As the starting point for this project, a high-level baseline of the current functions and information usage is being documented for each of the three departments: Career Services, International Co-op, and Co-op. This baseline will be used for two purposes:

(1) to identify functions to be considered in the redesign phase of this project, and (2) to identify the databases and paper files where information is currently captured.

Career Services Department

Career Services assists students, alumni, and members of the NU community. Their operations are currently supported by a number of small desktop databases, automating what would otherwise be a large system of paper files. The information is not integrated with other university databases, except as noted below. A departmental statistics database produces the weekly reports that provide management with information to measure results - number of job matches, number of students and alumni served, etc.

 

Major Functions - Career Services	Information/Systems Used
Advise students and alumni Find out student experience (e.g. job, school) Conduct assessment & testing Offer career counseling May culminate in job placement or stop at any point in the process	Student/Alumni Database  Dept/Client Database (track visits)
Manage on-campus recruiting Maintain master list of employers Schedule on-site visits, interviews between students & employers	On-campus Recruiting Database  Historical job descriptions (paper) Dept. Statistics Database
Support computerized resume matching (approximately 2,000 candidates) Students submit resumes & application form Career Services inputs skills & qualifications Employers request resumes Seniors who are registering for on-campus recruiting are required to submit resumes as part of that process	Resume Database  Job descriptions (paper)
Assist with resumes	Dept. Statistics Database
Provide seminars (job search)	Dept. Statistics Database
Teach (and grade) life/career planning classes	Dept. Statistics Database  (Grades on Registrar Student Database)
Direct the Resource Center	Video Library Database  Employer Literature Database Books/Directories Database Dept. Statistics Database
Maintain Job Bank	Dept. Statistics Database
Support alumni network Approximately 750 registrants Includes personal info, job experiences Alumni come in, look up info about other alumni No link to Registrar or Development systems - Alumni choose to have their info included in this network	Alumni Network Database
Administer Career Expos Capture employer/contact information	Career Expo Database  Dept. Statistics Database
Provide company briefings	Resume Database
Distribute graduate (tracking) survey forms	Results go to Institutional Research Dept.
Provide information about employers to Development Office	On-campus Recruiting Database (source)
Conduct testing (Myers-Briggs, etc.)

 

International Co-op Department

International Co-op includes the exchange program, student services, and home country program. Their operations are currently supported by one student/employer database (home country) and a number of paper files. Information from the central university databases is used, but not maintained by this department. Manual data collection and analysis produces the reports that provide management with information to measure results - number of placements, exchanges per country/year, students outside of NU, schools, companies, majors, etc.

Student Services:

Student services meets the special needs of NU’s undergraduate international students. These students receive their actual job placement by working with the coordinators or the home country own job placements in countries not included in Home Country Program.

Reciprocal Exchange Program:

The exchange program serves mainly undergraduate students with prior co-op experience. Exchange students include domestic students from NU going to work abroad and reciprocal students coming in. There are approximately 60 students per quarter in English-speaking countries, 10 in French & Spanish speaking countries & Eastern Europe. The exchange program does not "job match"; candidates are interviewed first and then employers are found for them.

Home Country Program:

International Co-op is the hub of a consortium of colleges and universities who place non-US students, mainly from the pacific rim, with multi-national corporations who offer co-op or permanent jobs in the students’ own home countries. The Home Country Program serves both NU and non-NU students - undergraduate and graduate.

Major Functions - International Co-op

• International Student Services:
• Offer "Working in the U.S." course for international students
• Provide varied services including orientation, information on immigration, taxes, resume writing, and interviewing to constituencies including: students, co-op division, employers, and other university departments
• Maintain jobs with multi-national companies
• Maintain resource room for student use (information about multinational companies)
• Administer company presentations, year-round - similar to Career Services company briefings
• Maintain alumni network for exchange and home country
• Work closely with other university departments to help students or promote university
• Provide services for NU and non-NU students for home country co-op
• Maintain exchange program (reciprocal): place NU students abroad & place students abroad in NU co-op jobs
• Job development

Information Systems Used - International Co-op:

