UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 6, Page 2
October 10, 1991
In Academy Building; Center helps professionals advance careers

     A Professional Staff Resource Center has been established to
help professional employees at the University advance their
careers.
     Located in Room 403 of the Academy of Newark Building on Main
Street and open during normal working hours, the center will offer
support services, information and direction regarding individual
career advancement,  Maxine Colm, vice president for employee
relations, said.
     The new center is one part of an overall career enhancement
program for professionals that Colm said has been a goal since she
was named vice president in 1989.
     "A career development program," Colm said, "benefits not only
individual employees, but the University as a whole, as employees
learn ways to better use their professional expertise and skills."
     A Professional Career Opportunities Task Force, chaired by
James P. Flynn, director of employee services, was involved in the
planning process.
     According to Flynn, the task force sent a mail survey to 1,000
professionals. Thirty-five percent responded, and the majority
indicated they would use the services of a career resource center.
     Liane Sorenson, director of women's affairs and executive
director of the Commission on the Status of Women, is responsible
for the day-to-day operation on the new center.
     Employees visiting the center will find job descriptions for
all professional positions at the University, materials on the
University ACCESS (Adult Center for Continuing Education Student
Services) program and information about workshops offered by
Employee Development.
     Information on career development and one-on-one counseling,
plus materials on such topics as resume writing and changing
careers, also will be available.
     According to Colm, "The center uses a career mapping approach
to career development, patterned after the Bryn Mawr Summer
Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration."
     She said she first became aware of the process during her
tenure at the nearby Pennsylvania institution where she serves as
a member of the Institute faculty each summer.
     Colm said the career mapping component now being used at the
University's resource center is equally effective for both
professional men and women who are considering career-related
decisions.
     According to Sorenson, who has a master's degree in counseling
from Delaware, career mapping is divided into three sections.
     Initially, individuals analyze their present situation,
focusing on their job, their unit and the resources available to
them that are related to career advancement.
     In the second segment, individuals are asked to look at their
short- and long-term career objectives.
     The last part involves putting together an action plan, which
includes writing a resume and working with one's supervisor to
decide on specific actions to advance career goals.
     In addition to counseling and resource materials, Colm said
she is very interested in developing internship and externship
opportunities that will allow University professionals to broaden
their career experiences.
     "These opportunities," Colm said, "not only enlarge the
experience and expertise of professional employees, they also bring
innovation and new ways of doing things to units across the
University."
     For more information or to arrange a counseling appointment,
call Sorenson at 451-6651 or 451-8063.
                                        - Sue Swyers Moncure