim O’Connor if he would maintain the grids he started showing the various degree programs at the various schools. Jim indicated that he would, and Nancy Forrest agreed to maintain them online. Dean Chamra’s Remarks: 9:05 a.m. Carmen Etienne introduced Dr. Louay Chamra, Dean of the School of Engineering at Oakland University. Dean Chamra began by discussing the opening of the new Engineering Center at Oakland University. The building opened on September 15, 2014. He indicated that the building will serve as a center of research and that it has attracted companies to participate in research and other opportunities on campus. Dean Chamra’s remarks focused on the crossroads in Michigan in terms of the direction of engineering education and education into practice. There has been an increase in manufacturing in the State of Michigan, and a shortage of engineering and other STEM graduates entering the workplace. The question has become “How does the State of Michigan keep its talent within the state?” While the fundamentals taught across educational institutions is the same, education has taken a different direction, as cooperative education and internships are not unique to particular institutions. It is important for students and institutions to forge ties with industry. At Oakland, in particular, the focus has been to forge such ties, and the university has formed relationships with companies in relation to metal forming and robotics. Dean Chamra concluded his remarks by calling for transparency in the training of STEM talent, and indicated that it is our responsibility to train our talent to move into industry within the state and country at large. He cited the increases in enrollment and applications (indicated that OU was already up 30 percent for next fall, and 16 percent in admission, and the recruitment season has not yet ended). STEM programs from around the state are experiencing this increase. Career Panel Discussion: 9:26 Best practices for STEM majors On the panel: Wayne Thibodeau, Director of Career Services at Oakland University Stephen Parker, SRT Powertrain -­‐ Development & Durability Engineer at Chrysler Group LLC Connie Srogi, Human Resources Analyst, Oakland County Michigan Maneesha Reddy Beeravolu, Oakland University Graduate Student Amith Diwakar, Oakland University Undergraduate Student Britni Reece, Oakland University 2nd Degree Student Panel discussion opened with introductions. Wayne Thibodeau indicated that this was a great time for careers and that he had not seen an uptick in company recruitment like he’s seen today. The Big 3, for instance, have significantly increased their visibility in terms of recruitment. He sees three essential questions when it comes to managing this increase in company recruitment of interns: 1. How do we prepare our students 2. How do students, who are already overloaded, make time to gain these experiences? 3. How do faculty become engaged in this process? The panel’s focus shifted to the recruitment cycle, which Wayne had indicated was completely different today than it has been in past years. He suggested that Phase 1 of the cycle begins in at Oakland University in Sept./Oct. with the different career fairs. Companies do face-­‐to-­‐face interviews in October. Phase 2, then, begins in late October when employers are making hiring decisions. Then offers are out by December 1. The cycle begins again in February. Stephen Parker suggested that his group within Chrysler has been on college campuses approximately 4-­‐5 times doing recruitment. Chrysler already has offers going out. He suggested that the process for how Chrysler goes about hiring interns is constantly changing, and that Chrysler is actually looking to move to an even earlier time in any given semester to start the vetting process. He said that they look at various avenues to seek talented students, including engaging student organizations. A question about the STAR interviewing process was asked, and the panel indicated that this or other behavioral-­‐type interviews are being conducted by many companies. It is imperative for career services offices and advisors at all institutions make students aware of behavioral-­‐type interview techniques, as Stephen indicated that these practices are not going away anytime soon because companies need “apples to apples” evaluation of prospective talent. Connie indicated that Oakland County does the same with all of its hiring practices. Prospective employees are also required to do brief training and skills exams, and that communication and interpersonal skills rate highly in the process. She said that her organization puts together a hiring list and starts the process with phone interviews for the first round before people are brought in for face-­‐to-­‐face meetings. A question about compensation was brought up – specifically regarding unpaid internships. The group generally agreed that unpaid internships weren’t necessarily a good idea, unless NACE was considered. The students discussed the processes associated with their hiring. Amith discussed his hiring at an early stage of his academic career, when he didn’t expect to be hired for internship. Britni discussed finding employment as a second-­‐degree student. Panel remarks wrapped up with final words on the state of recruitment. University/Community College Updates: 11:10 Schools presented annual updates. Engineering Center Tour & Lunch: 11:50 Attendees toured Oakland University’s new Engineering Center. Business Meeting: 1:20 Caroyln Rimle, as outgoing chair, asked the group if they would like to nominate anyone as the chair of the MCC-­‐CCA committee. This person would be responsible for maintaining the ListServ and working with the school designated as host of the meeting. It is a two year appointment. Carolyn nominated Carmen Etienne from Oakland University. Jung Koral from the University of Michigan – Dearborn was nominated as chair-­‐in-­‐waiting. Jung will succeed Carmen as chair when her time is up. The group voted to confirm the nominations. University/Community College Updates (Cont’d): 1:30 The schools concluded updates started earlier in the day. Michigan Transfer Agreement Discussion: 2:15 The question was posed to the group about the Michigan Transfer Agreement and how it was working for students entering the four-­‐year experience with it. Engineering schools and colleges indicated that it was to the detriment of the student to obtain MTA or MACRAO, as it puts them in position entering an engineering program where they may not have enough classes to maintain a full time schedule or makes it to where they are taking major math, science, and engineering courses without general education to provide balance. Vinnie Maltese indicated that advisors at Monroe Community College have such high caseloads of students taking on different degree programs that it is difficult to keep advisors up to date with how MTA may impact an engineering student. He suggested that outreach is required to people interested in entering engineering fields, so that students and parents understand differences between engineering programs and technology programs. Kimberly Frey from St. Clair County Community College indicated that her school has started offering a free outreach program – in the form of a presentation on weekends that is open to the public – that covers college preparation and transition from high school for students entering STEM fields. The group agreed that this type of outreach would be good for students considering this route. It was also suggested that advisors from community college come for a segment of the next MCC-­‐CCA meeting to help get them up to date engineering, math, and science trends in education. Next MEC-­‐CCA meeting will be October, 2015 and will be hosted by Monroe CC. Vinnie Maltese will be the contact. Adjournment: 3:00