There are two necessary elements for an undergraduate student to gain career direction and obtain relevant work experience.First, the student should see the faculty advisor as an important potential link to jobs and career assistance. The internship/co-op process was re-engineered by the CBA in 1996 and is designed to maximize faculty members’ involvement with students as they move through their internships. This process is detailed thoroughly on pages B-14b to B-14e in the Faculty Handbook, but highlights include:

• The department chair and student advisor are both involved in the process.The department chair directs the student to the most appropriate faculty member based on the faculty members area of professional knowledge.The faculty advisor assigns and evaluates two written reports from the student regarding his/her experience.The faculty advisor contacts the sponsoring firm to check on student progress.The faculty advisor reviews the firm’s evaluation form and determines the student’s grade of satisfactory or unsatisfactory.
• The department chair oversees the entire process, including faculty compensation, and has leverage to ensure that processes are carried out correctly.

Also, an effective Office of Career Development (OCD) is required. The Office of Career Development guides and encourages Niagara University students and alumni in the development of skills necessary for lifelong career management in the evolving world of work. The OCD offers a comprehensive program of career exploration and counseling, cooperative education and internship experiences, graduate and professional school information, job recruitment opportunities, and training in the job search process. The College of Business Administration has a strong and ongoing partnership with the OCD to promote and encourage its students to participate in the career development programs, services, resources and events described below.

One of the most popular and well-known programs in the OCD is the Cooperative Education/Internship Program, which offers students the opportunity to integrate classroom knowledge with practical, on-the-job experience. While on co-op/internship assignments, students interact with fellow employees and managers. Students learn valuable interpersonal and communication skills. They learn how organizations are structured, how responsibility is assigned and how evaluations are done. The program allows students to participate in two co-op or internship experiences without extending college study beyond four years. This enables students taking part in the program to graduate with their classmates. Students interested in obtaining a co-op or internship must have at least a 2.0 GPA and must maintain this minimum while in the program. If the student’s grades fall below the set standard, his/her record is reviewed to determine future eligibility in the program. Additionally, continuance in the program requires acceptable job performance, which includes satisfactory work, punctuality, attendance, communication, interpersonal and computer skills. The co-op director, the student, and the faculty advisor review the evaluation of a student’s job performance, which is completed by the employer. Students may participate in the program during the fall or spring semester or summer. Completion of a minimum of 150 work hours is required, as well as two papers relating the academic experience to the internship experience gained at the work site. The student receives three academic credits for successful completion of each co-op or internship experience.

Exhibit S-13 shows the participation rate of CBA students in a co-op/internship program. Additionally, it should be noted that the average salary for students during 1998-99 was $7.85 per hour. A copy of the assessment tool used in this program and a summary of employers’ ratings of students is available on page 104 in the Curriculum section.

EXHIBIT S-13

Co-op and Internship Experience Rates: A CBA Measure of Quality and Success (From Annual Quality and Assessment Report, 1998)

See Hard Copy of Report for chart

EXHIBIT S-14

Employers Participating in Cooperative Education/Internship Programs

Other Services and Resources of the Office of Career Development

On-Campus Recruitment

The On-Campus Recruitment Program brings employers to campus throughout the academic year to interview qualified candidates for full-time and co-op employment opportunities. Thirty-five companies participated in the on-campus recruitment program during the 1997-98 academic year.

Job Fair

The annual job fair is a popular on-campus recruitment event, which provides students and graduates with an opportunity to meet and network with approximately 100 employers to discuss full-time, part-time, co-op, internship, and summer jobs.

Job Location Program

The Job Location Program assists currently enrolled students in finding part-time, temporary and summer employment, preferably which match their career goals. The OCD sponsors part-time job fairs in the fall and spring semesters which attract local employers seeking qualified candidates for part-time job opportunities.

Career Workshop Program

The OCD presents 90-minute career-related workshops to provide information to help students with career planning. The "Get Hired" workshop is presented to CBA students each semester in their Senior Seminar classes. Subject areas included in the workshop are general information about the OCD and its programs and services, choosing a major, choosing a career, and such key job search skills as resume preparation, cover letters and other correspondences, interview techniques, dress for success, and cooperative education.

Discover Computer Guidance Program

The OCD is a licensed administrator of Discover for Colleges and Adults by the American College Testing Program (ACT, Inc.), a computer-based career planning and information system that supports mature decision making. The program allows students to input information about themselves, their interests, abilities, experiences and work-related values and receive a list of occupations or career fields matching the criteria they have entered. Students are scheduled by appointment to use the program, which is located in the OCD Career Library. Students also have an opportunity to research the occupations in Discover, the Career Library or through other information-gathering strategies, such as the World Wide Web.

Outreach Programs

Internal Speakers from the OCD are available for presentations on career-related topics to classes, seminars, student organizations, residence halls, fraternities, and sororities. External Speakers from business and industry make presentations on job search, mock interviewing, career paths, or information about their companies. Information Sessions/Receptions by corporate recruiters are scheduled prior to conducting on-campus interviews. These events are designed as networking opportunities and afford students an opportunity to meet recruiters prior to interviewing.

Career Counseling

Individual career counseling is available by appointment. Career counseling involves extensive work in multiple sessions to help students and alumni in choosing a career through self-assessment, vocational assessment, exploring occupations, weighing pros and cons of alternative occupations, and facilitation of decision making by the counselor.

Resume and Job Search Correspondence Review

The OCD offers a free critique service of resumes and job search correspondence. Students and alumni submit their documents to the OCD and the items are critiqued and ready for pick up two working days after submission.

Mock Interviews

To enhance students’ interviewing skills, the OCD conducts mock interviews. Most students witness a marked improvement in their interviewing abilities after this experience. Students are videotaped as an OCD staff member administers a typical interview question set. The student’s performance is immediately evaluated and critiqued by the staff member. Students provide their own videotape to allow them to review their progress.

Resume Referral Service refers the resumes of qualified students and graduates to employers seeking qualified candidates for job opportunities.

Resume Books

The OCD assists the following CBA student groups in the critiquing of resumes for targeted resume books:

NU Accounting Society publishes an annual resume book, containing the resumes of senior accounting majors. The resume books are then presented to the accounting firms attending the annual fall "Meet the Accountants Night" and mailed to other area accounting firms for recruitment purposes.

Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business organization, publishes resume books containing resumes of senior commerce majors for distribution to employers at the OCD’s annual job fair and for mailing to other targeted employers.

Jobs Bulletin

The Niagara University Jobs Bulletin, published twice a month by the OCD, contains a list of full-time employment opportunities and is available in paper version in the OCD, by mail subscription for a $10 annual fee, and online at the OCD web site.

Job Posting Boards

Job posting bulletin boards, located in the OCD, display all full-time, part-time, co-op, internship, summer and temporary job opportunities forwarded by employers.

Career Library

The Career Library, located adjacent to the OCD in the lower level of Seton Hall, contains information about occupations and career choices for different academic majors, self assessment exercises, salary surveys, demand outlooks in specific career fields and graduate school catalogs. Computers are available to allow students to search the World Wide Web to research employers and job openings, and to prepare resumes.