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What do Employers Look for in new graduates? (NACE, 2011) Relevant work experience, including internships Leadership positions High GPA (3.0 or above) Extracurricular involvement Volunteer activities and service-learning What matters in college? (Astin, 1993) Participation in college internship programs have the strongest positive effect on self-reported growth in job skills and completion of the bachelor’s degree Students’ academic and personal development can be enhanced by heavy involvement Sources of Impact and Positive Net Effects of College (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) In and out of classroom settings promote change and growth Complex process that leads to change and development Experiential learning promotes critical thinking skills in non-course settings Students are influenced by institutional characteristics, faculty/staff interaction, and their peer group College promotes cognitive, psychosocial, attitudes and values, moral development 1

Experiential Learning

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A glimpse into the challenges that our college students are facing and how experiential learning can open doors to opportunities.

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Page 1: Experiential Learning

What do Employers Look for in new graduates? (NACE, 2011)

• Relevant work experience, including internships • Leadership positions • High GPA (3.0 or above) • Extracurricular involvement • Volunteer activities and service-learning

What matters in college? (Astin, 1993)

• Participation in college internship programs have the strongest positive effect on self-reported growth in job skills and completion of the bachelor’s degree

• Students’ academic and personal development can be enhanced by heavy involvement

Sources of Impact and Positive Net Effects of College (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005)

• In and out of classroom settings promote change and growth • Complex process that leads to change and development • Experiential learning promotes critical thinking skills in non-course settings • Students are influenced by institutional characteristics, faculty/staff

interaction, and their peer group • College promotes cognitive, psychosocial, attitudes and values, moral

development

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Challenging environments that present new information and experiences are essential for cognitive growth (Sanford, 1966). When students are exposed to new working environments, this can ignite discomfort or “cognitive dissonance” (Huebner & Lawson, 1990). This is when students learn how to:

• solve real world problems • build relationships • identify skills • solidify their career interests

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Sometimes there is a mismatch between student and employer expectations. Each student requires a different amount of dissonance or challenge. If the academic or work environment presents too much challenge, individuals tend to suffer cognitively and emotionally (Sanford). If there is too little challenge in the environment, individuals may feel safe and satisfied, but they do not develop. By incorporating experiential learning into the UNCP experience, students will begin to find congruence, or a good career fit (Huebner & Lawson, 1990).

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The perfect career cannot be discovered by sitting on the sidelines. As educators, we need to empower students to get involved. Students will need to test out several learning environments in order to find the right career “fit.” Concrete experiences will assist with problem-solving abilities, networking skills, and moral development (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005).

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UNCP students are facing more challenges than ever before. Many students are learning how to live independently for the first time (Lowery, 2001). With rising tuition costs, students are forced to take out more loans and work longer hours. Paid internship opportunities in a rural area like Pembroke are on the decline.

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Challenge: New graduates are competing with seasoned professionals for entry level jobs (NACE, 2011).

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Challenge: National unemployment rate is 7.8% (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012).

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Challenge: Generally speaking, millennial generation college students have been sheltered by their parents and families. Many are making their own decisions for the first time, which may cause anxiety during the career development process (Lowery, 2001).

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Challenge: According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (2011), the class of 2011 had the highest number of students who reported not yet having applied for jobs or graduate programs.

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Challenge: Research by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (2012) indicates that 74% of employers wish to hire new graduates who have relevant work and internship experience. However, not all academic programs at UNCP require the completion of an academic internship.

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Challenge: Students are living in a rural area with few paid internship opportunities. Students are forced to make tough financial and career decisions.

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The good news? The Career Center and other departments are working to cultivate more opportunities for UNCP students.

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Strength: Over 821 students created accounts in the Brave Opportunities employment database, demonstrating a strong interest in on-campus opportunities. Brave Opportunities is a clearinghouse for all on-campus student employment, including work-study, on-campus student employment, graduate assistantship, and Hawk Assistantship positions. Research by Astin (1993) suggests that part-time campus employment has a positive effect on students’ self-reported levels of cognitive and affective growth.

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Strength: The Workforce Recruitment Program, The Career Center, and the Office of Disability Services has 10 students lined up to interview on November 9, 2012. This is the highest number of candidates UNCP has produced in three years. (Eight qualified students or recent graduates must complete the online application and schedule an interview in order to guarantee a recruiter will come to campus.)

The WRP is a recruitment and referral program that connects federal and private sector employers nationwide with highly motivated college students and recent graduates with disabilities who are eager to prove their abilities in the workplace through summer or permanent jobs.

Recruiters from participating agencies interview students and recent graduates with disabilities at colleges and universities nationwide. Over 3,000 students and recent graduates are interviewed between the beginning of October and through mid November of each year. In 2011, over 600 students and recent graduates were hired for summer and permanent jobs within the federal government and the private sector.

