Message from the Dean
Upon arrival several years ago, I met with Mitchell College faculty to get a better
sense of College strengths and, more importantly, what directions to take in the short
and long-term future. A recurring theme was the need to increase professional skills competencies in our
students. Out of these and subsequent discussions with the faculty, advisory board members,
and other constituents, our Professional Readiness Engagement Program (PREP) was developed. For new readers, PREP is a series of three one-hour required courses that students
take in their freshman, sophomore, and junior years. For transfer students, a three-hour course covering the same materials is available
as a junior-level required course. We also formed an external advisory board for the
program that is intimately involved in course curriculum and course activities.
The courses begin with the basics—resume and cover letter development, interviewing skills, and other activities and workshops highlighting competencies requisite for success in the transition from student to employ. Other opportunities include career planning, job shadowing, speed branding (think speed dating with the goal of getting an interview), networking, mock interviews, professional mentoring, and other activities. Advisory board members and other local and regional business professionals are active participants in these events. The program culminates in a required three-hour experiential learning course.
Students are given a number of ways to satisfy the experiential learning requirement. The most common route is via the internship. Students “work” in a local, regional, national, or in some cases, international setting to connect classroom theory with real-world practice. Internships are offered every semester and during the summer; many of the interns are offered positions at their host companies following USA graduation.
Closely related to the internship is the co-op. Students fulfilling the experiential requirement via the co-op alternate between full-time employment and academics on a semester basis. Almost all co-op participants are hired by their host firm following graduation. Although this adds a year to the student’s time at South, students don’t mind--the companies hosting co-op students pay well and the income earned during full-time employment more than covers the cost of the added year.
The College also has two in-house opportunities that satisfy the requirement. Students enrolled in the Jaguar Investment Fund (JIF) management course manage a $650,000 large and mid-cap equity portfolio. Each semester the students present to the JIF Advisory Board and other groups including the USA Board of Trustees and other financial professionals. Accounting students may receive experiential learning credit by participating in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program, an activity co-sponsored by the United Way of Southwest Alabama. Students participating in the program complete federal and state tax forms for community individuals that meet program qualifications. Students are required to complete Internal Revenue Service training and receive certification before participating in the program.
An unexpected and positive outgrowth of the program has been the development of discipline and firm-specific career fairs. Each fall our accounting department sponsors “Meet the Firms,” an opportunity for accounting and finance students to meet with private and governmental employers. In the spring, the marketing and quantitative methods department hosts employers in a similar event for marketing students. The College (along with the College of Engineering and the School of Computer) also hosts Austal and Ingalls Career Days each fall.
If you or your firm are interested in hosting an intern or co-op student or are interested in participating in other PREP or internship/employment activities, please contact me at 251.460.6902 or bgwood@southalabama.edu.
Until next month…
Bob G. Wood