Big Idea

BIG IDEA PROPOSALMichelle Kuecks
Rowland Solano
Renee Ali-Samhoul

Purpose:
The aim of this project is to expand the existing Career Development Department at Nova Southeastern University to provide job placement services. In light of the recent severe downturn in the economy, and strained job market, the need for students to find a job has become even more urgent. Specifically, the goal of this Big Idea Proposal is to create a staff whose one and only job is to reach out to employers and bring them on campus directly to the students. This approach will be innovative and offer students much more than surrounding universities in this area.
Currently, the Career Development Faculty is limited to assisting students in writing resumes, preparing for job interviews, and directing students to library resources dealing with career planning. This Proposal seeks to add job placement in addition to resume and interview services. In essence, goal will be to recruit recruiters. By expanding the Career Development Department, Nova students will have a significant edge over other competing students by having local, state and national employers turn to Nova students first to fill open positions.
Unlike Nova’s bi-annual Career Fair, the new program will link employers with students on a continuous basis. Unfortunately in January of 2009 unemployment in Florida reached a 16-year high (U.S. Department of Labor). Jobs have become scarce. Students can no longer wait for a Career Fair to take place. Students need year-round job placement services. With unemployment reaching a record high, the time to be proactive is now. It is not suffice to list jobs on a website like CareerShark. Nova students need to land an interview and be out in front of the pack for the shrinking number of available jobs. This will require an immediate extension of the Career Development Program.
High unemployment amongst Nova graduates could create a significant public relations issue. Conversely, Nova can bolster their reputation and separate themselves from competing universities through a high rate of employment.
Another unique aspect of this proposed program is to communicate with students on a frequent basis. The objective would be for the university to reach out to the students through email alerts. The system would be similar to email reminders from the registrar’s office when tuition is due. Through cross-referencing a student’s major and status of degree completion, the student would be notified when an employer is on campus for interviews. Students whose academic major is relevant to the job position would be notified each time a job opportunity opened up. Additionally, clubs, organizations, and societies would be notified when employers had positions to fill.
Timeline:
The amount of time necessary to implement this program will take up to one year. In order to establish this program three phases will need to be accomplished. During the first phase, a staff will need to be hired to carry out the functions of employment recruiting. It is estimated that this process could take up to six months to complete. Once the staff is in place, phase two will begin which involves obtaining approval from University Officials for fund raising plans, general objectives and policies to run the program. An estimate of three months will be necessary to achieve the tasks in phase two. Finally, during stage three of the project, the actual recruitment of prospective employers will take place. This process will be on-going in order to achieve success of the program.

Publicity/Engagement Plan:
In order to engage the entire student body, the program will send students emails to advise them that certain employers are going to be on campus and to advertise job openings. The goal will be to advise each and every student within the Nova student body of job openings that are relevant to a student’s interests and academic major. The email notification will take place according to the student’s major, department, club, organization, interest, and/or academic society.
Students may also register their prospective job interest with the office of Career Development. Through an email notification system, students will be matched with relevant employment opportunities. It will bridge the gap between students and employers. This program will be a great improvement over existing Career Fairs on campus by bringing in a wider range of employers from a variety of companies and connecting jobs with students. The goal of the program will be to motivate students to reach out to potential employers who offer employment in careers that students are interested in.
Another unique aspect of this program would be to utilize empty classrooms for employers to conduct job interviews on campus. Once a student has been notified of a prospective job, the employer will screen students and select students for an on-campus interview. Students will be notified through the email system of the time, date and place of the interview.
Itemized Budget:
ITEM
DESCRIPTION
COST
Staff
Director’s Salary
Program Supervisor (1)
Program Coordinators (3)
Department Employer Relations Advisors(8)
(Representative for Each College)
Secretary (1)
IT Personnel (1)
Trainer (1)





Subtotal in Annual Salaries:
$550,000.00
Marketing
Advertising
$50,000.00

TOTAL
$600,000.00


Partnering Individuals, Groups, Etc.:
As another means of reaching students, this program will utilize existing groups on campus to advise students of employment opportunities. The groups will receive emails notifying the student members of potential employment opportunities within an area of interest, group, club, or academic society. As an example, the Pre-Med Society will be notified of potential employment opportunities with a hospital, medical center, or physician-related job recruiter. Relevant jobs will be matched with students interested in that field or profession.

Matching Funds:
Various fundraisers shall take place by the groups and/or academic societies whose students will benefit from this program. One example of a potential fundraiser is to hold a “Dollar Auction” wherein items are placed up for bid for $1.00, and the person with the final bid is the winner. If Nova’s Criminal Justice Club wishes to participate in the Employment services, then they would be required to raise funds to help forward this initiative.
Another source of funding would be to apply for Federal Funding through the “Stimulus Package” a/k/a H.R. 5140, by seeking funds to assist individuals in obtaining Eco-Friendly jobs that have been funded. This approach will allow Nova Southeastern University to become a premier academic institution assisting students in obtaining “Green” that are jobs that are good for the environment.
Funding may also be achieved through a grant awarded in September, 2008 to Academic Services from the U.S. Department of Education in the amount of $575,000. While plans to implement this grant may be well underway, this proposal captures the best possible “academic service” – finding a job. In sum, this proposal seeks to place students who graduate from Nova out in front of a virtual sea of job applicants.