Ohio University has introduced a Career and Experiential Learning Fee for the Fall 2018 Cohort to provide students with more services and promotion for their engagement in career development.
Students will pay “$6 per credit hour, capped at 12 hours for students that are beginning with the Fall 2018 Cohort on the Athens and regional campuses,” Jim Sabin, a university spokesman, said in an email. Students that began their studies before this time are exempt from the fee.
The fee will allow students to further their career development after graduation. Sabin said that the fee will have access to professionals in their field, which will allow students to connect with Ohio alumni.
Imants Jaunarajs, the assistant dean for the Career and Leadership Development Center and one of the chairs for the Career and Experiential Learning Fee Task, said that the Career and Leadership Development Center will be the main area for the resources and services to be used.
The Career and Experiential Learning Fee, which was proposed and approved by the OU Board of Trustees in Jan. 2018, will follows the “Career early, Career often” philosophy, Sabin said in an email. This has been instituted to help students be active in their career development from the start of their career at OU.
“We are equipping them to compete in a highly-competitive workforce,” Sabin said in an email.
The fee will also provide $97,000 to the Assistant Director of Mentorship and Programming Dori Branch, Associate Director for Diversity and Inclusion Tamika Williams; and Career Development Outcome Assessment Specialist Sheila Chelimo with salary benefits and support costs for equipment and professional development. This is what has been budgeted for a full-time equivalent position, Sabin said in an email.
Zach McGrain, associate director for Career Development Integration, will also benefit from $110,000 for salary benefits and support costs for equipment and professional development.
Alumni are able to use the services that this fee provides at no cost for as long as the center is open.
“All alumni are welcome to engage with our career development professionals at no cost for life,” Sabin said in an email. “The Career and Experiential Learning Fee is an investment in the value of an OHIO degree, which will benefit all students and the institution as a whole.”
To take full advantage of this new fee, students are• pushed to go to and be involved in career-readiness programming as well as interacting with the career professionals.
OU President Duane Nellis said at a roundtable that there are two themes that the university is attempting to follow. The first is student success, academic engagement and excellence. The second theme is to increase the national reputation and visibility of the university. He said that OU is focused on building a strong message about the success of the university.
“We’ll opt for new initiatives around internship opportunities and outreach opportunities for students to gain stronger pathways toward placement when they graduate,” Nellis said.