International Student Services

• Registrar’s and Co-op student database (CO02, RG01)
• Maintain information in paper files
• Excel for grade and attendance sheets
• Microsoft Word for course materials, letters, hand-outs, and forms

Exchange Program

• Paper files - e.g. application for co-op abroad
• NU students are on Registrar database
• Reciprocal (incoming) students given to Registrar for input

• Individually maintained lists -e.g. Word, Excel …

Home Country

• Capture student background according to country (including consortium)
• Information is separate from Registrar database

• Employer database - approx. 1,000 employers

• Paper tracking of grant $$

Department of Co-operative Education

The co-op experience includes preparation, activity (co-op job), and reflection. Weekly reports provide management with information to measure results.

Major Functions - Co-op

• Deliver co-op curriculum (teach)
• Series of orientations - varies by college
• Additional components by college (e.g. GE1000,2000,3000 series of seminars)
• Resume writing
• Interviewing
• Receipt of evaluation from employers (performance evaluation)
• Reflection seminars
• Refer students
• Interact with employers
• Student problems with assignments
• Employer inquiries
• etc.
• Perform job development functions with employers
• Starting up assignments
• Maintaining assignments while students are there
• Setting up return assignments
• Maintain precise job descriptions, status, etc.
• Maintain administrative databases and individual databases
• Advise students
• Initiate division changes
• Provide interaction and connection with related colleges, university community, Development office
• Maintain individual web sites
• Provide career counseling
• Validate student participation and requirements (grading)
• Provide salary survey information
• Maintain interactive online student job search (some colleges)

Additional Description

Reflection: This includes a group process, an individual student evaluation (completion of a paper form - e.g. what was learned, skills used, etc.), employer evaluation of the student’s performance, and a student-completed description of the job.

The employer evaluations are required for the student to receive course credit for the co-op assignment. The paper evaluation forms are distributed/mailed by the co-op coordinators to the students. The student fills out part and (ideally) sits down with the employer, who reviews the student’s performance and fills out the rest of the form.

The student-completed job descriptions are paper forms that are filed by company and viewed by other students.

Job referral: This varies by college, but can be described generally by two models:

The first model is characterized by coordinator pre-screening to determine which student resumes should be sent out to the hiring company. (In some variations of this model, student preferences and/or prioritization influence the pre-screening.) The employer then contacts the coordinator to express interest in specific students or, in some cases, contacts the students directly. The coordinator generates a letter of referral for students to take to the interview. Colleges that use a model similar to this are CBA, Bouve, Criminal Justice, Engineering Technology, Arts & Sciences, and Nursing.

The second model is characterized by a more open selection process in which students select the jobs they want to apply for, subject to eligibility requirements and job restrictions. For example, in Computer Science, students fill out forms about themselves - including QPA, citizenship, etc. Jobs are stored on a database; restrictions are posted with the jobs. Students can sign up to express interest in any job for which they meet the restrictions and are eligible. Referral letters are generated. Colleges that use a model similar to this are Engineering and Computer Science.

Each college uses its own paper or database system to support the job referral process. Information is also duplicated on the central administrative database.

Job development with employers:

Potential employers (prospects) are found through co-op outreach efforts or via general inquiry calls from employers. Prospects are currently tracked on paper.

For first-time employers, a company number must be assigned and basic information captured. Company information is maintained on the administrative database system by Judy Mimms. There is an annual internal clean-up process to update contacts and addresses, as well as to delete obsolete company records. The assignment of company numbers, maintenance of company information, and accurate linkage between companies and jobs is a major problem in the current system.

Jobs are initiated by employers sending a job description to the coordinators - by fax, e-mail attachment, web form, etc.

For return assignments, critical information is whether the job is open next quarter and whether the student is planning to return to that employer. This information is captured in databases, electronically, or on paper.

Other interaction with employers: Notes are captured on individual student records regarding problems, comments. In the past, information was captured about visits to employers - who visited, when, etc.

Division changes: There are currently 23 valid divisions. A university committee is discussing the feasibility of reducing the number of divisions. Division assignment or change is initiated in a number of ways: by student, by college, by co-op, or by Admissions (for external transfers). Petition forms vary by college.