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Strength: The Hawk Assistantship Program created 200 paid, on-campus opportunities for enrolled students in fall 2012. The Hawk Assistantship program is funded by the 2012 tuition increase. Hawk Assistantships are on-campus positions that have been set up like mini-internships, affording students the opportunity to gain valuable on-the-job experience relating to their majors. This program benefits students by giving them paid, major-related experience without having to travel away from campus. We know that linking students’ part-time employment opportunities with academic experience provides additional opportunities to shape students’ academic, cognitive, and interpersonal development (Kuh, 1995).

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Strength: The Career Center launched a residential living-learning community called “Career Quest” in fall 2012.

Career Quest is a living-learning community for first-year students who have not yet decided on a major. Together students explore career options, engage in fun learning experiences, and declare majors that fit with their unique interests and skills. The purpose of the program is to guide each student through the career development and exploration process, while creating a plan for long-term career success.

Selected participants live in a community setting on the first floor of Pine Hall and take Freshman Seminar, English 1050, and Introduction to Career Development courses as a cohort group. Students make connections with classmates, faculty, and staff advisors while learning about UNCP’s resources.

Career Quest members have exclusive access to special programs which includes reserved courses, career field trips, employer visits; community and social activities. In 2011-12, Career Quest retained 31% more first-year students than the university average.

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Strength: The Career Quest Living-Learning Community connects first-year students with individuals from various career backgrounds. In January 2012, students took a trip to the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus to learn about careers in the entertainment industry. Host and professional musician, Jeremy Papay, gave students a backstage pass to learn about career opportunities with Feld Entertainment.

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Strength: The Career Quest Living-Learning community helps students build relationships with UNCP alumni.

UNCP alumnus and Magistrate, Rudy Locklear, has visited with Career Quest on several occasions. In September 2012, he gave students a tour of the Robeson County Jail and Sherriff’s office. Students learned about career options in criminal justice, public service, and emergency management.

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Strength: Incorporating service-learning projects into the learning community curriculum helps students to apply their new knowledge about career development.

Each learning community student is required to take Introduction to Career Development (CAR1010). This course is designed to help students explore their career interests and learn how to begin networking and job searching.

Students were required to participate in a service-learning project with the Pembroke Housing Authority. Each group was responsible for creating a presentation about career and job search skills, which they delivered to residents of the Housing Authority.

Several students have continued to volunteer with the Housing Authority in our community. The 2012-13 Career Quest cohort had the highest participation rate in this semester’s “Freshman Day of Service.”

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Employment Statistics

69% of fall 2012 graduates (as of October 18) have accepted job or graduate school offers

10 students scheduled to interview with the Workforce Recruitment Program on November 9, 2012

609 positions were posted in the Brave Opportunities employment database; students viewed positions a total of 28, 913 times

55 employers visited campus to recruit students at the Teacher Education Fair and Career Expos in 2011-12

Career Center Usage Statistics

2140 students visited the Career Center in 2011-12 and 49% have visited the office multiple times

95% of students who attended a career workshop said they would recommend the program to a friend

59% of students said their career consulting appointments exceeded their expectations; the other 41% of students said their expectations were met

98% of students who met with a career coach said they have a clearly-defined action plan to address “next steps” in career planning

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Freshman Seminar

Presented to 30 freshman seminar classes in fall 2012 (618 students)

90% of students cited having “excellent knowledge of Career Center services”

100% of faculty agreed the presentations helped to jump start the career planning process

56% of first-year students know what careers they’d like to pursue

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What our students are saying about what they’ve learned by visiting the Career Center:

“I learned what I should be doing during my college years. It’s important for me to be involved in school.”

“I learned about different career paths and student organizations in my major.”

“Do an internship to get hands-on experience!”

“How to write a resume-- I haven’t written one since high school!”

“The resources on the Career Center website, specifically the interview practice resource.”

“I am beyond excited to pursue career opportunities with the knowledge I gained during the Career Center presentation.”

“I felt very included and feel better for attending.”

“I think that I will use the website shown in class to look more into my major.”

“I'm still undecided about my major but I'm more aware of how to figure it out and get information.”

“Very informational; learned about services I never knew about”

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What our students are saying about what they’ve learned by visiting the Career Center:

“About building a resume and how to look for majors”

“About how important your major is how important it is to study”

“About internships and my major”

“About the jobs on campus I really need one and resume”

“All of the opportunities here at the career center, I learned that my interests are very similar to my major”

“Applying for jobs before I graduate”

“Education majors need to take the Praxis. Other than teaching there are plenty of other jobs for history majors”

“Different options for athletic training majors.”

“About taking the GRE test for grad school… and that the Career Center helps you with your resume!”

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Goal: Share resources across campus to give students the best possible career experience. Work with faculty, staff, advancement, and alumni relations to maximize connections. If our community works together, we can provide more opportunities for our students. This will help us continue to strengthen our institutional culture and require internship and service-learning components in more academic programs.

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