NWR: Universities and job placement

agape1cor813

My alma mater is going through a rough time right now (6 straight semesters of declining enrollment, budget deficits, etc.) and the chancellor is seeking alumni input from their experience in the school and as a graduate in the form of a survey, but my fiance got it and I didn't (it was sent to 2009 graduates, I was class of 2008).

I want to write to the chancellor and propose that increasing their job placement services and helping their graduates get jobs would help their financial situations because A) students may actually stick with the school and it would bring students in if there is a better chance of getting a job with a degree, and it may help with donations requests because if the alumni are employed with good jobs, then they might be willing to donate money to the school, especially if they university helped get them the job to begin with.

I was inspired to do this because when my father was in school (at a Big Ten school) the university got him 20(!) interviews before he got his undergrad degree. I work in the media, so I may not do it until I actually get out of my current job. 

What do you all who are students think about this idea?

bethsmiles

It's a nice suggestion but I doubt they can make that magically happen. Unless you have a plan for how they could actually do that, it's kind of a worthless suggestion IMO.

LauraT25

If they don't have any sort of career placement assistance, I think it's a worthwhile suggestion.  If they DO have a service, but it doesn't have a good success rate or something like that, like Beth I'm not sure what they can do.  Maybe suggest career counseling be more accessible/advertised, or that they host job fairs?

SteveandKris

i'm sure the economy has a lot to do with job placement issues right now as well.  i also think 2-3 years out is a little soon to be asking grads about their experiences... i wouldn't have said very nice things about my undergrad experience 2-3 years out, but a teeny tiny bit further out, I have some productive things to say

eleventwentyfour

I think it's a great idea but I agree with PP about needing an idea to implement it. 

Here's one way my university provides students with job opportunities... it may give you an idea if you don't have any others. Disclaimer though, I go one of the biggest schools in the country (also Big Ten, whoot whoot!) and IMO they do an excellent job with giving us the resources to get jobs.  One College use a system called FutureLink where companies who have needs for full time employment or internships post jobs.  As students we upload a resume, cover letter, and whatever else we see fit.  When a posting that interests us comes up we simply just click "Apply" and chose the documents to submit and they are sent off to the company. Our campus then sets up on-campus interviews (if possible) for those who the company is interested in.  They also create a resume book which is organised by type of degree/ job interest and is available for companies to use if they'd like.  FutureLink is actually only used for the College of Arts and Sciences.  It is extremely efficient and allows you to browse postings by keyword, location, etc.  It is also available to recent grads.  There are literally hundreds of jobs and internships posted.  FI received 12+ interviews and landed an extremely promising internship with a huge nationwide company.  It may be something that would take time to put together but once the site is up, I think from a webmaster stand point it would be fairly easy to maintain.

Sorry that got so long!  I hope you'll be able to help your alma mater get through these rough times!