The Career Center received the Outstanding Achievement Award for Innovative Programs in the College Career Services Field from the Chevron Corp. and the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
The Chevron Award recognizes and honors a university for the development of a groundbreaking program in career services. Through the design of mobile Web systems, two iPhone apps and the use of social media, UGA’s Career Center employed a “Wherever, Whenever and Whatever” integrated strategy to provide students relevant career information while engaging them across a range of emerging technologies.
“Because today’s college student is accustomed to a world where information, services and resources are as close as his or her phone, we have extended our capability to reach students via mobile technology,” said Scott Williams, executive director of the Career Center. “Darin Parker, our Career Center Web and mobile app developer, along with the support of career center staff, has done a tremendous job creating a technological infrastructure to support the Web 2.0 systems that students are accustomed to using every day—systems such as Gmail, Twitter and Facebook.”
Williams said the project was initiated to extend the Career Center’s reach while allowing students to self-service some of their career-related needs. When programs, career fairs, appointments and campus interviews are taken into account, the Career Center interacts with 10,000 unique students annually, while repeat visitors account for 40,000 aggregate student contacts. By implementing these new technology strategies, information can be provided using methods that were consumer desired and customer friendly.
“By recognizing the need for mobile access to career content and developing an integrated mobile system and strategy, the UGA Career Center has established itself as a technology innovator among students, faculty and employers,” said Tom Landrum, senior vice president for external affairs.
The award will be presented at the NACE conference in June. The Career Center also will be profiled in the September issue of the NACE Journal.