The Student Employment Center provides job seeking skills workshops and support services to students, graduates and vocational faculty. Staff members refer students to part-time and full-time employment and provide placement services for those completing program requirements. They establish links between the college and the business community to increase business and community awareness of college programs, and develop job leads and internships for students and graduates. The staff sets up on-campus interviews for students and graduates, host annual job fairs and conduct classroom presentations on job seeking techniques. Increases in the unemployment rate cause the number of students and graduates utilizing the Center to increase, and changes in technology often require employees as well as job seekers to seek additional services.

Personnel - At this time the Center employs two full-time classified staff members and five student workers.

Equipment - Several chairs and two computers need repair, and one computer should be replaced.

Facilities - The current location of the Student Employment Center is appropriate, although the facility lacks rooms for students to sit and review job announcements, for employers to interview on campus and for staff to conduct workshops.

Future Program

This program will be combined with the Career Center, in which case staffing and other issues would be determined by the needs of the combined program at that time. It is projected that the Center will increase in size as the overall college enrollment increases in both the mid term (five years) and the long term (ten years). As employers become more interested in paid internships and work-based learning activities, the Center will see an increase in workload referring students to these types of programs.

Personnel - See Projected Faculty and Staff Needs.

Equipment - A copier and the office computers will need to be replaced within five years, and new computers, printers and work stations will be needed for all staff.

Facilities - The Student Employment Center needs additional space as follows: a waiting area for five or six students, space for a counter that is wheelchair accessible, offices for a director and three full-time employees, two interview rooms, a conference room seating ten to 15 people, a room for conducting workshops for 20 to 25 people, a room for 20 to 25 students to complete applications and review job announcements, a storage room for archived files and job fair materials, a small area for a microwave and a refrigerator, and space in the office for file cabinets, a typewriter and four workstations.

Staff Development - Training in computer software applications such as PowerPoint, Excel and Access would be beneficial for staff.