The College of Arts and Sciences hopes to assist students through a newly launched career resource website.
Classroom to Career, which goes live today, is a program that helps students track their college experience and envision their future careers. The program will serve as a guide for students to help prepare for life after college by encouraging them to participate in extracurricular activities that relate to their fields of interest.
Every semester, students take advantage of resources on campus such as the Career Planning Center and networking with alumni to help prepare them for life after college.
The Classroom to Career “initiative” that is located on the Fairfield University’s website does just that. The program encourages students to not only focus on their academic responsibilities, but to also consistently learn about different career opportunities that interest them.
Dean of Arts and Sciences Robbin Crabtree and Associate Dean James Simon started this program in hopes that students will take a more hands-on approach to finding their dream jobs.
Simon, the coordinator of the website, claimed that students should not solely rely on the Career Planning Center. “You are in charge of your future,” he said.
This program wasn’t followed by other Fairfield programs, according to Simon. He, along with the faculty and staff of the College of Arts and Sciences, researched 15 other schools that did not provide their students with “career readiness” programs.
The Classroom to Career program was morphed by using ideas from the business school, according to Simon. The difference, Simon noted, was that the business school makes sure students consistently work on their post-graduation plans. Classroom to Career will not be mandated by students. The Arts and Sciences staff emphasized that this program is completely voluntary for students to use.
Simon hopes that students who utilize this program will get more out of their time here at Fairfield. The program highlights that students attend Open Visions forums with guest speakers who work in their desired fields, participate in Majors Night, connect with alumni and work with the Career Planning Center to maximize the opportunity of getting a job after graduation or going to graduate school.
Students agree that this program will help them to better plan their futures. “The idea of it is good. The information in it is valuable and beneficial,” said Maggie Mackenzie ’15 who was introduced to this program by Dr. Simon in class. “I would definitely use it,” she continued.
Joseph Marino ’14 agreed, “I think this is a beneficial resource. And I think a lot of students will make good use of it. I wish we had something like this when I was a freshman.”
Simon has shown this resource to Fairfield students already. Recently, he attended meetings for FUSA Senate, Resident Assistants and New Student Leaders, and he met with Student Affairs to discuss this new project.
Simon hopes that this program will help “the advising process to move into a mentoring state and to get away from pin numbers and narrow advising.”
Today, the course booklet for next semester comes out. Simon emphasized that this advising period is a good time for students to go to their advisors about their upcoming schedules. It is also a good opportunity to go to the Career Planning Center to learn how they can help students reach their full potential during the next semester.
For more information about Classroom to Career, visit http://fairfield.edu/c2c
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