Tuesday July 21
1:15 pm – 2:15 pm
Breakout 2
From Passive to Active: Transforming the Promotion of Career Services
Kristen Anthony – Valparaiso University
Joelle Fundara – Hope College
College
Location: Grand Ballroom B
Standard – 60 minute lecture style
Session Description: The way the world communicates has been transformed by technology, and
communicating with students on college campuses is no exception. As Career Services offices seek to
position themselves strategically in universities and to contribute to student’s career development, the way
we market our services to students needs to transform as well. Through considering the concepts of peer to
peer marketing, the diffusion of innovation, and social media marketing we will discuss how offices can take
their messaging from dry and dull to engaging and interactive through the creation of Career Ambassador
programs. As this conference seeks ideas regarding transformation, this session will cover marketing
principles and theory and present best practices for leveraging this type of program for multiple institution
types in order for attendees to consider how to transform their marketing and communications with
students. Furthermore, a key component and an added benefit of these types of programs for students is
providing a professional development and leadership opportunity that enhances the student experience.
Strategies for transforming the student to a young professional will also be discussed. Examples from
Bowling Green State University, Valparaiso University, and Hope College will be provided.
Presenter Bio: Kristen graduated from Bradley University with a degree in Organizational Communication
and Spanish. Joelle graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in Special Education. Both
presenters received their Master of Arts in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University
(BGSU). While pursuing their degrees both Kristen and Joelle worked in the BGSU Career Center, assisting
students in their career preparedness and managing the university's pilot Career Ambassador program.
Transforming Student Employment: Career Success with Skill Building
and Story Telling
College
Amanda Cox, Jennifer Neef, and Gail Rooney – University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Location: Grand Ballroom C
Standard – 60 minute lecture style
Session Description: Using the 10 attributes sought by employers of college graduates (NACE, 2014) and
components of the T-Shaped Professional (CERI-Michigan State University), this program demonstrates how
student employment opportunities play a major role in student career preparation and success. By helping
supervisors intentionally design learning outcomes and strategically supervise student employees, career
preparation and success is enhanced. This presentation demonstrates how career services engaged
supervisors to recognize skills that students develop while employed in their units and the power of storytelling. Participants will identify specific skills developed through tasks included in their student positions and
practice telling their own professional success stories. The presenters will share how their model has now
made student employment outcomes a major initiative of the Division of Student Affairs. Changing the
message for an existing practice (student employment) has positioned career services as a partner for
restructuring campus culture and transformed expectations for student employment.
Presenter Bio: Amanda is a career services professional with over fourteen years of experience specializing
in career counseling and student development. She utilizes her communication skills and creativity to come
up with unique ways to serve students. When her career services office needed a way to support current
graduates and alumni in a down economy she helped to create the job search support group which received
national recognition from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). She is currently
working with several departments on campus to assist students in telling their stories to future employers as
well as serving on a division wide committee for student employability. She earned her degree in History
from Saint Mary-of-the Woods College and her Master of Science in Education in counseling from Eastern
Illinois University.
Cross-Campus Collaborations Using Social Media
Melissa Scholten – University of Missouri – Kansas City
College
Location: Grand Ballroom D
Standard – 60 minute lecture style
Session description: This presentation would cover new best practices for using social media to collaborate
on-campus. I used Pinterest to create a new career library due to space limitations in our new location and
worked with our University library to provide direct links to e-books. Our office serves as a campus resource
for LinkedIn tips and trains staff/faculty on using LinkedIn with students. This fits with the conference
theme of using new ideas to meet our changing landscape. Our role as a campus resource for social media
allows our office to assist faculty members in integrating career information in the classroom and
strengthens our partnerships with academic units.
Presenter Bio: Melissa joined UMKC Career Services in Fall 2010. Previously, Melissa served as the senior
learner services coordinator at National American University. She is responsible for assisting students and
alumni their career development needs including career counseling, resume writing, interviewing and job
search skills. She serves as liaison to the School of Biological Sciences/Hospital Hill campus and coordinates
the office’s blog and social networking sites. Melissa holds a B.A. in Psychology from Southwest Minnesota
State University and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology (Career Concentration) from Northwestern University.
She is an active member in the Kansas Association of Colleges and Employers.
The Next Evolution of Relationships Between Career Centers
and Employers
College and Employer
Zach Pa – Denison University
Location: Grand Ballroom G
Standard – 60 minute lecture style
Session Description: The days of just being service providers are over! It is not good enough to only offer
employers a place to post jobs, host information sessions and conduct on-campus interviews. Career
professionals must evolve to become consultative advisors who offer customized solutions that meet their
employers’ needs. That evolution is challenging career centers to adjust their perspective, structure,
resources and processes related to employer relationships. Higher education is not the first industry to
tackle this challenge. For years, successful service-oriented businesses (e.g. financial services, consulting,
and marketing firms) have been refining their relationship management processes. Career centers can utilize
that expertise by leveraging the best parts of those models to advance our employer relationships and help
students realize an ROI for their education. This session will propose a new model for employer
relationships and will highlight best practices of both career centers and employers related to university
relations and recruiting.
Presenter Bio: Zach Pavol is an Assistant Director in Career Exploration and Development at Denison
University. Zach oversees the ExternsEverywhere program and advises all students regarding their career
development. Zach also serves as a Co-Chair for the Marketing and Communications Committee for
Midwest ACE. Zach’s background includes experience at Ohio University and The Ohio State University.
Prior to his higher education career, Zach was a management consultant. Zach holds a Masters of
Education and Bachelor of Science in Communication from Ohio University. Recent Presentations: Pavol, Z.
