by by Colleen Gleeson, University of Houston, Conrad N Hilton College
Looking for new ways to engage students in experiential learning? Feeling overwhelmed as a member of a small career services office? That’s exactly where I was almost three years ago when I accepted a promotion to director (of a 2-person office). Leaning on some faculty partners for help, I sought guidance in how to incorporate more student help in the weeks leading up to career fair. We had the interest- in fact we sometimes struggled to engage the increasing number of students interested in event management. But would it be more work for my (already stretched thin) team than relief? Could I trust students to provide the same level of customer service to employers and to manage all of the marketing and logistics with the same commitment? I always spoke highly of the professionalism and maturity of our hospitality students and now it was time to put my money where my mouth is.
We approached one of our student organizations- the International Association of Exhibitions and Events- and with help from their faculty advisor put together a plan that incorporated four areas of responsibility. We had enough interest from this group to staff our Marketing Team, Employer Relations Team, Operations Team and Volunteer Team and put them to work. I was pleasantly surprised at the level of commitment of our initial 8-person team meeting once a week as a group and then individually within teams. The Employer Relations team relieved much of the daily toil of answering questions about the event and confirming name tag spelling and day-of needs. The Marketing Team came up with new ideas and kept us on track with social media posts. The Volunteer Team recruited and trained over 50 volunteers and the Operations Team helped us communicate with the hotel (our career fair venue) to make sure everything would go according to plan on the big day. The results the day of spoke for themselves – we had a record number of students attend (almost half of the entire population of our small college) and received excellent feedback from employers about how organized and smooth things went for them.
Given the level of engagement from students on a volunteer basis, we made our case to the administration and was able to get approval for a one credit course the following semester. We have since expanded to a three credit hour hybrid course and shored up some money from our operating budget to allow students to be even more creative with their marketing plans, ideas for additional hospitality for employers and incentives for volunteers. Allocating funds to this course has been invaluable in creating excitement for students to exercise their creative muscle while also holding them accountable and showing them how to work within a budget and timeline.
One of the biggest challenges we faced (particularly in the spring) was the timing of recruiting season and how rushed we were to get students involved. We addressed this by planning a “team retreat” the week before classes start. During the retreat, we spend time getting to know each other with ice breakers and games (including a scavenger hunt of the hotel where the career fair is held), but we also get the first day of class nuts and bolts out of the way- going over the syllabus, grading and expectations. The timing is still a challenge, but it’s amazing what one extra, pre-first day of class meeting will do to increase team bonding and morale. Each new team of students challenges us to engage their increasingly varied interests in ways that support our mission of creating experiential learning opportunities for students interested in convention and meeting planning. We hope to establish this practice as college tradition that showcases the hospitality skills and experience of our student body.
Copy of the Dean’s Report that features the career fair management course:
https://issuu.com/uhhiltoncollege/docs/deans_report_2018-1fb
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Colleen Gleeson is the director of career development for the Conrad N Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management at the University of Houston. She has been with the Hilton College since 2013, starting as a career counselor and moving into her current role in 2016 where she oversees the career programming, career fair planning and internship program facilitation for hospitality students. In addition, Colleen teaches professional development courses at the Hilton College and an undergraduate college success course for the college of exploratory studies. Her past experience includes work with adults with disabilities and employment counseling as strategic goal for poverty alleviation.
MA, Counseling, St Edwards University, Austin, TX
BA, Political Science & Women’s Students, Saint Louis University, St Louis, MO