With the 2001-02 school year reaching the midway point, the Career Center still has $18,400 in student fees just waiting for the taking.
Each year, the Career Center allocates $25,000 from grant money to help fund any campus organization or department’s career related activities. This year they have received only 14 proposals, allocating just $6,600 to student groups and departments.
“This grant is an additional funding source for those seeking money for career related activities,” Career Center director Larry Smith said. “What we are trying to accomplish is to provide a link between the work students are doing to their careers.”
The $25,000 is part of the student incidental fee money allocated to the Career Center last year via ballot measure. This is the second year the Career Center has received the grant money. In 2000-01, it didn’t spend an estimated $5,000 from the grant, and this money carried forward to the $25,000 being offered for this academic year.
To receive funding, the Career Center requires student groups and departments seeking assistance to fill out an application and submit it to the Career Council. The only criteria is that there needs to be a direct correlation between the event and career planning and there should be a significant number of students participating. Groups can use the money to send students to a conference or to sponsor an event.
“A lot of student groups fund raise for their events, when we have money to give. We want to help those groups who do not have the funds to grow, and we are open to new, creative and innovative ideas for possible events,” Career Council member Kellie Matecko said.
After a student group or department receives funding for an event, it must submit a report about its activity to the Career Council. The report must contain an estimate of the number of students involved, the student’s reactions and how the event could be improved if the organization decides to participate the following year.
“We basically want to know how many people benefited from the event,” Smith said. “These events are intended to be an extraordinary opportunity for students to explore and do networking within their career.”
The Office of Multicultural Affairs is just one example of a student group that was able to host a career reception Tuesday with the help of the Career Center. Twenty employers and 65 students attended the event.
“The collaborative effort is impressive. What makes this event successful is partnering with the Career Center as well as the Office of Student Life, and it is an example of how these departments’ efforts can really work,” Associate Director of Multicultural Affairs Randy Choy said. “Just listening to the sound and interaction of this event can tell you that.”
The Career Center will not be receiving grant money for
2002-03 because of the Supreme Court’s Southworth v. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System decision, which changed the process for allocating student incidental fees across the country. This year, the ASUO Programs Finance Committee decided the Career Center’s 2002-03 budget. The Career Center did not include this career program in their budget request to the PFC.
Smith said he hopes to sustain the program for the next seven years with funds from previously awarded grant money.