U-M Career Center wins national award

ANN ARBOR—The Career Center at the University of Michigan has won a national award for The Candidate, an interactive, web-based program developed by the Center staff.

It follows five U-M seniors through the job-seeking process, including weekly diaries by the “candidates,” as they create their resumes, interview with prospective employers and struggle with decisions about theircareer choices.

The award, presented in June, is the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ NACE/Chevron Texaco Award for Innovative Programs in the Career Services Field. It recognizes and honors a NACE college or university member for the development of a ground-breaking program in the career services field.

The Candidate was the clear favorite among this year’s entries, according to NACE awards committee chair Deb Chereck, director of the University of Oregon Career Center.

"The Candidate was viewed as making a significant contribution to the career services field through its innovative methodology in programming, reflecting knowledge of the population it was intended to serve, a clear sense of mission and an exciting leveraging of technology," Chereck said. "It is evident that the U-M staff devoted an incredible amount of creative energy in the development and implementation of this highly innovative and entertaining model."

The Career Center, which is part of the Division of Student Affairs, also garnered a regional award, presented in August, from the Midwest Association of Colleges and Employers. The Shingleton Award for Innovation and Applied Research also recognized The Candidate. This is the second time the Career Center has received the Shingleton award in the past 10 years. And last fall, the Career Center was given the first-ever best practice award by Delta Epsilon Iota, a national Academic Honor Society.

Vice President for Student Affairs Royster Harper applauded the Career Center’s recognized success in serving students. “Career development is an essential component of the student experience, in translating skills, values, interests, and intellectual endeavors into meaningful next steps,” Harper said. "We take pride at the University in providing our talented students with the finest educational and co-curricular support in the country.   It is gratifying to have our career development efforts recognized at the regional and national level," Harper said.  

"We feel as if we’ve won the triple-crown," said Simone Himbeault Taylor, director of The Career Center and associate vice president for the Division of Student Affairs. "Our efforts in The Career Center are grounded in the most current theory and research in our field and focus on contributing to important educational student outcomes. We’re pleased to have this recognized. Creating The Candidate was a team effort by the Career Center staff and we’re very proud of that," Himbeault Taylor said.

Kerin Borland, center associate director, was part of the team. "The NACE award is the highest level of professional recognition a university career office can achieve nationally," Borland said. "Developing The Candidate was a wonderful experience for the staff, and it’s very rewarding to be recognized for it by our peers."

More information about the Career Center services and The Candidate can be found at http://www.cpp.umich.edu/ or call Kerin Borland at (734) 764-7460 or e-mail kborland@umich.edu.