Career Services Center changes name, Web site

By Rachel Carlson     8/28/08 7:00pm

Along with new faces and new buildings around campus come revamped services for students looking beyond their Rice years. The Career Services Center, which counsels students on how to position themselves in the graduate and professional world, changed its name this year to the Rice Center for Student Professional Development. The first version of its new Web site, which will launch in Sept., will show this year's changes in the mission and structure of career services. Future versions of the site will include innovative software for job and internship exploration. CSPD Director Erik Larsen said the changes in career services will chiefly involve an online networking system that promotes meaningful exchange with potential employers. The Web site is planned to go beyond brief job listings and instead serve as an interactive career research forum. New software, which is being developed exclusively for Rice students by an external firm, will offer a chance for personal dialogue between students and employers.

"This is not a job posting system," Larsen said. "It's much more instructional and educational technology .. This is new, and a little experimental, but that's the only way you move forward."

Planning for the Web site is based on reviews of peer institutions' career centers as well as from feedback from both students and employers. Student focus groups, alumni data and a board of advisors all contributed suggestions for the new program.

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"What we heard from students was that they wanted more in-depth information and knowledge about different types of industries and fields so that they could make more of a commitment [when applying]," Larson said.

He said the system to be developed has a progressive approach that was inspired by models from Pixar, Apple and Google, going beyond the simplistic career catalogues found on Web sites like monster.com or careerbuilder.com.

"This is huge, when hundreds of schools have been doing things the same way for 20 years," Larsen said.

Martel College freshman Mary Allen said the revamped Web site and CSPD will give students a better sense of direction when searching for careers.

"[Better counseling services] will allow students to take what they study and give it a context," Allen said. "I personally wouldn't [use the new software], but I can definitely see other students using it."

New services will be phased in gradually and modified based on future feedback from students and other participants in the CSPD. Several CSPD programs will remain unchanged, such as the annual job fair, career recruiting services and personal professional counseling, Larsen said. Career Advisors, however, will assume the title of Professional Development Advisors in keeping with the institution's new name.

Larsen said the modifications go far deeper than name changes, however.

"This is evolving into a major reorganization," Larsen said. "It is not just a relabeling or rebranding.

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