EDITORIAL: Expand Hiatt's Resources
Prioritize seniors
The shaky economic climate fuels great anxiety among college students, whether it pertains to internships, graduate school acceptances or job searches. With a little over one semester until graduation, seniors are feeling the pressure to obtain employment or complete graduate school applications. The Hiatt Career Center serves as a great resource for all of these areas—approving résumés, editing personal statements and focusing job and internship searches.
However, many seniors have found that they are unable to schedule Hiatt appointments, as they are completely booked.
While this lack of availability is a testament to Hiatt's popularity and effectiveness, it is not helpful for seniors, who may find they need more immediate help from Hiatt. Though seniors who cannot obtain immediate appointments can always attend Hiatt's office hours, whether in person or on Gchat, these office hours do not guarantee an hour of undivided attention from a counselor the way a more substantial one-on-one appointment does. Thus, Hiatt must expand its ability to assist students by hiring more staff and offering more intensified help toward graduating seniors.
With more students attending this university—and with enrollment numbers expected to rise—there will be an inevitable need for more career counselors, something this editorial board believes both the administration and Hiatt need to consider.
Hiatt's 12 staff members are extremely experienced and a great resource, but with the growing student body and the persistent anxiety that accompanies a faltering economy, there simply aren't enough counselors to meet student demand. While increasing the size of Hiatt's staff comes with a moderate price tag, the University must be prepared to satisfy the needs of students.
We also recommend that the Hiatt counselors make a concerted effort to prioritize seniors. When seniors schedule appointments, the Hiatt staff working at the front desk could ensure that they wait only up to two weeks maximum for an appointment. This perhaps could be accomplished if Hiatt considered opening office hours exclusively for seniors.
This would free up more time slots for scheduling much needed appointments for seniors searching for employment as they near graduation.
Additionally, in order to open up more time for advisors to meet with students about career aspirations, it may be helpful for Hiatt to change its policy to allow résumés to be approved through email. This has already proved to be an efficient and popular option among students going abroad, who took advantage of this service last year. Hiatt should consider expanding this to all students at all times.
This editorial board appreciates all that the Hiatt Career Center does to help students with their career goals and further their ambitions.
We do hope, however, that Hiatt considers expanding its resources and staff.
This will ensure that Hiatt becomes an even stronger resource for students on campus.
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