Miami University's Office of Career Services has moved to the east wing of the Armstrong Student Center, with a new name and new leadership to boot.
The new name of Career Services, the Center for Career Exploration and Success, reflects the expanded role the center will have on the entire student life cycle, from orientation to graduation.
"The elevation of the title correlates with the elevation of the role of Career Services," said Jen Franchak, assistant vice president of the new Center for Career Exploration and Success.
Franchak was selected to lead the revamped office following a national search. She previously served as the executive director of academic, career and personal development at Xavier University, where she oversaw first-years and strategic retention efforts.
Franchak is working to expand the hours of Miami's career consulting department for the 2017-2018 school year. It will be open later in the evenings and offer open office hours on Sundays to cater to students' availability.
Franchak and her team have also started to grow employer development activities out of state in places such as California, Texas, Massachusetts, Illinois and New York. Franchak said these areas are being targeted because many students are recruited from these states and return there after graduation.
Career Services is also moving away from Miami's CAREERlink website and launching a more student-friendly product called Handshake, Franchak said. Handshake is used by many other colleges and universities, so employers can upload career opportunities to multiple institutions' sites with just one click. Miami's Handshake will be launching this June.
The center's new location in Armstrong officially opened May 17. Franchak said this central location enables the center to be more accessible to students and increase in-person engagement with students, faculty, alumni and employers. Franchak said employers who visit Miami to recruit students will enjoy greater visibility to the student body in Armstrong than in Career Services' previous home, Hoyt Hall.
"Our campus location will now be in the living room of our campus, and we plan to leverage this to enhance student success," Franchak said. "It makes it much more convenient for students to drop by in between classes and during the evenings to take advantage of our services and events"
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