(2014). Keeping PACE With Parents and Alumni: How to Effectively Leverage Parents and Alumni. Midwest
Association of Colleges and Employers, Indianapolis, IN. Powell, K. & Pavol, Z. (2013). Engaging students
from beginning to end. Midwest Association of Colleges and Employers, Chicago, IL. Collingwood, B. &
Pavol, Z. (2013). Learning outcomes, programs, and career pathways: How [two] institutions leveraged data
for positive results. The Ohio State University Student Affairs Assessment and Research Conference,
Columbus, OH. Hoke, K. & Pavol, Z. (2011). Helping students reach their potential using appreciative
advising. Ohio Association of Colleges and Employers, Columbus, OH.
Building Brand New Services in a Transforming Environment
Jen Skidmore – University of Nebraska-Lincoln
College and Employer
Location: Grand Ballroom H
Standard – 60 minute lecture style
Session Description: How do colleges create new career services, considering existing services and a
multitude of stakeholders? All our environments are transforming in some way. So how do we balance
building needed services with enhancing current services to address changing needs? The University of
Nebraska’s College of Engineering is one example of how new services can transform all campus career
initiatives for the better. The College is shared by two campuses, each with their own central Career
Services as well as multiple decentralized units. In Omaha, though, Engineering students felt desperately
underserved in comparison to Engineering students in Lincoln, until Summer 2014, when a brand new
Engineering Career Services resource was created. This session explores lessons learned by the new
Coordinator in managing expectations from students, faculty, staff, employers, and other career services on
campus, where expectations have truly never existed until now. We will discuss how to assess the needs of
all constituents, how to create services that address these changing needs, as well as best practices for
assessing new services. Implications abound for professionals in decentralized units or on blended-model
campuses for communications, for training, and for building new services from the ground-up. Participants
are encouraged to bring their unique structural challenges and questions for developing new targeted
services to engage in an open dialogue.
Presenter Bio: Jen joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Engineering as Career Services
Coordinator in July 2014 to create new services that meet the career development needs of students
enrolled in the College’s programs in Omaha. She bridges the two campuses by providing career coaching,
delivering workshops, and connecting industry to the College and students. She previously spent 4 years
working extensively with college Financial Literacy programs, including consulting with universities
nationally. Jen holds an M.A. in Higher Education & Student Affairs from The Ohio State University, a
Certificate in Personal Financial Management (CPFM), and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Texas
at Austin.
Career Coaching and the Multi-Generational Workforce Diversity Grant Recipient
College and Employer
Theresa Green-Ervin – Nova Southeastern University
Location: Grand Ballroom I
Standard – 60 minute style
Session Description: For the first time in history, we are living in an era where the workplace is comprised of
five generations inclusive of: (1) Veterans/Traditionalist; (2) Baby Boomers; (3) Generation X; (4)
Nexters/Millennials and (5) Generation Z. The multigenerational workforce will see differences as a lens
through which to view skill sets, diversity, personality types, and many other areas. Effective leadership
must understand the generational characteristics of these students and they must assure that advisors,
career centers, recruiters and employers understand and respect one another’s differences as they advise,
coach and prepare students. In addition, they must foster open discussions of how generational difference
influence attitudes towards coaching, work and organizations. Moreover, they must provide opportunities for
multigenerational students to contribute their best skill set and meet university and organizational goals.
Generation Z represents the greatest generational shift that colleges and universities, along with the
workplace, has ever seen. They are graduating from college amidst a stumbling jobless recovery in which
unemployment remains stubbornly high, especially among those under 25, and forced to compete for job
opportunities with people their parent’s age. Advisors, Career Centers, Recruiters and Employers are going
to have to resort to finding new and innovative strategies to prepare this cohort with the skill set needed to
transition from the university to the world of work. Consequently, NACE put out a survey that conveys that
current graduates are not graduating with the skills necessary to be successful in the workplace, more
specifically, this cohort is lacking soft skills.
Presenter Bio: Theresa Green-Ervin, M.A., DCF, MCDP, GCDFI, GCDF formerly served as Associate Director
of Student Services for the Kelley School of Business Undergraduate Career Services Office at Indiana
University in Bloomington, IN, where she directed student programs and services including Career Coach,
AskUCSO, Help Desk, and Career Professional Network, along with developing and facilitating various
workshops. In addition, she has extensive experience in career coaching, development and planning, and
formerly held the position of Director - Office of Career Services at Mississippi University for Women. She
has also earned the distinction of Master Career Development Professional from the National Career
Development Association and is certified as an e-Learning Specialty Instructor, Distance Certified Facilitator,
Global Career Development Facilitator Instructor, and Global Career Development Facilitator. Theresa
received her bachelor of Technology from Jacksonville State University, and earned both a bachelor’s in
Commerce and Business Administration and a master’s in Higher Education Administration from the
University of Alabama. She is a member of several professional associations. Theresa is certified in grant
writing, diversity training, and has facilitated numerous workshops on career development, diversity,
leadership, team building and business/dining etiquette. Theresa was nominated as one of Mississippi's 50
leading Business Women. In addition, she was named New Professional of the Year for 2004 by the
Southeastern Association of Colleges and Employers. Terri was selected to the class of Leadership
Mississippi, and served as State Chair of Diversity for the American Association of University Women and
was appointed to the board for the Mississippi Coalition for Women. Theresa is presently pursuing her
doctorate in Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in Human Resource Development. Her area of
research is Employability Skills: Career Coaching and the Multi-Generational Workforce.