CAREER SERVICES

Jo Cai

As mentioned in our winter issue, the PDP team is developing its student and career services initiatives. We are working collaboratively with other departments to create new activities and services such as networking events and webinars for our current students and alumni. Through these new offerings we want to support our students’ efforts in building their professional network and help them expand their employment opportunities.

On February 17, Lisa Malvin and our new career counselor for the Graham School, Jo Cai, ran a career advising webinar for professional development students. During the lunch-time webinar, Jo discussed her advising services, which included career exploration options, resume tips, cover letter review, networking strategies, and more.

Many of our students don’t realize that they have access to UChicagoGrad career resources. Jo presented some of these resources and discussed where students can look for opportunities in freelancing, volunteering, and startups. An audience of about 30 very engaged students attended the presentation and asked insightful questions about job searching and career positioning for people in different stages of their professional life.

SAMSUNG CSC

On March 9th, we hosted our first PDP-specific workshop for students and alumni at the Gleacher center. Our speaker, Robert Gramillano, PhD, discussed his work and research on Personal Branding to an audience comprised of current and prospective students and alumni. A follow-up satisfaction survey confirmed the interest our community has in this type of initiatives where people can mingle while learning about strategies to jump-start or reposition their careers.  We are now planning to offer several workshops throughout the year. We are looking to work with our instructors as well as outside partners to offer additional opportunities for our students to engage with the PDP community and develop an ongoing discussion about career and industry topics.

ACADEMIC AND CAREER ADVISING

As part of our continued efforts to help our students and alumni with academic and career related questions, we launched advising sessions in March 2016. Lisa, Jo Cai, and I are available to meet with students in-person, by phone, or on Skype in 30 minute appointments. Students now have a chance to discuss course registrations and to plan for their program completion. We are also encouraging them to explore career-related services early in their studies to maximize their chances of employment upon the completion of their certificate program. Here’s a layout of how our advising services will work:

Lisa Malvin offers academic and career advising services on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2-4pm.

Jo Cai career advising services every second and fourth Wednesday of the month at the Gleacher Center (10am-12pm and 2-4pm)

Karine Bravais offers academic advising services on Fridays (9am-12pm)

COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY

Based upon thoughtful feedback provided by program staff, students, and Graham leadership, this year we are hosting a separate event in recognition of our non-degree programs. On May 24th, the Graham School will host a Certificate Celebration to honor the accomplishments of our students, and to recognize those who have encouraged and supported their professional development. This event will include an invitation to employers and supervisors of our students to attend, which will engage our industry partners and highlight our students’ achievements to their employers.

We are planning to host this celebration bi-annually, in the spring and autumn. The first Celebration will take place at the Gleacher Center. For those of you who attended our 125th anniversary celebration this past fall, you know the exact location. We are once again taking advantage of the magnificent reception room on the 6th floor to celebrate with incomparable views of the Windy City.

We encourage all of our instructors to attend in support of our students and as representatives of the Graham School and to meet with other instructors and industry partners. This is a great opportunity for us all to celebrate what really is everybody’s work and efforts.

For any questions regarding this celebration, contact Andriana Scaramella at ascaramella@uchicago.edu

SUMMER OFFERINGS

Following a successful scheduling initiative started in fall 2015 to diversify our offerings and to propose a more fluid yearly schedule, we have decided to revisit and extend our summer offerings. Although very few courses were offered in the summer of 2015, an increasing demand for our programs and sustainably higher number of applications throughout the past 10 months, gave us an opportunity to reconsider our summer courses. We are now actively promoting the June – August timeframe with 11 courses, all certificate programs combined. Additionally, this “summer course” plan aligns with 2 other initiatives discussed in our previous issue:

→Provide extended course offerings as an opportunity for students to plan for a fast-track completion of their

Certificate of choice

→ Keep our current student population engaged in our community throughout the year

By the end of fall 2016, we’ll have reached our first yearly cycle and will be able to provide quarterly enrollment data to reflect on our efforts and related growth.

CAPTURING THE CLASSROOM

Winter offered many opportunities for classroom visits. From an administration standpoint there is nothing more compelling than sitting in a class and witnessing its successful execution. It validates everybody’s work and confirms that we are heading in the right direction. From an academic perspective, it reaffirms the strength of our instructors in delivering a quality experience and allowing students to gain the skills they are seeking. Furthermore, it provides an interesting platform to connect with one another. It is important to meet our instructors and students in the classroom to get to know everybody and support our community. I’d like to thank our instructors for welcoming me in their classroom and allowing me to take pictures.

 
AGENDA
Karine’s Note
News and updates
Student Profile: Mikhail Kovlenko
Faculty Interview: Richard Wilson
Meet the Graham Staff: 10 Facts About Gail Rodman