HIGHER EDUCATION Students Seeking Career Counseling to Sort Options
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CCLB 02-19-07 A 15 CCLB 2/15/2007 12:16 PM Page 1 FEBRUARY 19-25, 2007 WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS 15 HIGHER EDUCATION Students seeking career counseling to sort options By SHANNON MORTLAND speakers to talk to the students them to wait until the student has offered at college and get feedback students than from (the career [email protected] about careers, he said. a year of college under his or her from other students, she said. services office),” she said. “The first step in career devel- belt before exploring career The web page, which had 7,000 udy Eskin’s daughter Lauren is opment is to understand who they options. That was the advice she Give and take hits in the first week, also includes confused. are, what they like, what they’re gave Lauren and Judy Eskin, who Feedback and advice from fellow information such as résumé tips, The Pepper Pike student good at and what they value,” Mr. know Dr. Lurie on a personal level. students seems to be popular. job fairs and opinion polls, Ms. Jplans to go away to college next Titterington said. “It makes such practical sense Kent State University in January Owens said. fall but has no idea what she wants However, career counseling can to get this figured out at 16, 17 or launched a career services web Cleveland State’s Mr. Klein said to major in or the career she wants be done too early, cautions Sunny 18, but the reality is they need a page on the university’s intranet students can never be too pre- to pursue. Lurie, founder of Fast Focus couple of years of experience,” Dr. system that allows students to pared and they should at least And, if Lauren doesn’t figure it Careers, a career counseling work- Lurie said. “Most are just not there share their experiences about jobs, have an idea of the career direc- out after her freshman year, Mrs. shop in Cleveland. yet emotionally.” internships or exploring careers, tion they want to take early in col- Eskin plans to put her in career Though she sees more parents She said the most popular time said Carla Owens, assistant director lege. counseling. trying to put their teenagers for students to get career counsel- of career services at Kent State. “You have to make decisions “You would hate to spend through career counseling prior to ing is after their freshman year in “We find that a lot of students pretty early, or else it’s possible $40,000 a year to send a kid to college, she said she often tells college so they can see what’s learn more from their fellow you may lose time,” he said. ■ college and three years through, she decides to do something totally different,” Mrs. Eskin said. “What’s another $500 (for private career counseling) for my kid to figure out what she wants to do?” Lauren Eskin is like many college-bound students who don’t know what they want to do upon high school graduation. As a result, more students are seeking career counseling at an earlier age, or their parents are finding career counseling for them to avoid paying tuition longer than they have to, said Paul Klein, director of the Career Services Center at Cleveland State University. “People are starting to think of careers earlier now,” he said. “It’s pretty overwhelming for high school students.” An early start Cleveland State is creating a program called “Exciting Careers in the 21st Century,” which it hopes to launch next October, Mr. Klein said. As part of the program, employers would set up booths on campus to display their products and projects so students could learn more about that company or that profession. He said the program would not be a job fair; rather it’s more of an information session to teach students about the types of careers that are available. He said many students automatically bypass certain careers because of preconceived notions about what that job entails. Cleveland State also wants to introduce students to career options through a career orientation class it hopes to pilot next fall, he said. Though it’s still in development, he said the class likely would be an In- ternet-based course that would earn students one college credit. The university is talking with several local high schools, which he would not name, to offer the class to a total of 75 to 125 students, Mr. Klein said. Some local high schools already are taking a step beyond having students meet with their counselors in an effort to give those students a leg up when they’re considering colleges and careers. All juniors at Westlake High School must take a semester-long course in which they explore careers and create a plan for after high school graduation, a portfolio and résumé, said Dave Titterington, a teacher and chairman of the busi- ness and vocational department at Westlake High School. While the program contains tried-and-true activities, such as college visits, the school also provides field trips that focus on certain industries and invites CCLB 02-19-07 A 16 CCLB 2/15/2007 3:06 PM Page 1 16 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM FEBRUARY 19-25, 2007 HIGHER EDUCATION Myers prez still finessing school’s numbers whom higher education isn’t obvi- Exec turns his focus to enrollment, retention ous, not because of academic weak- ness, but for monetary, awareness figures following university’s fiscal crisis or preparation reasons,” Dr. Scaldini said. “It’s one thing to get admitted By JOEL HAMMOND private, not-for-profit business to school, but it’s then another [email protected] school on a delayed funding mech- thing to be able to show up and go anism while waiting on a letter of to class. The majority of our students hen he was installed as credit, which Myers secured days are adults who work; they’re tradi- the 18th president of before the Jan. 16 deadline. tional heads of households. Our Myers University in Myers board member Jamie Pilla students go to school, they’re not late June, Dr. Richard (through Independence Bank), the already there. You can’t be an urban ScaldiniW had a number of goals Cuyahoga County commissioners university and not take that on.” regarding growing the school’s (through KeyBank and National To do that, Dr. Scaldini has enrollment and retaining its grad- City Bank) and businessmen Sam borrowed his “value proposition,” uates within the city of Cleveland. Miller, Albert Ratner and Carl focusing on accessibility, afford- Nearly eight months later, Dr. Glickman ponied up guarantees in ability and accountability, from a Scaldini is finally the event the school report released in September by the turning his attention failed to get its collec- Spellings Commission, a group to those goals. “There was work to tive head above water. formed in 2005 and named after U.S. Having secured in be done and hurdles The need for the Secretary of Education Margaret January a $1.2 mil- to overcome, but I assistance stemmed Spellings that focuses on reforming lion letter of credit determined the from what Dr. Scaldini higher education. that satisfied a U.S. called “financial Within that generic framework, Department of Edu- institution was events that led to Dr. Scaldini has a number of specific cation request and indeed viable.” losses” two years goals for Myers, including: allowed the school to ago, which knocked ■ The continued evolution of its remain open, Dr. – Dr. Richard Scaldini the school’s bottom president, Myers University online education options, recently Scaldini is attempt- line below a DOE ranked in the top five for the state ing to turn the page, guideline. by the Ohio Board of Regents; rehab Myers’ image and get back to Dr. Scaldini met with city busi- ■ A continued community out- what he does best: educate students. ness and foundation leaders in an reach effort, such as Myers minority “I met with the board of trustees attempt to secure the necessary entrepreneurs program, which and was aware of the issues the assurance, and Mr. Pilla’s 11th-hour partners students with business school was facing,” said Dr. Scaldini, offer, the work of Messrs. Miller, professionals. Within those part- a veteran of both international Ratner and Glickman and a pledge nerships, students assist with banking and higher education, of from the commissioners helped business plans and get a general his decision to take the job at satisfy the DOE. feel for the business world; Myers. “There was work to be done “I kept reading that this school JANINE BENTIVEGNA ■ Implementation of an over- and hurdles to overcome, but I was at risk, in peril, and I thought After eight months on the job, Dr. Richard Scaldini, president of Myers Univer- hauled management information determined the institution was to myself, ‘Surely, between the sity, is setting his sights on growing the school’s enrollment and keeping its grad- systems curriculum, which Dr. indeed viable. (Greater) Cleveland Partnership uates within the city of Cleveland. Scaldini says is an example of the “Now, I’m getting to put a lot and all the other organizations that school’s drive to keep up with the more time into further developing we have to bring business into With the necessary assistance, finance for UBS Securities, an arm shift to a global, technology-driven the school’s educational model Cleveland, they’d also be interested Dr. Scaldini now has the opportunity of Union Bank of Switzerland.