M&IS 44095 Section 003 Call 23743

Career Development

Fall 2011

Class meeting:  F, 11:00 am - 2:00 am, Sep. 02 – Sep. 23 & Dec. 9, BSA 209

Instructor:  Julia Levashina, Ph. D., BSA A427,

Phone: 330-672-1144, E-Mail: jlevashi@kent.edu

Office Hours: W, 12:00-3:00 pm F, 10:00 -11:00 am & 2:15 – 3:15 pm

Textbook: none, handouts will be provided in class or posted on vista

Course Prerequisites: GPA = 2.50 or higher

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to help you to launch your career.  This is the in-depth, intensive training and development course designed to prepare students for resume presentation, job search, interviewing, and participation in the internship. The course will meet once a week during the first four weeks of the semester, providing intensive training and development for a successful internship experience.  Internship interviews and placement will take place during the fourth week of the semester.  Weeks 5-14 will be dedicated to student participation in 100 hours of internship (10 hours per week).  During the final week students will reconvene as a group to share about their internships and to receive direction on applying, and understanding, the value of the internship.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to design and implement an individualized career development plan that will be used for securing internships and permanent employment, and continued professional growth.  These goals will be met by strengthening skills and knowledge in the following competencies:

§  Self Assessment & Awareness: Understand the relation of values, interests, personality and skills to career planning

§  Written Communication: Develop tangible self marketing pieces: resume & career portfolio

§  Verbal Communication: Develop professional interviewing and networking skills

§  Internships: Knowledge of internship requirements & making the most of the internship experience

Plan for the Course

The course uses eight different types of pedagogy:

1.      Traditional lectures.  I will give a lecture at the beginning of each class. These lectures will be accompanied by PPT handouts posted on vista.kent.edu.

2.      Discussions.  Active participation is also important to ensure that the concepts in the course are properly understood and integrated.  Comments and questions will nearly always be welcome during a class meeting. The active involvement of all students is expected during discussions.  Participation can take many forms, including asking questions that clarify the class material, making points about the topic based on outside experience, providing well reasoned comments on the topic based on the learning points in the class.

3.      Readings.  Most readings will be from the handouts distributed during the class sessions or posted on the course website. Also, students will be required to find one supplemental reading that provides in-depth analyses of the discussed topics. Supplemental readings must be submitted by students at the beginning of each class session, and they worth 1 point each.

4.      Guest speakers.  There will be several guest speakers during almost all class periods in September. Guest speakers bring special expertise to the classroom, and they provide pedagogical variety. Students are expected to ask the speaker questions to enhance the learning experience. 

5.      Building your career portfolio (hands-on exercises). There will be several exercises throughout the course that will help you to launch your career search. They are meant to give brief hands-on exposure or practice in key areas, such as resume writing, selection testing, job interviewing, and internship experience. They will require advanced preparation, and some of them will be conducted outside of class. Some exercises will be conducted and graded by HR practitioners from local organizations.

6.      Internships. A description of the internship requirements is in a separate document.

7.      Individual Presentation. Each student will describe their internship experience during the last week of classes and prepare and give a power-point presentation to the class. The presentation must not exceed 10 minutes maximum. As with similar projects, higher scores are assigned for thoroughness, depth, quality, and going beyond minimal requirements. Students must send an electronic copy of their presentations to me on Dec. 8, 2010.   

8.      Final Project. Reflection paper on your internship experience is a final project that is due during the Final Examination week. Description of the reflection paper is in a separate document.

Class Policies

Attendance & Participation

Class is conducted on the premise that regular attendance is expected. Each class is worth 1 point.  There are 5 days of class for a total of 5 attendance points. An attendance sign-in sheet is provided during class; it is always the student's responsibility to sign the attendance sheet.

This course is designed to help assist you with that — finding a job after graduation! Since this class is all about your career development, your participation is necessary to gain full benefit of the course. Participation is worth 5 points. There is a possibility of receiving 2 extra credit points for students who actively participate during class sessions.

Course Withdrawal Deadline

The course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, November 6, 2011.

Grading

The grading scale is predetermined to ensure that you always know your grade in the class.  Grades will be based on the absolute standard below, and will not be curved. Grading will be based on the following factors and weighting:

·         Attendance                                                                          5 points

·         Participation                                                                       5 points

·         Supplemental Readings                                                      3 points

·         Resume                                                                             17 points

·         Tests                                                                                  15 points

·         Mock Interview                                                                 25 points

·         Reflection Paper on Internship                                         20 points

·         Presentation                                                                     10 points

Scale for final letter: A (100-95); A- (94-90); B+ (89-85); B (84-80); B- (79-75); C+ (74-70); C (69-65); C- (64-60); D+ (59-55); D (54-50); and F (< 49).

Registration

Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Web for Students) during the first two weeks of the semester to ensure you are properly enrolled in this class and section.  Should you find an error in your class schedule, you have until September 11^th, 2011 to correct the error with your advising office.  If registration errors are not corrected by this date and you continue to attend and participate in classes for which you are not officially enrolled, you are advised now that you will not receive a grade at the conclusion of the semester for any class in which you are not properly registered.

Academic Honesty

Cheating means to misrepresent the source, nature, or other conditions of your academic work (e.g., tests, papers, projects, assignments) so as to get undeserved credit.   The use of the intellectual property of others without giving them appropriate credit is a serious academic offense.  It is the University's policy that cheating or plagiarism result in receiving a failing grade (0 points) for the work or course.  Repeat offenses may result in dismissal from the University.

Students with Disabilities

University policy 3342-3-18 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content.  If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments.  Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through the Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit http://www.registrars.kent.edu/disability/ for more information on registration procedures).

Course Outline*

* I reserve the right to modify this schedule according to the needs and progress of the class.